Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos for April 19th, 20th and 21st!

[Maherae]

It's a BIG weekend in the race community, and the WISH team has a full slate as well! Ultra's, tri's, marathons, halfs, a 20K, a 10K, and 5K's...wheww!!! :thumbsup2 Have a GREAT time at your event, be safe!!


Saturday, 19th
thndrmatt (Matt) Mullet Man Tri (.25 swim /16.2 bike /4 run); Perdido Key, FL
goingthedistance (Paul) Unser 1/2 Marathon; Albuquerque, NM
aldisneygrl (Sandi) ReCreation 5K; Huntsville, AL
curiouser (Morgan) Old Oak Run 5k; Cleveland, OH (first EVER event AND :bday: !!!)
DisneyDudet () Fort Worth Zoo Run 5K/10K; Fort Worth, TX
FireDancer (Frank) Old Oak Run 5k; Cleveland, OH
KiraG (Kira) Philadelphia Run for Clean Air 5K; PA
runningjusme's DH FIRST 5K; Dallas, TX
tiggerspal222 (Patrick) and DW twoWDWfools (Liz) Promise Run for Wellness 5K/10K; Aurora, IL

Sunday, 20th
Jodi Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug Ultra 50K (31 miles); New Preston, CT
CynthiaCindy (Cindy) LAWS Run for the Shelter 1/2 Marathon; Leesburg, VA
Optimator (Mike) LAWS Run for the Shelter 1/2 Marathon; Leesburg, VA
lourodrigis (Lou) Penn Relays Distance Classic 20K (12.4 miles); Philadelphia, PA
cdn_gal_eeyore (Leana) Vancouver Sun Run (10K); British Columbia, Canada
blizzard (Carol) Tour de Airdrie 5K; Airdrie AB, Canada
FireDancer (Frank) City2City 5K; Cleveland, OH
jims2cool (Jim) and DW WDWFAN9 (Pat) A Walk to Remember 5K; Chicago, IL

Monday, 21st
BOSTON MARATHON: MA
Theta's DH



party: GO! WISH Team GO! party:

[princessrunner]

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: GOOD LUCK WISHers. GO TEAM GO!!! :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[Kristi1357]

:woohoo: :cheer2: :woohoo: Go WISHers, GO! :woohoo: :cheer2: :woohoo:

[jmasgat]

Good luck, everybody. Run/walk welll!

Maura

[JustSmile]

:cheer2: :cheer2: Go, Wishers, Go!:cheer2: :cheer2:

[runningjusme]

my DH is doing his first 5K this Saturday...

good luck WISH'ers...

[wtpclc]

Wow, tons of WISH racing this week!

Go WISH Go!!!!!

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[TXAng]

GOOD LUCK, TEAM!!

[curiouser]

GOOOOOO WISHERS!!! :cheer2: :cheer2:

[postesf]

Goooo WISH Team!!!! Good luck!!!

Stacie

[Tiger Lily 03]

Go WISH Team.

I can't wait to read everyone's report!

:cheer2: :cheer2:

[WDWFAN9]

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: WISHers Rock:: :cheer2: :cheer2::cheer2:

[tink06]

:cheer2: :cheer2: Let's go WISH team, Let's go!! :cheer2: :cheer2:

[Caseydilla]

Good luck to all!

[escape]

Wow! Look at all the races!

Good luck Wish Team!

[RedDragon]

Go WISH team!

:worship: :cheer2: :yay:

[ScoJo15]

GOOD LUCK WISHERS!! Remember to HAVE FUN out there :goodvibes:

[CarolA]

GOOD LUCK WISHERS!! Remember to HAVE FUN out there :goodvibes:

DANG!

I should have read this first LOL!

I am not on the list because I didn't finally commit until yesterday but I did the Corners to Crossing 10K near Atlanta today.

This was NOT fun LOL! I am not sure what happened but my body rebelled on this one. MIle 1 was a struggle. About 1.5 I gave up and just said "walk, if you have to you can walk the whole thing" Finally about 2.25 miles into it I felt better and started jogging again. I actually was enjoying myself around 3 and 4. And then came the end.

This course was laid out by someone who wanted to watch people drop. The last half mile had the WORST hill I have ever seen on a race route before. I grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee. This thing had a straight up grade. (On the few occassions that it snows in Atlanta those folks can't leave home, trust me!) So I walked "SLOWLY" up that thing.

Overall my time was SLOWER then my time in Febuary despite being better trained..;:confused3 1.18.54.

