Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos - Feb 28 - Mar 1

Big Vic

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
Messages
2,269
Saturday, 28 Feb

28 - mkymsehi (Jeff) Kaneohe Marine Corps Swamp Romp, Kaneohe, HI
28 - suzanne (Suzanne), syko (), ESPN The Weekend 5K, WDW
28 - amykab (Amy) and DD Gasparilla stroller 5K-Tampa, FL
28 – WDWFLgal (Angela) Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K, Tampa, FL

Sunday, 1 March

Gasparilla Half Marathon, Tampa, FL
1 - amykab (Amy), escape (susie) and DH Steve

1 - Duanerice (Duane) Hooter's to Hooter's Half Marathon, Ft. Meyers, FL


:jumping1: GO! WISH Team GO! :jumping1:
 
:banana: :cool1: :cheer2: GO WISH Racing Team Members!! You all ROCK! :cheer2: :cool1: :banana:

WOW - Look at all the Florida Races!!

Tracy
 
Hey team, have a great race this weekend.

I just picked up my teams shirts this evening. I was in and out of the running store where the pick up was, in less than 2 minutes!!! That's how every race should be!

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Duane, do you get wings and beer at the finish line???
 

Jeff - now that's a fast pickup!

Duane - can't wait to hear about the Hooters race!

I hope everyone has great races this weekend.
 
Good luck everyone!!!

I talked about 8 co-workers into doing the ESPN 5K with me tomorrow morning. It should be fun!!
 
Yeah, Jim! Great time. I would love to run a 5k that fast. Shooting for something in the 26+ range next time out.

Maura
 
The Swamp Romp was an absolute BLAST!!! 5.5 miles of mud, puddles, mud, obstacles, mud, ocean, mud, sand, mud, stream, mud, hills, mud. Oh, did I mention the mud?

Although the check-in/drop off waiver/pick up timing chip, was poorly organized, it was way worth the effort. Lots of characters in costume.

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The wanted teams to start off in sequence, but when the gun went off, at least 1/3 the field was still waiting in line for their chip.

They started three teams together, in 30 second intervals. We were team #8 & #69. By the time I got my group to the start, they were already in the 30's. No biggie, since the time goes by mat, and not gun time.

Out the chute, and headed down a dirt path. First giant puddle, I was stomping and splashing everyone withing 20 feet of me. They were yelling "hey, stop that." My reply was, "you're going to be way dirtier than this when it's over." I just laughed and kept on running.

First obstacle had a line backed up. Reason, you climbed up a 7 foot ladder, in which you slid down the back to the first mud pit. Automatically you were stuck in the mud. People were trying to walk out, but you were stuck up to your knees. I opted to lie face first, and crawled Army man style out of the mess. I did have to push a few by their butts, to get them out of my way.

These pictures doesn't show how thick the mud was. My wife got there after I had already gone through. The water you see was not there when I went through. These people standing, means it was way easier to get out than when I went through.

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From there we ran through more puddles, and had to climb over at least 5 log obstacles ranging from 3 to 6 feet high.

Down the road, we had to run through a thick clay area of a estuary. Some people opted to swim through it. From there down a path, and eventually up a short hill. Down another path from there to the first water stop.

From there we went along a roadway, and went through a bushy area. We emerged and went though several deep puddles. There was even a puddle where you had to crawl through a 2 1/2 foot tunnel.

Further up the path, we rounded a corner, and had a beach to run down. It was about 1/2 mile down, where you had to go into the Pacific Ocean, to round a marker that was about 20-25 feet off shore. It was about waist high in the water. Now back down the beach from the way you came, so you go to see everyone behind you. This is where I spotted the second team I put together, and had started behind us.

Just before the end of the beach, there were two separate wood crate tunnels, that you had to crawl through in the sand. When you exited, there was a crate about 4 feet tall, and 6 feet wide that you had to climb over. Fortunately there was the second water stop.

The next puddle required you to get down on your stomach, and go under a cargo net. No room under there, so basically I was swimming with my eyes closed.

From there back on the trail, and a tire obstacle course. Back through more puddles, and then back to a road for a short distance. We turned a corner around a fence, and entered a stream. It was deep, and unstable because you were walking through grass that the people ahead of you had trampled down.

Up a hill, around another fence line and we arrived back to the staging area and near the finish line. But, we couldn't finish just yet. We stood there for about 25-30 minutes for the rest of my team to catch up. Teams were passing us to the finish, but we had no choice, we had to wait.

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Finally the others got there, and we finished arm in arm. I have no idea what our time was, as there was no clock at the finish line. I'll have to find out later.

We took a fun finisher's photo at the end, all sitting in a puddle. I can't wait to see that.

There were two fire trucks at the finish, which gave a great shower with a 3 inch hose. Talk about water pressure! I wore a pair of bathing suit shorts under my pants, so that I could strip down and get all the funk off of me. Well, needless to say, it took three shampoos, and scrubbing with some strong body wash to get the funky smell off of me.

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All in all, I had a great time, and can't wait to sign up again.

What was really the best part, mud spa for $22, and it included the tshirt!
Some of you pay over $100 for a spa treatment. I saved big bucks today!
 
Jeff, eeeyyyewww, just eeeyyyeewww!

Pics made it look like fun though. Really. I think it could be a fun time.
 
