Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos - 1 - 3 October

[Big Vic]

Friday and Saturday, 1 and 2 Oct

1 - 2 –Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend, WDW
airman (), becky11 (Amy) (Half) and DD (Kids Race), Chimera (Mel), DisneyBride03 (), disneygirlinnj (Jenn), dsnyfan21 (Tracy), Embroidery Grandma (Kathy) and DH (John VN), escape (Susie), FireDancer (Frank), goofy57 (Stan), goofyinohio (Chris), JimB (Jim), Jusacuza (Jessica), Kirsty-Leigh (Kirsty), ksoehrlein (), Lexxifern (Becky), Maherae (Ann) and DH Bob, marathonmommy (), MikeofRose&Mike (Mike) and DW (Rose), mla1977 (Megan), mousemgr2 (Susan), NeverlandClub23 (Kimberly), SamSam (), suzannews (Suzanne), Tiger Lily 03 (Lily) and DH (Ted), WDWFAN9 (Pat), WDWFLgal (Angela), wdwprncess77 (Jane)

2 - fairestoneofall (Emily) Isle of Palms Connector 10k Isle of Palms, SC

Sunday, 3 Oct

3 - Pungodingy (Angie) Hampton Rockfest Half Marathon
3 - verticalchaos (Beth) Get Outside on Governor's Island 10K

3 - Hershey Half Marathon Relay
lourodrigis (Lou), LuckyMum22 and LuckyDad22 (Barb and Bob), RatherBeWithMickey (Mindy), wvjules (Julie)


GO! WISH Team GO!

 

[jmasgat]

Good luck everyone! Rock those races. And don't forget race reports and pictures.

Maura

 

[becky11]

My DD did awesome with her first Disney kids race - first race ever actually!!

They weren't so good at announcing that there were going to be several heats of the younger (Blue) group first, so when they were saying "GO" for the second heat of the Blue group, the Yellow group (DD's group) all went. So, they got a little warm-up fun, but unfortunately, some kids tripped and fell when they were trying to send them back.

All in all - a great time!

 

[smacky1]

I am also doing the Hampton Rockfest! Im doing the full marathon, my first. Good luck Angie! Let me know your number when you get it!

 

[verticalchaos]

Good luck to all my fellow racers this weekend - whatever race you're running!!

 

[DianeL]

Go Wine & Dine Racers!!! Kid you not, we ARE up and cheering from the arm chairs tonight!

Frank, Carrie had to confirm that it was indeed your name I came across with that amazing pace! Congrats!!!!!



Emily i hope you had a great race Saturday!!!

Those racing Sunday!!! Have fun!!!

Back to the virtual sideline LOL just had to get the popcorn for Carrie LOL

The racers are all doing GREAT tonight!!!! Woohooo!!!

 

[Mrs D]

Congrats to Frank with a 1:26!!!! 26 th overall!

 

[Mrs D]

Finally posted the relay results - I did leg 1 in 1:07:00 and two-foxes did leg 2 in 1:23:22!!!
The race was huge!!! And I was so glad to meet goofyinohio ( Chris) in my corral. It was to have someone to chat with.
The finish line party was fun but boy was it crowded with long lines! I'm not expected it to be that way on Monsay when I do the complete. F&W.

 

[verticalchaos]

Wow!! Congrats Frank!! You did a HM in just over the time it took me to do a 10K

Now that I've said that... My race report!!

I'm back from the Get Outside on Governor's Island 10K!!

It was my first, and overall it was great! It was COLD at the start because of wind - I guess when you're on a little island in New York Harbor you're going to get wind from all sides. But once I got going I forgot about it - except when it became a headwind from hades. Oy!

Still, I ran within myself and walked when I needed to. I still improved on my 5K time with the first 1/2 of the race. I was on track to essentially double that time but in the last mile or so, my right knee tightened up a bit so I slowed down to keep from doing serious damage.