My Minnie training plan says to do 8 miles next weekend. I am really thinking I need to pull back. It appears my legs don't recover as fast as the plan assumes.. hmm.... They were really tired today. I did five miles Tue and 3 Thur but did both of them at a good clip (for me :rotfl2: ) So... I will have to think about this.

I am proud of myself for sticking with it. Those first miles were so tough I wanted to go back to the car LOL!

[joan4mickey]

Last night some one told me about a local 5K to be run today to benefit a food bank in honor of a young wife and mother who died while training for a marathon.

So I got home last night, googled the race, and got directions and left at 7:30 to register and race. The course was hilly-not big hill just sort of rolling. I did a 26:45-I think, I hope the results will be posted online later so I can see. The start was hard and slow because they just had all runners move forward and asked the children to get behind adults.

The best was the $13000 raised for the food bank and this was the 1st annual race.

[AmyBeth68]

Joan, THAT pace that was AWESOME! WTG on a great race!!! :goodvibes

CarolA, Great job getting out there. Tough runs and races happen...but you were a warrior and fought through it. Don't stress the slower pace, different courses bring different results. WTG!

To everyone else: GOOD LUCK THIS WEEKEND!!!! :yay:

[goingthedistance]

This morning was the Unser 1/2 marathon through the north valley area of Albuquerque, finishing at the Unser Racing Museum (multi-Indy 500 winning Unser family from Albuquerque).

Big, BIG BIG PR today. My old best was in the neighborhood of 2:13. Today's 1/2 I felt invincible and knew going into it that I would come in under 2 hours. Official time today was 1:46:45:faint:. That's a 26 minute PR on a half marathon!!!:banana: Garmin time 1:47:01 (didnt stop right at the finish line).

Splits
mile 1 9:03
mile 2 8:17
mile 3 8:09
mile 4 8:11
mile 5 8:07
mile 6 8:09
mile 7 8:20
mile 8 7:59
mile 9 7:58
mile 10 7:52
mile 11 8:06
mile 12 8:03
mile 13 8:00
last 0.12 0:47

CarolA - way to stick with it. Tough runs and courses make the flat and easy ones even easier and much, much more fun.

joan- good time, especially for a last minute 5k. Sounds like a good cause too.

Good luck to the rest of our racers this weekend!

Paul

[joan4mickey]

Paul that's awesome..I would love to do those times.

[Maherae]

Carol, Way to go!! You stuck with something that was clearly difficult, and you didn't give in!!! :woohoo: I hope there was at least a t-shirt!!
Paul FANTASTIC!! :banana: whoo hoo!! SMASH that previous PR!!:cool1:
Joan, Great job!! Didn't it make you feel good to be able to do a 5K on the spur of the moment? and for such a good cause, too! :thumbsup2

[crzy4pooh]

Carol - Great job sticking with it!!! :thumbsup2

Joan - What a great cause for the race! Awesome job on your time, too! :cool1:

Paul - WOW! Congrats on your PR - way to go!!!! :worship:


Good luck to all the WISHers racing tomorrow and Monday!!!

[Tiger Lily 03]

Carol, I'm sorry this was a difficult day. You did it though and should be proud of yourself. Some days are like that and you drove through it. You will be stronger now.

Joan, good for you to get out and do that race. What a pace! Great job!

Paul, Congratulations to you. This WAS YOUR Day for sure!

[thndrmatt]

Gotta do a blurb here, as not only did I do the Mullet Man Triathlon, but DW did her first ever Triathlon as well! :worship:

We managed an abusive swim in a choppy Gulf of Mexico and then a 100 yard run across soft sand into transition in 14:12 and 16:08 (swim course seemed long, especially when compared to last year when I did this event and had a swim split of 7:00).

She said she had real WISH shirt issues trying to get her sleeveless over her salty wet body so she ended up going without for the bike, other than that no real equipment malfunctions as we covered T1+the 17 mile flat bike course with constant crosswind in 56:40 and 1:05:10.

Threw on our running shoes and managed T2+the 4 mile run course in 38:39 and 48:11.

Eventually powered through the finish in overall times of 1:49:30 and 2:09:28.

186th and 268th out of 311 overall shows the caliber of athletes around here... We did get a lot of comments on the WISH shirt after the race wearing it around!

In other news, I'm sad to report that we will not be attending the Minnie Marathon weekend this year. I'll be deployed, yet again leaving within a few weeks of a major Disney race. :sad2: And DW's hips/knees are not yet fully recovered from her Goofy experience (longest run has been the 4 miler today) and we don't want to risk reinjury going too far too fast. But as always (for the third time so far) I'll be back in a few months ready to race again. :yay:

I've got my training plan for my deployment all worked out, and my goals are to attempt a century (100 mile) bike ride on 23 August, and then we'll both be returning to Disneyland for the Half Marathon on 31 August!

