Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos - 20 and 21 March

[Big Vic]

Saturday, 20 March

20 - airtime247 (Steve) Pasadena Triathlon, Pasadena, CA

20 - National Marathon and Half Marathon Washington, DC
crewmatt (), FireDancer (Frank), geaux_half (Pat), wellesleyprincess (Jennifer)

Sunday, 21 March

21 - Cindylou (Cindy) New Bedford Half Marathon, New Bedford, MA
21 - geaux_half (Pat) Caesar Rodney Half Marathon; Wilmington, DE
21 - MouseDogMom (Jackie), Tiger Lily 03 (Lily) 2010 Cary, NC Tobacco Road Half Marathon
21 - thndermatt (Matt) Bataan Memorial Death March
21 – WDWFLgal (Angela) FL Beach Halfathon Ft. Desoto, FL


GO! WISH Team GO!

 

[syko]

Good Luck Everyone

 

[suzannews]

Good luck everyone!!

 

[APrunner]

Good Luck!

I will be running the St. Leo's 10K in Winston-Salem, NC. March 20.

Steven

 

[jmasgat]

Good luck to all the WISH'ers this weekend!!! Special shout out to Steve and CindyLou from the Goofs.

Maura

 

[hoosmi]

Hey WISHers-

I'm doing a local race called the Tour de Torture. It's a 4 mile race tonight, 5k tomorrow morning, and 1 mile in the afternoon.

Ten minutes after picking up my packet, my husband told me he has to be out of town for the Saturday races. So if the running gods are smiling on me, I'll be at a 5k with two boys in a double stroller and a 10 year old on a bike, and then with the older set running with me with the baby in the single stroller for the mile... On the bright side, I can now handle my pace strategy- run all out tonight and then get in the very back and sort of meander in for the Saturday races!

Good luck to everyone racing (or just enjoying their weekend runs!)

Jen in GA

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Go WISH Team!

Have fun at your events and let us know all about it.

 

[jmasgat]

Just got back from doing an impromptu race with a friend. It was a 5 mile trail race called "No Frills, All Thrills" at a local MetroPark. Can you say hills? Oh my god, I have never done a race that was 80+% up and down. Only the inital ~1/2 mile or so (and same finishing) were flat. It was hard!

The weather here--which has been glorious all week--switched back to late winter (happy vernal equinox!) so race temp was 36F with a wind of about 5-10 mph. Once I started running I was comfortable--temperature wise anyway! Fixed on one person who seemed to be about my p ace and age group and tried to stay with her. Funny, I chatted with her after the race--she was faster uphill and I was downhill, so every time I thought I was closing on the downhill, she would regain on the uphill. I did end up passing her after the 4 mile point.

Finished in 42:53 (8:35 pace), which was 4th in my age group (would have placed based on last year) I guess this is an okay time, since it was a trail race and hilly, but it's off my best 10k pace fo sure.

Got a tech shirt, and they were selling nice headbands for $5, so picked one of those up. Then my friend and I headed to Ann Arbor, where we were supposed to meet up with her son for lunch, but he was a no show. So just the two of us at Blimpy Burgers.

Anyway, I'm beat! Time to go relax.

Maura

 

[MouseDogMom]

Maura - Great job on an impromptu race! Hate that winter came back for you, but it's 77 here right now and I wouldn't want to be running in this either! Hills - ugh! The burger sounds like the best part of the day.

GaJen - Can't wait to hear how your weekend turned out! Good luck juggling babies and running.

Steven - Let me know how your race was. We've been looking for something to do in Winston. We're originally from there and all the family is still there. DH's brother keeps daring us to come run something with him (never mind that he hasn't run since high school...)

Good luck to everyone else!

Jackie

 

[escape]

Wow! Lots of races this weekend. Good luck, everyone!

Jen - what a great title for an event. Have fun!

Maura - what a great pace for a trail run. Brrr on the cold weather. Sounds like it didn't bother you too much, though.