One thing that was great that at around 4.1, someone from my running club was the volunteer marshall. We hadn't met yet, but I was wearing my new club singlet, and she saw it and was all "WOOHOO FRONT RUNNERS!!!!!!" and then asked if I was Beth (we have a women's listserve, so we'd chatted online). She was SOOOOOO encouraging, it helped me fly through that section of the course.

I still managed to pull a 1:17:19 chip time!! (1:18:10 gun time) So I'm happy with that! Even if I was last in my age group. I RAN IT and that's what matters!!

Eating now, and icing the knees with bags of berries and chicken fried rice. Hey...you go with what you've got. LOL.

Hope everyone had a great day!!

~beth

adding on my pre-leaving for the race photo...with the infamous "I've got to take it in the mirror" backwardsness. LOL.

 

[DianeL]

WTG Mrs D and two foxes!!! Congrats to you both!!

Congrats Beth!!! So glad you were able to see someone you knew along the course. It's such a pick-me-up when you get those. Loved the bags of berries and chicken

 

[FireDancer]

Congrats to Frank with a 1:26!!!! 26 th overall!

Thank you but I had a 1:29:38, I wish it was a 1:26 but the course was a little harder then I expected and the humidity didn't help so I'm happy with it.

Congratulations everyone who ran the half or relay. There were some rough edges, as I'd expect from an inaugural event, but overall I was pleased with it. I'm not sure if the reviews will be here or on the race thread so I'll wait to do mine.

 

[verticalchaos]

WTG Mrs D and two foxes!!! Congrats to you both!!

Congrats Beth!!! So glad you were able to see someone you knew along the course. It's such a pick-me-up when you get those. Loved the bags of berries and chicken

Thanks Diane! And yeah...I've quickly discovered that's one of the best things about being in a running club - all the support you get at races and in training! And about the bags...yeah. I know peas are pretty much the standard, but I didn't have any in my freezer, so you go with what you've got. The fried rice actually molds to the knee really well - probably at least as good as peas. So I may keep an extra bag of it around for icing purposes.

 

[timmac]

Hello,

I haven't been on the boards much lately, and wasn't even on the list, but wanted to drop by to say that I ran my fifth marathon this past Saturday, the NH Marathon (second time I've run it). Last year's run of this event still stands as my PR, which I missed this time around by about nine minutes.

Finished in 5:06:50, 180/240 overall, 55/59 in my age division. I'm not disappointed by the performance, though I am looking for some improvement from myself nonetheless.

I had gone into the race with the hopes of hitting a new PR somewhere around 4:45 range. Unfortunately, I went out way too fast. Ran the first 10 miles at 10-minute pace, and even by mile 16 was still better than a 10:30 average pace. I paid the price for that after mile 17, having to drop into run-walk intervals for several miles. By mile 19-20ish, I got some type of mojo back, and was able to maintain mostly running again, still walking a minute two every so often, just kind of coasting to the finish.

Weather was perfect, course was beautiful as always (if hilly as all heck), and the event was well run!

 

[luckymum22]

My first Half Marathon experience-
Well, it was a relay...I'm saving my official Half for Jan. 8, 2011!
My husband, Bob, and I ran the Hershey Half Marathon
Together we ran the 13.1 miles in 2:08:09
Official time 1:17:55 for me, 207th place out of 240 relay runners..ugh!
Bob came in 57th place-he ran his part in 51:05 He is so fast!

I liked doing the relay with my husband because I was done just when I needed to be, I was starting to feel it in my hip and knee. It turned out that I ran 7 miles. I thought it would be closer to 6.65. He ran 6.1 for the last part and since I'm slower, he passed everyone. I think that made him run even faster! Bob says he didn't like doing it this way and would have rather run the whole thing together. He always stays with me though, so we wouldn't have seen how fast he really is! We both got the same medal that everyone who ran the whole 13.1 got! My first medal-very cool!
I met a few members of Team AllEars there too. If you want, you can check out my pictures on my facebook page.