I'll be back in early July, but you never know when I might sneak on here to post while over there... :rolleyes1

[Kira G.]

Well, it was a wonderful day for my first race – the “Clean Air 5K” in honor of Earth Day! The weather was perfect Philadelphia spring weather; this has got to be my favorite season of all here. It was in the 60’s this morning, got up to the low 80’s today, and beautifully clear and sunny (the humidity and pollution come later in the year!). The cherry trees are blooming, the daffodils are up, and it was just a gorgeous morning.

If my schedule had allowed for it, I could have picked up my race packet on Friday downtown. However, I knew that was not in the cards, so I planned to be at the race when registration started, at about 7:30am. In hindsight I could have slept an additional half hour or so and gotten there around 8 or 8:15, but it was fine. I found parking about a 7 minute walk from the start, and got to the starting area at about 7:40. There was no one in line and I picked up my chip, bib and T-shirt in just a few minutes.

The only beef I had with the set-up was that they gave me my T-shirt when I checked in, but there was nowhere to stow it while I was running. I ended up just carrying it during the race, which was quite annoying! Also, there were some great give-aways (free National Park water bottles etc.) that I knew would be gone by the time I was done running, but I didn’t grab them because I had nowhere to put them. I had about an hour to kill after I got my stuff, and I really wished I’d had someone to hang out with.

There were about 1300 people in the race. Things got going about 2-3 minutes late (not sure why), but everything ran pretty smoothly. I discovered about ¼ mile after the start that I had forgotten to reset my Garmin since my last run (aaaaargh!), so I could not track exactly how I was doing – although I had a pretty good idea. There was hardly any shade in the race so I was really glad to have my WISH visor – it was comfortable and functional, and felt great.

I’ve been generally running 5 minutes/walking 1 for most of my training runs. For the race I ran most of the time except for about 3 minutes – one at the turn-around, and twice in the second half. My goal was to finish under 35 minutes, and I did it! I finished at 34:49, with an average pace of 11:14 minute miles! This was a great pace for me, and I was really satisfied with my time. I was 25th out of 41 women in my age group (40-44). The great thing about a first race is that it is inevitably a PR!!!

There was a lot of great food and drink at the finish – Philly pretzels, bagels, fruit, Cliff Bars, drinks, free coffee – it was awesome! Because it was Earth Day there was a lot of other great stuff also: free compact fluorescent lightbulbs, recycled paper towels & TP, laundry detergent etc. This was a really fun, well-organized race, and I would be happy to do it again next year!

About 2 years ago I started the C25K plan for the first time. I think I restarted that plan 2 or 3 times before January when I found the WISH boards. When I first embarked on this journey I really felt like running 3.1 miles was impossible for me! Today I did it in a race, and it was fun and joyful. Thank you to everyone!

Now on to the next challenge!

[aldisneygrl]

Well, I did my first race as a 40 year old! Ok, so I just turned 40 yesterday, but I had a new PR! I did the 5K in 35:29. I also got to use my new birthday present....my Garmin 305! I even had a local Fleet Feet guy show me how to mark my splits! :thumbsup2 Now I don't have to do the math in my head anymore. :lmao: And we all know how that wasn't working for me. ;) Although, my heart rate was up in Zone 4 & 5 almost the whole time. :eek: Guess I'll have to monitor that.

Good luck to everyone who is racing tomorrow. :thumbsup2

[curiouser]

Well, Frank hasn't given a race report yet on the Old Oak Run but here's how I saw it...

After Frank had crossed the finish line, cooled down, got some water, ate a banana, translated War and Peace from Russian into Pig Latin... I crossed the finish line at 41:17.10. I did it, I finished. I am not happy with my time due to the big fact that the Nike+ had me running at a much faster pace. I have now realized that I need to re-calibrate my Nike+. I've gone through the highs (finishing) and lows (seeing my pace) but I learned a lot about myself and my running style. So those are good things. I just need to get out there keep going, especially since one of my birthday presents was a paid entry to Race for the Taste!! :scared1:

[windwalker]

Yay WISHers, everyone did super!!!!!


GO WISH TEAM!!!

[Big Vic]

Everyone - http://members.cox.net/bvbd1/congrad.gif

Matt - Be safe!