LOL, you and Uncle Les are grinning ear to ear, like little kids! Wish I could have come out 2 days earlier to have some fun in the mud with you guys!:banana:
 
Jim - Congrats on your time!

Jeff - That looks incredible! Sounds like it was quite an event for you. Smart thinking on the swim shorts!
 
All right Jim. Let's see a report......

Jeff, that looks like such a cool race. How much fun was that?

Here is my race report. What a great day! I was privileged to run the Hooter's to Hooter's half marathon today. This is the second running of this race. Up till last year Ft Myers didn't have anything over a 10K.

The race starts at Hooter's of course, runs through a historic neighborhood by the river, then into downtown, over a monster bridge, turn around, then back over the monster bridge, past the Red Sox stadium then back to Hooter's. Why the hurry to finish? Well Hooter's girls meet you at the finish and put the medal around your neck, then you proceed over to the beer and wing tent where Hooter's girls serve you. Did I mention there were Hooter's girls? Seriously, it is just a fun race. Of course hot wings at 9:30 in the morning are good too. The only drawback to the race is getting up at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Not me but this is the only good finish photo I can find:
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The forecast called for rain but the day turned out windy but otherwise perfect. Overcast for a good part of the race which kept the temps down. OK, compare this to Disney: There were 4 bands, 8 water stops, one every 2 miles and an extra stop at mile 7 and 9 (same stop as that is the start and finish of the bridge over and back). We received a great running shirt, quite a bit of stuff in the goody bag including a subway sub. OK the sub wasn't actually in the bag but the coupon was. There were Sharkies, suntan spay, couple of types of food bars, discounts to a gym, free protein shake, etc And they gave it all to you in a nice Hooter's running bag. This is a nice fabric backpack type bag with a place for your water. Pretty darn cool. Oh and don't forget the party and food at the end! They charge a whopping $30 for the race. It was a decent turnout for here, with a little over 600 runners today.

I was not in real running shape for this race. I took a lot of time off from the Disney weekend because of my knee issues and didn't start running until it was too late to build up decent mileage. I sure felt it around mile 11. The knee is still pretty sore on any runs over 6 miles too but I thought I could manage. Anyway, I was going to try and stay with a couple of friends because they planned on running sub 2:00. That was my goal, well my first was to finish then my second goal was under 2:00. My PR is 1:55 something.

When we started my 2 friends took off pretty fast. I wanted to keep an 8:45 ish pace because I knew I'd need a few extra minutes at the end. We'll they were running right about 8:00 minutes. I said to myself, "take your time, you'll catch them". I'll tell you that was tough holding back. Well I passed the first one right around mile 5 and the second right around mile 6. He stayed with me until mile 7 then I never saw him until the finish. Tortoise and Hare come to mind :)

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We hit the bridge at mile 7. It is a very steep incline going this way. Luckilly the wind wasn't bad going up but it was still tough. A long downhill before the turnaround. Not sure why, but most people do not take advantage of the downhill's. I smoke em downhill (still slow for some) but careful not to over stride. Take advantage of the downhill you can gain a lot of time. Well at the end of the bridge we turned around and headed back up. Now this side was a long gradual climb although still fairly steep. It was brutal. The wind was blowing like crazy right in your face. Hats were blowing off. I tried to draft a few folks but it didn't work at all. The wind was tough. We had a strong headwind wind the the last 5 miles.

I'm #24 - going up that monster hill
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Anyway, nothing else major happened except I did have to walk for about 20 seconds 3 times in the last 5 miles. I was beat. That head wind was killing us. Actually it was the worse about the last 3 tenths of a mile. Longest 3 tenths of my life. I ended up at 1:59:01. That was close! But I knew I was close and knew I had a few extra seconds to walk. So I did beat everyone from the office including the 22 year old.
:banana:

As I mentioned, they put on a great spread at the end. Beer, wine, water, PowerAde, wings, oranges, bagels, cookies, grapes, etc. Great food! If you went away hungry, it was your own fault. They also had a 2 person band and lot's of raffle giveaways. Shoot everyone hung out for quite a while. Great day!

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enjoy,
Duane
 
Nice report Duane!! SOunds like you got A LOT out the race for the money paid!! Cool and great job.

Tracy
 
Jeff Amazing! What did you wear? Were you in running shoes or something else? All I could think of was "How would I see? I need my glasses, but they would be trashed!"

Duane Great race--especially if you hadn't done much training. I haven't quite mastered running downhill--not a problem where I live. Almost makes me think I could try to run the Princess 1/2 next weekend--(Almost, but not quite!)

Suzanne Yeah! You are building quite the collection of bling! Are you running out of space to post it yet?

Maura
 
Jeff Amazing! What did you wear? Were you in running shoes or something else? All I could think of was "How would I see? I need my glasses, but they would be trashed!"

Maura

Maura,

Boots or high top shoes are required. If you loose a shoe, that person is disqualified, and the rest of the team can continue.

I have a friend who's husband is in the reserves, gave me a pair of his old combat boots. Others in my group bought theirs at a Army surplus store.

Others went with trail running shoes, or Converse high tops, but then they duct taped the shoe to their ankle. Not my idea of comfort, having duct tape all around my foot, and my ankle. They still ended up with rocks and sand in their shoes.
 








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