 

[APrunner]

Jackie - there are alot of runs in the Winston-Salem area, especially this time of year. There seems to be something going on almost every weekend.

St.Leos was a nice race. The hills were a little more than I expected. There was a 5K and a 10K, I did the 10K. The 5K had over 500 runners. The 10K was around 160 runners. Not bad considering the NC marathon and Half marathon were also going on this weekend.

I finished the 10K in 43:54. I was okay with it. A little off my 10K PR, but not by much. Given that the course was probably one of the more challenging 10Ks that I have run, I was fine with it. Placed second in my age group.

I couldn't have asked for better weather. They did a great job controlling the traffic in the area. Alot of sponsors for the race. Good food at the end of the race, though it was all very sugary sweet food.

 

[Pungodingy]

I just wanted to tell about my race this weekend...I did the Shamrock Shuffle, went into a "flat" course with a terrible headcold, but didn't want to back out after registering, so figured I'd just get thru it, and not worry about my time...the course had one flat spot, the rest was ALL hills, dont know who decided to call it flat, but it wasn't! The weather was excellent, it got up over 60, unheard of in NH in March, sun was out, even got a little sunburn on my nose! The race director had planned on approx 300 runners, there were over 600 that showed up, they ran out of food, ran out of water, ran out of t-shirts, but it was all good. AND, I even had a decent time (for me) even with the hills and the headcold. AND, my dd ran it too (she does run with me occasionally) and she had a good time too. Neither of us won in the raffles, but we did have lunch after in an Irish pub, the food was YUM!


Hope everyone else had great races, and/or great weekends!

 

[mkymsehi]

Well run everyone.

Anyone gotten an update from Thunder Matt? No results link on the Baatan Death March website.

 

[thndrmatt]

(placeholder for my race report, hopefully Monday)

I finished. And it was amazing.

 

[hoosmi]

Hey WISHers-

I survived the Tour de Torture!

Day 1:

The first race was 4 miles on Friday at 6 p.m. All the races were in my neighborhood, so while I didn't know the exact courses ahead of time, I did know there would be some hills. And I still took off too fast. I had to walk a few paces after the biggest hill, which annoyed me. My breathing was horrible- not just wheezing, but I think I might have been whimpering. Anyway, I pulled it together and finished somewhere around 33:55. A girl about my age blazed past me in the last few feet...

Day 2:

The first race was a 5k at 8:00 a.m. After seeing that they had lots of volunteers and police but there were still some scary traffic moments, I called in a babysitter! I was glad I didn't have to worry about the kids, but kind of sorry I'd lost my excuse to take it easy! My babysitter showed up at my house at 7:59 a.m. so my pre-race warm up consisted of pacing between my driveway and kitchen looking for her and listening for the kids.

I parked my car and was still putting my key in one of those stupid inside pockets when the race started. Hello! No Garmin, no warmup... on the bright side, I wasn't sore from the day before, and they only worked in half of the hilly street for this race. I looked up around mile 1 and saw the girl who beat me the day before. So, fair play and all, I stayed about 15 feet back for about a mile and let her pace me. Then I passed her and didn't stop. I was afraid of her kick, but she didn't catch me this time. The clock time was 26:30ish, but another runner that has a lot of experience swore his time was 2 minutes over because the course was long. No Garmin, so I don't know.

The one mile. I've never run a mile race. Seems like a lot of trouble to me. I get dressed again (this time I recruited my mom to watch the kids). We go about 1/2 mile down, but then we have to go back up. There's some confusion about where the turn around is, so I think I ran too far. The girl who kept tormenting me led the race for the first 1/4 or so-- I was trying to keep up, but my Garmin showed a sub-7 pace. Is she crazy or what?! She did beat me but only by a few seconds- I finished around 8 minutes.

And then I sat around for about 30 minutes while they tallied the scores. I did talk to the girl who was tormenting me- I already knew her, but had never seen her at a race. She said she's not really a runner. What?! She must spend hours on the elliptical or something...