[lourodrigis]

Today I ran my first race in the "40-49" age bracket. It was the Penn Relays Distance Classic 20K in Philadelphia, PA. It was an absolutely perfect day for running. The temp at the start was in the mid to high 50’s with a slight overcast. By the middle of the race the sun was out and the temp got up to the high 60’s but the humidity was still pretty decent.

The Distance Classic is one of the “open to the general public” events that mark the start of the Penn Relays, the famous track meet hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. I was surprised by the small number of runners but I think it had a lot to do with the fact that most of the people running appeared to be experienced runners. This was a “running” event and I didn’t see anyone walking to the finish line. Most of the runners looked to be in great shape so there was a little competitiveness in the air.

My goal for this race was to try to stay below an 8.0 mpm pace from start to finish. I finished in 1:37:05 for a 7:47 pace so I achieved the goal for the this!

Course

Most of the runners in this event were local so everyone was probably very familiar with the majority of this course. The race started on 33rd Street, just outside of Franklin Field, and headed east on 33rd Street towards the Spring Garden St. bridge. After crossing the bridge it was down a few ramps towards the Art Museum and on to MLK Drive (aka West River Drive). My guess is that 90% of the runners in this event run most of their LR’s along “the loop” around the Schuylkill River so everyone was probably very familiar with the terrain.

The course followed MLK Drive to the Falls Bridge and then headed along Kelly Drive (aka East River Drive) for about a ½ mile to a turnaround and then back up the hill to the Falls Bridge again. After that it was basically retracing our steps back down MKL Drive, through West Philadelphia, and finally ending inside of Franklin Field.

The Race

I basically ran about as perfect a race for me as I could. I stayed between a 7:30 and 8:00 mpm pace the entire race. The fastest split I had was 7:09 mpm on Mile 1-2 but that was due to so early adrenaline and some nice downhill grades.

I got a little tired around Mile 10 but hung in there and had paces of 8:01, 8:22, and 8:01 for the last 3 miles. It was a nice feeling running into Franklin Field with some gas in the tank and being able to give it some gas as I ran one lap around the track.

Highlights

PR – I have never run a 20K before so this was an easy PR. However, I am fairly certain that this was the fastest 20K I have ever run, including training runs and other long distance events. The nice weather helped but I think a lot had to do with the competition. It’s easier to run at a faster pace when you have lots of experienced runners around you.

Well Organized - Can't complain about the volunteers. I was in and out on the pre-race registration in seconds. The number of runners was fairly small so it wasn’t that hard to organize an event like this.
Scenic – The trails along the Schuylkill are as nice a place to run as any location in the country. With the exception of the short jaunt through West Philly this course is very enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong the West Philly portion isn’t bad but it’s just not that scenic. Finishing inside of Franklin Field is also very nice.

Lowlights - I really can’t think of many. This was a nice race and for $20 you can’t beat the price.

The crowds were a little weak but I guess most of these runners were in it for the race and didn’t need much inspiration. I was just a little disappointed that there really were not many people inside the stadium for the finish. Oh well.

[TXAng]

Carol – Sorry it wasn’t fun, but good for you for sticking with it and finishing!

Joan – Great time! What a wonderful cause to run for.

Paul – Congrats on the awesome PR!!

Matt – Great job on the tri! Sorry you’re getting deployed again - stay safe!

Kira – WTG on breaking under 35:00! Sounds like you had a great first race!

Allie – Congrats on a new PR!

Morgan – Congrats on finishing your first 5K! Sorry that your pace was slower than you wanted, but the important thing is that you got out there and did it.

Lou – Wow, smoking pace! WTG!

[dsnyfan21]

Morgan: Yeh for you:cool1: ! You did it and that is what's important. Your first 5k, way to go. Now you can work on the other things and it will all come together!!. Good for you.

Matt: Great report on the TRI!! Sounds like eveything went well (except the shirt and the choppy GUlf!) I am sorry to hear that you are being sent out again. Please be safe and God's Speed!!

All the WISHERs did great this weekend!! Congrats!

[blizzard]

Tour de Airdrie 5K (Airdrie, Alberta, Canada)

First let me say, Leana, you picked a good weekend to be out of town!