Yes there was chocolate! The goody bags had a chocolate bar and a Payday and a giant cookie. There were plentiful snacks after the race and they were really promoting a new chocolate recovery drink that tasted great. We had lots of that available at the finish line. There were chocolate bars at the relay switch place and at one of the aid stations on the second leg. There were characters along the route-Hershey Bar, Kiss, Twizzler, Jolly Rancher...even the Rolo candy character was out! I ran down Chocolate Avenue under the Kiss shaped street lights. There were bands in Hershey Park on my leg of the race and Bob ran near the Milton Hershey School where there was entertainment from the students. Lots of Hershey residents lined the roads to cheer and they gave us all a great boost! It was pretty well organized for an inaugural race. I'll do it again next year but will be ready to run the whole thing myself!

 

[RatherBeWithMickey]

My DH and I also did the Hershey Half Marathon yesterday. We did it as a relay, and we are both walkers. Finished in 3:05, combined. I was thrilled to have done a 1:29 for my "half", especially since it was longer (what was that about?? ) and covered most of the uphill portion. Had a great time participating, and loved getting my first "real" medal (also got one for the 5K at WDW, but that's not quite the same). This was my first race at this distance. I am hoping to do the WDW Half Marathon in January 2012, probably still as a walker, but you never know!

 

[ksoehrlein]

Wine & Dine race report:

I wasn't able to nap as long as I would have liked and boarded the bus earlier than I'd planned, but I'm glad I did. I was able to relax and eat my peanut butter bagel at WWOS without worrying about making it in time. The bag check line was a bit long because it wasn't separated out by last name, so we were all in one big long line. Pre-race was quite comfortable, especially compared with other Disney races. The temperature was perfect and it was great to be able to sit down on grass rather than asphalt before entering the corrals.

The girl who sang the national anthem did a great job, but we only heard the last few notes. No one in Corral B had heard the announcement that she was about to start singing, so everyone kept talking until we finally caught on that something was taking place over the speakers.

Points of interest along the way: The highway stretch was, well, a highway stretch. But at least it was in the beginning, and I kept myself occupied talking to my new friend who'd offered to pace me. She had her Garmin set up to calculate the cumulative average pace (note to self: learn how to do that!), so we were able to see what we needed to do to get on target as the race unfolded. My watch was set to tell us how many more minutes remained in the current interval (4 minute run:1 minute walk), so between the two of us, we had all the tools we needed.

The entrance to AK was congested and we postponed a walk break or two so no one would have to pile up behind us. There were tall, tusk-shaped, red lights marking the edges of the path for a bit but I thought they looked like large animal teeth and felt like we were running into the jaws of something big. A little creepy. The Japanese lantern style lights (large white globe things) elsewhere were much more pleasant and festive. I'd been a little nervous about the footing here, but it wasn't too bad. The areas of congestion tripped me up more than anything pavement-related.

As we exited, we caught a glance of the relay exchange area. From the outside looking in, it seemed to be pretty organized and exceeded my low expectations. I'd been afraid it would have been a nightmare for the relay teams to find each other. Hopefully that wasn't the case for the participants.

The out-and-back before DHS was, well, an out-and-back. We distracted ourselves by trying to find people we knew, but no luck there. The high-fives from the volunteers distracted us for a bit, which was nice. But they also distracted us from checking our cumulative pace. Luckily, we were gaining speed and getting close to our target.

The lights were out before the entrance to the Studios. That was the only place I really worried about my footing, but it was OK. Sarge was out again commanding us up the overpass, just like at the marathon. I couldn't seem him, but his bullhorn kept me going. I stepped in a Shot Blok at some point, but it wasn't too bad; just felt gross. At least I didn't slip, like I feared I would on used Gu packets.

DHS was a highlight. It didn't feel quite as zig-zaggy as it looked on the map. The Osborne lights were turned on, which helped cheer us. We decided all the green lights meant "go" and the red lights meant "go faster." Ah, the silly things you think of after logging all those miles. At some point, we hit our target cumulative pace and then at the next split, we were a second or two faster. I started to feel like I could hit my goal, and it was a huge confidence boost.