They go to announce the winners. The girl calls out "Top Overall Female" and reads my number and my name!! What?!! Apparently I beat out non-runner girl enough in the 5k to take the top spot. I got a sweet little bobble head running girl trophy. (And the non-runner girl got top in the next age group- turns out she's a few months older than me).

You could only get an award if you completed all 3 races and a lot of people who normally could run circles around me did a bike race on Saturday morning, so that helps explain how I was the top female... I loved telling my 3 year old- he always asks if I won my races and it's easier to just say "yes" than to go through the whole "we all won because we all finished" thing... finally I was like "Yes, really!"

Jen in GA

 

[MouseDogMom]

Congratulations Jen! Overall winner - what an accomplishment!

Matt - Waiting...

Steven - One reason I don't want to come to Winston to run - hills. We have enough of them here. There are lots more there! Good job on a second place finish!

Pungodingy - Glad you had fun, even if it sounds like there were lots of problems to deal with!

I ran the inaugural Tobacco Road Half Marathon yesterday with no plans to break any records. All my winter training was geared toward running in Myrtle Beach in February, and after it was canceled, I kinda lost my focus. Imagine my surprise when I shaved 20 minutes off my previous time for the half! I'd hoped to run something close to a 2:30 in MB, since it's a flat course, but I had no plans to come anywhere close to that here since I already knew the course rolled. Finished in 2:29:15. Beautiful course, beautiful weather, pretty well organized for a first race. Pizza, freshly baked bread, and a beer garden at the finish line. WISH gathering at the start, and all my running group started together.

Now to decide if I do another one this weekend...

Jackie

 

[FireDancer]

I am back from the National Half Marathon in Washington DC. I really liked the race and highly recommend it for anyone looking for a slightly challenging spring half.

The expo was smaller then either a Disney or Rock N Roll event. Getting the bibs and shirts was well organized and went pretty quickly. The Metro made it really easy to get to and from the expo since the Armory/Stadium stop is right in front of the expo.

The weather race day morning was perfect. It was 47 at the start and there was no wind at all. The course was challenging but not too bad. There were some hills spread around throughout the course but they were just about the right length. Just about the time the legs were getting tired you crested the hill or got to a plateau and were able to coast for a bit to get the lactic acid out.

They could have done some things better of course. They didn't have splits at every mile, they could have used one or two more water stops, they should have used paper cups instead of plastic, and at least one stop only had people on one side of the road. I am pretty good at grabbing water and Gu without slowing my stride at all but that requires pinching the cups. The plastic cups don't absorb the grab and a lot of the water spills. I also like to pinch the cups to drink them since it means you get less all over you and the plastic makes that a bit harder.

They also had a weird anomaly in the course layout. When you were done with the half and wanted to go pick up your bag at the drop off you had to cross the full course. It wasn't hard to avoid people since you would wait for a gap but it seemed unnecessary. It wasn't an issue for the later finishers since it was the 14th mile of the full that you crossed and once the slower people finished and waited around in the finish area for a while the large groups were probably already gone.

Even with all the things they can improve on I would rate this at the very top of the races I have done. I'll try to get a picture of the medal added later but it is at home while I am not.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

I did the Tobacco Road Half Marathon in Cary, NC. I had a really positive experience and would definitely recommend this event to others. It was a small event and I think it fit the trail quite well. It was not overcrowded and I think that those marathoners were not hampered by the halfers they had to pass along the way. It was a beautiful trail and the runs along the streets were interesting as well. The course was well supported with Gu, shot blocks, sports drink and water.

The host hotel was a bit of a drive from the event, but the shuttle bus and car pooling helped me. Host Hotel, Embassy Suites, was a fantastic place to stay.

Thanks to those of us in the dinner picture for your support!
Thanks to Jackie for setting up the dinner ressie.
Thanks to Jeanne and John for cheering along the course!

Cary is really a beautiful place.