Weather Conditions at the start of the race:
• Light Snow
• Temperature -12C (10F)
• Wind NNW 33km/h gusting to 46km/h (21mph gusting to 29mph)
• Wind Chill -23C(-9F)

A little background: This was my first ever running race. I decided to do this race about a month ago. At the time, we were well into spring weather, although around here the weather is extremely variable. Looking at pictures from last year, most runners were wearing long sleeves, but I was hopeful that this year would be warmer. (One week ago, the temperature here was 25C (77F), so my hopes weren’t unreasonable!) Anyway, things really started to unravel on Wednesday. That was my big run outside in preparation for the race. All of my running had been on the treadmill (at 1% incline), so I wanted to go out and practice my pacing and get the feel for outside running. Well, right off the bat, I didn’t press the right button on my watch, so I messed up the timing. I went out too fast, and was not running well. Worst of all, I’ve had some nagging ankle soreness (my guess is posterior shin splints), and my ankle was really sore after the run. I decided that I wasn’t going to run between Wednesday and Sunday to try to rest/recover my ankle. In the interim, I’ve had lots of time to look at the weather forecast. They considered cancelling the race based on the forecast, but decided to go ahead. With everything conspiring against me, I decided to completely give up on my time goal, and just go out and have fun.

The race weather was just completely brutal. Warming up, wasn’t really a viable option, as the wind and snow were just making you colder. Hardly anyone even ventured outside until they were ready to start the race. They started the half-marathon first (thank goodness I didn’t have to run that far today!). Then they started the 5K and 10K together. I think a lot of people missed the race start, waiting inside too long. The first leg was not too bad—wind at your back and slight downhill. The trail was mostly ok, although narrowed even further with the drifting snow. There was only room for 2 people across, so passing was sometimes difficult. I was trying to stay to the right, unless I was passing, and then I checked to make sure I wasn’t cutting anyone off. Between 2km and 4km, the route was uphill and mostly into the wind. I was pretty happy with how I did, as I passed a fair number of people on that stretch. There were some icy patches, and drifted snow which made the footing challenging. The last km started ok, as it was downhill, but this section had the worst of the wind and snow. We were mostly running right into it, and the path circles a lake, which meant there was no wind break of any kind. The snow had drifted over large portions of the path, and we literally were running through ankle deep snow for portions near the end. I was relieved to finally make it to the finish line, and I was sure glad I was only doing 5K.

I came nowhere near what I think I am capable of running for a 5K time, but I think with the conditions today, I did pretty well. By my watch, I finished in 36:30. Now that I’ve had a hot shower and warmed up, I’m looking forward to scrapbooking “My First Race”, as it certainly is a story to tell.

Me before leaving home:
http://members.shaw.ca/cvmulder/before.jpg

The finish line area:
http://members.shaw.ca/cvmulder/finish.jpg

[joan4mickey]

Carol I'm speechless...:worship: :worship: :worship:

[AmyBeth68]

Carol!!! :thumbsup2 GREAT job under really tough conditions. Congrats on your first 5k :).

Morgan: Awesome job on your first race too!!! You must be on :cloud9: !

Lou: I told ya' it'd be a smokin' fast pace ;). Awesome job!

Allie: Congrats on a new PR!!! :cool1:


Kira: :goodvibes Yay for a great pace and your first race!!!! WTG!!!!

Matt and DW: Wow...you guys did awesome. Tell her congrats for her first Tri. That is surely something to be proud of! Stay safe during deployment...gonna' miss you at the Minnie!!!! :grouphug:

Paul: WOAH..that's an amazing PR! You must be flying high today! :worship:

[lourodrigis]

Carol - I knew I had it good for my 20K today with temps ranging from 55-65 and low humidity. However, I had no idea how good I had it. Oh my God! I give you lots of credit because I would have bailed if I saw snow at the start of a race. Actually the 10 degree temps would have got me even if there was no snow. WAY TO GO!!!!

Kira - Now I know why there were not many people running the Penn Relays 20K today...they were at your race. I saw the balloons and the crowds at the Art Museum when I ran by. It looked like a nice event. Your post race spread was definitely better. Nice race by the way!

[CynthiaCindy]

My race report for the LAWS Run for the Shelter Half Marathon in Leesburg, VA.

Sorry, this is going to be a bit long - I'm pretty excited - this was an unexpectedly good race for me.

It rained the whole time. Actually, that's not entirely true, it did stop raining for a bit before the race started so that at the start time it was not raining, but then the rain started up again before I got to the first mile and never stopped. At some points it was light rain but at other times it was pretty heavy. I was soaked but, except for my feet, I was pretty comfortable for the entire race. It was around 60 degrees and I was comfortable in shorts and short sleeves. My feet were less comfortable because so much water got in my shoes that it was like there were little lakes in there and I was squishing and squashing around.