We exited the Studios and hit my favorite part of the marathon/Race for the Taste course: the path along the canal. Unfortunately, my right thigh started to cramp slightly right before the water stop. I took a few more Sport Beans (note to self: stop talking and focus on nutrition so this doesn't happen again!) and lost my friend. I caught up to her briefly prior to the bridge leading to the Yacht Club and then lost her right before the finish. She was able to kick it in at the end, and I just didn't have it in me. Although now that I've plugged in my Garmin, I see the last 7 minutes of the race were among my fastest, so I guess I did have a little bit of a kick despite the cramp.

All in all, I finished 57 seconds over my goal time. In light of the family health crisis that made have to me skip several training runs in early and mid September, I think I did as well as possible given the circumstances. I PR'ed by more than 2.5 minutes, so even though I still haven't met my elusive time goal, I'm pretty pleased with my performance.

The post-race experience was a let down. The bag claim was indoors, a nice thought in case the weather was bad. But since the weather was nice and there were a lot of runners in line ahead of me, I couldn't really appreciate that. We were crammed in a winding line that moved so slowly, I started to experience more cramping. I called my husband and had to hang up because even my hands were starting to cramp by that point. Once I finally had my bag, we went in search of a restroom. The problem is, with no attractions open, everyone in Epcot at this point was either in line for food, in line for drinks, or in line for the restroom.

I think there were more dissatisfied participants than I'd encountered at past Disney races. Part of that had to do with the late start, but I think that was a high point for me. I'm a night person and trained for this race by hitting the treadmill at 10 PM many a weeknight, so my body was used to it. My "only" complaints are the bag check/bag claim process, the congestion, the area with low lighting, and the crowded post-race party. For an inaugural race, I guess it could have been worse!

 

[airtime247]

Cross-posted on the Goofs thread...

I just ran the Rock 'n' Roll San Jose Half Marathon yesterday. Overall, it was a rough but fun experience. I slept terrible the night before. I woke up with a runny nose around 11pm and kept getting up every half hour or so to blow my nose. It was driving me crazy!

I definitely felt sick by the time I got to the race and was blowing my nose constantly. I felt okay starting out. I was a little more winded than normal but my legs felt great. I was in a tight pack of people and couldn't break free for about a mile. The first mile I ran in 10 minutes but did the second mile in 8 minutes. I definitely had trouble breathing during most of the race though and slowed down a bit. I felt pretty good through mile 11 and then really struggled through the last two.

I felt sorry for two people I saw who were laying on the side of the road being helped by medics. They were both past the 12-mile mark and one probably only had about .25 to go. Hopefully they were able to recover and finish.

The course wasn't overly exciting but the bands were good and made it fun. Quite a few people were standing in front of their houses playing their own instruments to help cheer us on.

I later learned that the winner was Meb Keflezighi who won the NYC Marathon as well as this race last year. I saw him fly by on the return and the crowd of runners were cheering him on as loud as the spectators were.

This is one of the things I love most about our sport. What other sport can regular Joe's like me have the opportunity to compete against some of the world's best? Mind you, it wasn't really a competition as he got his medal before I crossed the halfway mark but you get my point!

-steve

 

[verticalchaos]

I later learned that the winner was Meb Keflezighi who won the NYC Marathon as well as this race last year. I saw him fly by on the return and the crowd of runners were cheering him on as loud as the spectators were.

This is one of the things I love most about our sport. What other sport can regular Joe's like me have the opportunity to compete against some of the world's best? Mind you, it wasn't really a competition as he got his medal before I crossed the halfway mark but you get my point!

-steve

Sorry you felt sick! Hope you feel better soon!!!

I pulled this quote because while my little 10K didn't attract the major marathoners, I happened to be passing the finish for the second time (we had 3 loops around the island in varying degrees) as the female winner was crossing it. That was a very surreal feeling.

But to the volunteers and spectators credit, they cheered her and immediately turned and cheered me on. So that helped me a lot - especially since I was hitting headwind city.

 

[rubato]

Congrats to everyone back from the W & D half and those that ran the Hershey half, Rock and Roll San Jose half, and the NH full! Way to go!

