Race Report #1
Friday morning I came home from work slept about two hours and we picked up Robert from preschool at noon and brought him home for my Mom to watch him. Then we made the three hour drive to Champange-Urbana Illinois, home of the University of Illinois where the race was held. Parking and packet pickup were a piece of cake and they had a small expo, mostly promoting upcoming races. They still had openings for the 5K, so Liz signed up also. I had signed up for the I-Challenge which was the 5K on Friday night and the Half on Saturday. Then we found our hotel about ten minutes away and checked in , and changed for the race.
The 5K was alot of fun and a pretty festive start to the weekend. I think there were 2500 racers, some in costume. I saw Darth Vader, all in the school's colors of Orange and Blue carrying an orange light saber. Also, a few guys in nothing but blue speedos. I started in the middle of the pack, Liz went to the rear. The race turned out to be mostly down hill the whole way with a little rise at about mile two, with more downhill leading into the football stadium for the finish on the 50 yard line. I must have had the right about of caffine because I rocked this race and passed a whole bunch of people after pacing myself at the start. There was a huge crowd cheering along the streets and a bunch of the frat houses set up speakers on their front porches and had music blaring. (and I mean blaring!) I finished in 26:55, missing a PR by 35 seconds. Liz set a new PR of 30:24! It is my fastest 5K of the year so far. We collected a nice medal at the end, headed to the hotel, showered, and went out for a bite to eat.
Saturday- Half marathon
Saturday started windy, overcast, and cold. I think the temp was 42. I dropped Liz off at her voulteer spot and headed for the parking near the start. Along the way I passed alot of signs along the racecourse, including one that read "runners don't read this, keep running!" The start of the half was near where the 5K had started and parking was close, so I stayed in the car as long as I could to stay warm.
At the start they had a woman (forget her name) that had won Boston eight times, encouraging us on. They started us in waves and I had lined up with the 2:15 pace group. The pace guy, Jay, was amazing as we ran. He kept perfect pace, annouced turns, waterstops, and cheered us all on. I lost him at the wave start, but caught up to him in the first half mile. Along the way a woman kind of hooked up with me and we started talking, and sharing race stories. Her name was Janna and we really hit it off. The miles ticked off up to mile ten where I had to make a pit stop and lost the pace group. The course was really great, winding through the neighborhoods surrounding the college and through a park. Again, the crowds were great and music was everywhere. In the park, there were several art scupltures and one was a nude woman that someone had tied some running shoes and bib number onto. She looked alot like and ex-girlfriend of mine...
I almost caught the pace group again by mile 12 but was running out of steam. The crowd had really quitied down at the end and I heard another runner ask why they weren't cheering. (Probably because they had been out there at least two hours) Something went haywire inside me and I lost it and started screaming for everyone to cheer. I was yelling that we were the tired ones and they needed to make some noise. I pretty much lost it, and had a very weird moment of "wow, am I really yelling that? Is that my voice?" Being of Viking descent, I wondered if I had gone through a berserker spell. I expended so much energy yelling at everyone, I almost had to stop, really- just stop. I felt like I was going to barf and started shaking. I did happen to make the last quarter mile, but it wasn't pretty.
I finished in 2:14:41, collected my medals (one for the half, one for the I-Challenge) and met Liz outside the stadium. I was wiped out and took a long time to calm down. Funny thing, the race was so well put together that we are going back next year!
Sunday- Half marathon number two!
I started Sunday at home, not wanting to get out of bed. My legs were not happy, and the bed was warm and comfy. I got up, took a hot shower and headed out in the cold again. The Great Western half marathon was about a half hour from our house and held on a bikepath through some woods. There were only about 750 runners, as opposed to the 7500 the day before. I started at the back and pretty much stayed there. There were several hills at the start, but it was an out and back so it finished downhill. I struggled quite a bit and walked alot. Once my legs warmed up they worked pretty well. I finished in 2:24:41, but I finished. I collected my medal and hung out for awhile to recover a bit. It had gotten much warmer outside and several people were getting medical assistance, including at least two on strechers. I had survived my great experiment, and gained some mental training for the Goofy.
So, all in all, I collected four medals, three shirts, and covered 29.3 miles during the weekend. In two weekends, I am doing a 25K and a half back to back. We'll see if I had beginners luck!
Train on everyone! I'm leaving straight from work in the morning for WDW and 90 degree weather! Somebody warn the Yeti, I'm coming for him!
- Mike
I definitely support not in a park if only because depending on the day, we ight not get a full use of the pass.
I've made a lot of friends on WISH too and like you I think of them as family!