The race was run on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail which is actually the trail to which there is an entrance across the street from where I live, so it is the trail that I do 99% of my runs on. So that was kind of cool. We live near mile 4 and the race was run from mile 30 something to mile 40 something. I had never been out that far. The race started at the County fairgrounds (complete with parking in the mud). Out there the trail ran mostly past farmland and big expensive houses. All the trees were very green and it was kind of pretty. In a way, it was probably good that the weather was so bad. The trail is pretty narrow and on nice days there are always tons of bikers out (at least on the parts of the trail that I have run on there are) so it might have been a little tight with people trying to pass other runners and bikers trying to pass them.

The race was an out and back, which I know some people don't like, but I actually love. I like watching the runners going in the other direction. I knew that only the top 100 finishers got medals so I actually counted the people ahead as they turned around to see where I stood. There were about 130-40 (I didn't say I was good at counting:rolleyes: ) people ahead of me, so I knew I had no chance, which is fine, I figured I didn't have much chance going into the race. In the end, I got something better than a medal - a PR:cool1: I broke 2 hours! Going into the race, I thought there was no way that I would beat my National Half Marathon PR time of 2:01:11 (from 3 weeks ago). I actually ran the first 4 miles way too fast for me (all under 9 minute) because this was a very fast crowd. I figured I was going to pay for that later but wasn't too concerned because I had no real time goal. After the 8 mile marker, I checked my total time and realized that I had a very good chance of getting under 2 hours if I didn't fall apart. My splits did start to get slower and there was an uphill during the 12th mile and after the 12 mile marker, I didn't think I was going to make it, but then there was a slight downhill that helped me get my pace up and I was able to finish the 13th mile under 8:30 and then charged up the last .1 uphill finish (seriously, why do I always pick races that have uphill finishes? The 8k last weekend did too). Results have not been posted yet. I have a watch time of 1:59:24. I assume the official time will be a bit slower, but I know the clock had not yet hit 2 hours when I crossed the finish line.

Mike (Optimater) and I met up before the race and chatted and then he waited around until after I finished (which I really appreciate - thanks Mike!) after his smoking fast time, which I will let him tell you about. The only food that they had was bananas, but soon after I finished, the Papa Johns delivery man showed up. Lots of pizza! Totally hit the spot. After the pizza, my DH came back from the 18 mile training run that he was doing and we all chatted and then I was getting really cold by that point, so we left.

[CynthiaCindy]

Carol A - you should be proud of yourself for sticking with it. Sounds like a really tough course.

Joan - Great pace and sounds like it was for a great cause!

Paul - that is awesome - what a huge PR. You must be super excited!

Matt - great job on the tri. Please stay safe.

Kira - Congratulations on your first race!! And you met your time goal!

Allie - Way to go on the new PR!

Morgan - you finished your first race and you should be very proud!

Lou - yeah, smoking fast pretty much covers it.

Carol (blizzard) - um, all I can say is WOW! Way to go! (Did I complain about rain earlier?)

[Optimator]

I was waiting for Cindy to post because she is so much better at the course description. I can just be lazy and say "See Cindy's post" then add a few of my own inpressions.

This was my first non-chip timed race, my first out and back race, my first race in a monsoon, my first half where I was concerned about time. Lots of new stuff.

It was a good experience inspite of the nasty weather. In a weird twist for an out and back (and much appreciated), to me the slight uphills didn't seem as uphill as the downhills seemed down :confused3 . That really helped for miles 7 through about 9. I'm happy to say that no one passed me after about mile 3 and I was able to pick off quite a few over the last half. I ran a little faster than I planned (seems to be a recurring theme with me) but was able to keep the pace throughout (not always a recurring theme :laughing: ).

I finished in 1:41 and some change so I was really happy with that. :yay:


Carol A - Way to stick with it!

Carol (Blizzard) - Appropriate screen name for today, it would seem. Nice job in those crazy conditions.

Joan - Way to go! You did great for a great cause.

Paul - Whoa! You were picking them up and layin' them down. Great PR!

Lou - Awesome, old man!

Morgan - Hooray for your first race. Many more to come, I'm sure.

Matt - Great job for you and MsTrop. Stay safe!

Kira - Excellent! It sounds like you really enjoyed your first race experience!

Allie - Fabulous race. Congrats on the PR!


Wow!! Did I miss anyone? Quite a WISH weekend!

[lourodrigis]

Cindy - Awesome job despite some nasty conditions. It must have been rough running in shoes full of water. Did you get a lot of blisters? It looks like the bad weather stayed away from Philly today. With my allergies I am not sure if I would have minded the rain.

Cindy, no age group win for me. I thought I'd get lucky and win the 40-49 group on my second day of being 40.