And, I too must bow down to Frank! What an amazing time! I'm going to be super thrilled if I get the 1:44 that I want. 1:29 is unachievable for me!

 

[goofyinohio]

Wine and Dine Race Report -

I'm not great at Race Reports, but wanted to share my experience with the Wine and Dine half.

Packet Pick up - Got to packet pick up at 1pm on Friday and walked right up to get my waiver. I was shocked and happy at the same time. The volunteer that helped me was great explaining everything that was in the envelope and where to get my shirt and check my timing. I then went and got my shirt and checked my "chip" and was all done. Very smooth and I liked the bib and the shirt. I talked to many that didn't, but I thought the shirt was pretty cool. Now the rest of the expo I thought was weak. I also thought the merchandise wasn't great and for the first time I walked out of a expo without buying $100 worth of Disney junk. Now I did register for the Marathon while I was there so I hope to make it 4 in a row now.

Anywho on to Pre-Race. Stayed at Sports and met up with Tracy and we headed for the buses around 7. Got right on and headed out. Again I heard it was ugly later, but at that point we got right on. Got to ESPN and started checking everything out. Talked to some WISHers and ROTEars and then we just hung out. I thought the pre-race was also fun although found their way of separating bags odd, but was thinking oh well as long as it gets to EPCOT I'm good. I also kept waiting and waiting for them to call us to the corrals, but I didn't hear anything until like 9:30. Got into my corral where I got to talk to MrsD until the race started. That was pretty cool as it was her first longer race and I could really feel her excitement so that got me even more excited.

Onto the race. The start seemed very congested and I was surprised at no wave start. I mean I was glad so everyone could get going and to get to the after party, etc. I just think they needed more corrals with not such a wide range of times. I had submitted a 2:11 and my friend a 2:45 and we were in the same corral. Once we got onto Osceola it opened up for a couple miles and wasn't bad. Once we got into Animal Kingdom the course narrowed and suddenly felt really dark. I can't tell you how many times I got ran into and I've never had that happen. People were just on top of each other. Where were the Characters? Got back onto Osceola and it opened back up. Then I saw Goofy so I stopped for a picture with no wait. Then the dreaded Turnaround. (Somewhere before this my Ipod started skipping and messing up because I was sweating like crazy. I freaked out because it wouldn't stop and then ran without it the rest of the race.) Are you kidding me? You couldn't figure out a way to avoid that? Then we headed onto World drive and onto Buena Vista Dr. I was happy at this point to still be running as in all 3 Marathon's I've done this is where I walked for that mile stretch. Once I got into MGM I felt a twitch in my right hamstring and then suddenly a cramp and then I had to just stop. I stretched it out and then hobbled a few feet then stretched it again and then was fine. I still enjoyed my time in the studios and when I saw the Osborne Lights I think I lit up as much as they were. IT WAS AWESOME. Tons of Characters through here and I stopped for every one of them with no lines. I wasn't worried about my time just the pictures and the bling. Then I left Studios and all the sudden I just didn't feel right. The last mile was brutal in an area I usually love. Turned left and was done.

Then I walked and was told medals up ahead. OK cool. Grabbed my water and my powerade and then the bag of food which I'm sorry was a joke. A banana was the only thing in there I would call decent. Um hello the first thing we should be getting is either medical attention or our medal. Then finally got my medal and then my bag which was a complete joke. I stood in that like for like a half hour and thought I really need to be stretching my legs. Once I got out I started walking around world showcase. Which I thought if I keep walking I'll find a place without a line. I never did. It was just ridiculous. It took me over an hour to feel right and I saw a guy pass out in the bathroom and a lady getting sick. I saw many other getting medical attention and thought I got off lucky just with a minor cramp and then my chest not feeling right.

Overall I did like the course. I just think they need fewer people in the corrals and have more of them so people are in the corrals with people in their speed range. If I were to give it a grade a B- would be my grade. This isn't their first go around in a race so they could and next time I'm sure will do better.