Mike - You're the man! You posted a 1:41 time in the rain? Dude, 1/2 marathons are just warm up runs for you. I'll be too old to keep up with you at Philly.

Jodi - I read about 1/2 of Chi Running yesterday and I tried some Chi today during my race. It worked.

The Penn Relay results just came in and I was 70th out of 200. I guess I showed the young kids what us "old heads" can do in a race.

Lou

[twoWDWfools]

Hey guys -- sorry for the delay and advance apologizes for the length of this. I'll catch up on everyone's reports tomorrow.

The Promise Run for Wellness was on Saturday 4/19 in Aurora.

This event had a 3k, 5K and 10K. I contacted them before signing up and asked about walking the 10K. Response was you bet! No prob. When the final instructions and course maps came out two weeks ago it said "Walkers are encouraged to sign up for the 3K so that runners may enjoy the longer courses." WHAT?! So I contacted them again and was told they put that out there for people who may not understand how long 5K and 10K are but I am certainly welcome to walk the longer distance. There is no set time limit. (This is all in emails.)

Was about 56 and light rain when the race was supposed to start at 8am. They decided to try to wait it out so didn't go until 8.30am. No real biggie. Did clear up and we even saw some sun.

So at 8.30 they tell everyone to get into the corral. Yes, everyone. 3K, 5K, 10K and there is no signage for times. Can you say mess? Saw couple of kids nearly get throttled when they started dodging in/out of runners.

The course was advertised as flat - not so much. Couple steep hills and the course doubled back on itself several times. Plus the 5K and 10K shared the same course at times. Volunteers were great in directing everyone to the right section and cheering though.

All’s good until I head for my last lap around the lake which is also the last mile. Come around the corner and the water station is empty. No people, no water just a table. This guy pulls up in a van full of the volunteers from that table (recognized them from first time around) and says "Are you in the race?" Yes. "Oh, we thought everyone was done so closed the course." Excuse me???? Did you send out someone on a bike or car or roller skates to check? "No, we just kinda figured everyone was done."

I can see people coming off the far side of the lake's path so obviously not everyone is done AND there was a woman behind me still. They've re-opened the lake path which is now full of groups of people on bikes, skates, etc. So I had to grab the path up the hill back to the finish line. Was at 5.28 miles on my Garmin when I crossed the line. 1:17:03 which is a 14:58 mpm – my goal was to maintain 15mpm for the Minnie so I’ve done that but these idiots took away my last mile!

Got home, showered and started to cry. All of a sudden felt like a failure. Obviously I wasn’t fast enough to finish in time. Patrick kept reminding me that I did not fail – they did. They failed to set a time limit and publicize it and to check the course before closing it. Still felt crappy all day.

Today got out on bikes and put in 20 miles in absolutely beautiful weather. Sunny and 70. I feel much better and they WILL be hearing from me tomorrow.

Sorry so long but thanks for ‘listening’.

Liz

[AmyBeth68]

Mike: :worship: Another incredible race.

Cindy: :worship: Ditto! I'm so impressed with your pace girl!

Liz: :hug: Don't be discouraged...you raced hard and got out there...don't let THEIR failure as a race organizer make YOU feel bad. Think of all the people who stayed home and didn't move their bodies or sweat!!!. Don't focus on your pace or the stupidity of the race director...but instead focus on the overall accomplishment. Besides...your pace will easily get you through the Minnie...and it WILL be better due to a better course and better organization. Minnie course is actually flat ;)...it's not a lie! Hang in there and be proud of yourself. GREAT job on getting the 20 miler in as well!

[Cruella de mom]

What a weekend WISH team!

Way to go CarolA! You stuck it out inspite of leg issues and wanting to quit.
Not every race can be a PR. Some are just there to make the rest feel even better. You did it. Be proud.

Joan aka Miss Spontaniety! What a great thing to get up and run a race and help the food bank as well. And you did it with a smoking time too.

Paul - WOW!! Can you just blow some of that spped in my direction?!? I know what it took to take 4 minutes off my PR, I cannot imagine 26! Way to go!

Matt - Ditto Vic, be safe. We just get Z home and now you are off into the danger zone. I hope DW takes some time to heal those legs and hips.

About 2 years ago I started the C25K plan for the first time. I think I restarted that plan 2 or 3 times before January when I found the WISH boards. When I first embarked on this journey I really felt like running 3.1 miles was impossible for me! Today I did it in a race, and it was fun and joyful. Thank you to everyone!
Now on to the next challenge! That just about sums up the whole idea of WISH in one paragraph. Congratulations on a great race!

Allie - You are already ahead of me since I ran my first race in the 40 age bracket. Way to go on a great race. A couple hints about this age bracket - its more competitive than the 35-40 group but with fewer participants. My partner (39) will finish with me and be 21 of 50 women and I will be 35 of 40 women. It can be discouraging. Just remember though that alot of the women in our age group have been running for 20 years or so.
I crossed the finish line at 41:17.10. I did it, I finished.....I've gone through the highs (finishing) and lows (seeing my pace) but I learned a lot about myself and my running style. So those are good things. I just need to get out there keep going, especially since one of my birthday presents was a paid entry to Race for the Taste!! :scared1:Way to Go Morgan! You ran your first 5K. There is a learning curve in racing, you have to learn how to pace and what YOU need to get you through the race. Its different for each individual so experience is the only way to figure it out.

Lou - Welcome to your new age bracket! Way to start it out in style.

The race weather was just completely brutal.
That is a complete understatement! :scared1: Way to go. I guarantee you I would have stayed in bed.

Cindy- WAY TO GO!!! Can you send me a little pixie dust that I can break 2 hours this Saturday? Oh I am so happy for you!

Mike - Awesome time! Great Job.

Liz - Someone needs to be shot. How dare they do that to you? Go back and reread what Amybeth said and take it to heart.

[cdn_gal_eeyore]

Yesterday's Vancouver Sun Run was quite the event as 59,175 folks registered to make this the largest 10K road race in North America. A funky weather system rolled through western Canada though, making for some unseasonably chilly weather at the start, although not nearly as bad as what Carol experienced at the Tour de Airdrie! Luckily our hotel was right on the start line, and right at the corral we were in so we were able to head out at the last minute. I checked a top in at the gear check ($5) as I figured I would need it at the end.

What does it look like to line up with almost 60,000 other runners?

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u85/lkketo/Vancouver%20Sun%20Run/Vancouver081.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u85/lkketo/Vancouver%20Sun%20Run/Vancouver084.jpg

Our corral was the third to go as I predicted a 50-58 min finish (maybe a bit optomistic) so we crossed the start line 9 min after the official start. This race definitely holds a lot of memories for me as it was the first race I ever participated in. I absolutely love running in Vancouver and the course is amazing. My shin started bugging me after the first mile, but by about 2 miles it sorted itself out and I got into a groove. The km markers were flying by. I knew I wasn't on target to go sub 60:00, but I came in around 1:03:14 (still waiting on the official results). I hung around at the finish line waiting for my BF and he was less than 10 min behind me. There were a ton of people available to remove chips, unfortunately it was set up poorly. People were stopping at the first person they saw to get their chip removed, leaving plenty of chip removers behind them twiddling their thumbs. Apparently later in the race there was a schmozzle at the finish line with people being so backed up that they couldn't cross the timing mats. After chip removal we went to gear check and the line up was insane. This was what it looked like after 10 min of waiting:

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u85/lkketo/Vancouver%20Sun%20Run/Vancouver090.jpg

I finally got to the front and I handed my bib number to a volunteer that I never saw again. After waiting for 20 min (along with lots of other runners that were waiting forever to get their gear) I flag another girl down to ask her to look for my bag. After several minutes I see her looking for someone else's gear as she had forgotten to look for mine. At this point in time a few of us decide to hop over the table to start looking for our stuff ourselves. I look all over the floor and nothing. As I'm about to write off my gear I see my bag on another table. I realize that volunteers are imperative to a race but the fact that whoever went to grab my bag didn't bother to make sure it got back to me - that really bothers me.

Apart from the snafu at the end I really enjoyed the race and the weekend in Vancouver was a great one. Too bad we have so much snow on the ground that it looks like January in Calgary now though!

Update on my results:
1:03:11
Overall: 15,953 out of 44,160
Females Overall: 5866 out of 24,866
F25-29: 1277 out of 3814

[wtpclc]

COngratulations to all teh WISHers!

FOrgive me for only singling out a few.

Paul - Way to go on teh PR!

Cheryl - WTG on your first tri!

CarolA - I think a big taper weekend will do you good. Itr's beetter to be under trained than over. So, if you stick to 3 to 5 (or less) this week, you will be fine. WTG for hangning in there on a tough race!

Blizzard - :scared1: Remind me never to whine about MI winter again. ;)

Liz - :grouphug: You did not fail. Repeat after me. "I did not fail" That is awful of them, but you can't beat yourself up fro their screw up! :grouphug: :grouphug: