Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos for August 23 and 24

[Big Vic]

Saturday, 23 August

23 – princessrunner (Lisa) New Balance Hospice 5K, Skowhegan, ME
23 – thndrmatt (Matt) Tri States 100, Dotnan, AL
23 - wellesleyprincess () Killen Founder's Day 5k, Killen, AL

Sunday, 24 August

24 - ironz (Betsy) Ironman Canada (swim 2.4 miles/bike 112 miles/run 26.2 miles); Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
24 - cdn_gal_eeyore (Leana) Marathon Des Deaux Rives; Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
24 – jessily (), Kira G. (Kira) Lance Armstrong 5k, Blue Bell, PA



GO! WISH Team GO!

 

[dsnyfan21]

GO WISH Team!!! Have Good Races!!! ​

-Tracy

 

[Kira G.]

Oops - add me to the list. I am running the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Challenge 5K on 8/24 (with jessily also!). I just registered last week.

Thanks!

 

[princessrunner]

I am not going to make my 5K this weekend, , due to us having to get in 800 bales of hay tonight...

I do want to give my fellow WISHers the best of luck, fleet feet and the fury to finish strong!!!!!!!

 

[windwalker]

Lisa bummer that you can't strut your stuff this weekend. Oh well it will give the rest of the racers a chance to look good.

The rest of you guys,

Walking Panda

 

[lenshanem]

Good luck WISHers!

 

[twoWDWfools]

Go WISH Team Go!!!

 

[solotraveler]

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

 

[amykab]

Good luck WISH'ers~~

 

[thndrmatt]

Soooo they delayed the Tri-States 100 century bike ride until Aug 30th, which conveniently made it impossible for me to attend since I'll be at DL. Soooo I decided to do my own century today so the last few months of training for one weren't wasted. Did a course starting/finishing in Milton and heading out on a huge loop in the panhandle area, started at about 6:45am and finished about 6 hours later after 5 hours 31 min of actual ride time. Interestingly enough that's the exact length of time it took me to run my first marathon as well...

Oh I should mention that this was all done inside the Tropical Storm, and all the northbound legs which was approximately 50% of the route were into 20 something mile an hour winds gusting to 30 or something... Did I mention the rain? Horizontal type, smacking me in the face. Not sure if I've ever been more wet than at the end of the day. Even the downwind legs were hairy, as the roads were really slick and I kept picturing myself skidding out doing 35mph down a hill in front of a big rig or something...

Had never biked more than 67 before, but I can now cross a century off my to do list.

100 miles. Seems far. Felt far. Was a pretty dumb idea, but I think I've had dumber ones...

 

[escape]

Awww, Matt! I always thought you were a little on the crazy side, but this just confirms it!!! Just kidding. I think you should still get double miles for your team - even triple for going out in that crazy weather.

Too bad you couldn't have found your way to Wichita Falls, TX yesterday. The Hotter 'N Hell 100 took place and the weather was great! You ought to consider doing that ride sometime. It really is a great event.

Congratulations on a successful century ride - in such extreme conditions.

 

[dsnyfan21]

W O W !!! Matt, I can't believe you got out there in the rain and wind to do your century ride. They have a century ride at the park where I walk once a year but usually around Nov/Dec.

CONGRATS!!!!

 

[Kira G.]

The Livestrong Challenge 5K went well for me. I definitely have a new PR - not sure what the exact time will be (why can't I start and stop my Garmin at the right times during a race!!), but my average pace was 10:33 so it will be between 32:45 & 33:00 - I'll have to wait for the chip time to be sure. I'm really hoping it is under 33 minutes, but either way my previous result was 34:49, so I have improved a LOT since April!

My other goal was to run the entire race, and I did that with no difficulty. I am particularly proud of myself for that since I did a 10-miler yesterday morning and my legs were a bit tired.

It was a well-run race, as you would probably expect from these guys. It started a bit late - I'm not sure why - but they were constantly updating us so no one seemed to be upset about it. Lance Armstrong was there, and welcomed all of us, and then he rode the 100 mile bike race. That was cool! There were a lot more bikers than runners/walkers, so once things got started it took about 1/2 hour for all the bikers to be staged before we went out.

There were a LOT of walkers and many people doing a 5K for the first time. I wish they had asked the walkers to move to the back so that there wasn't so much weaving around them at the beginning, but that was OK. Mostly this is a fundraising event, and a call to arms for fighting cancer, and it was great to be doing an event with so many people celebrating their lives and the lives of their friends and family. At the end the cancer survivors doing the run went into a different finish chute and each got a yellow rose. Very inspiring!

The course was well-marked and well organized. The post-race food and goodies were great! A full meal, a beer (mostly for the bikers I guess - who wants a beer at 9am?), and free massages. I ate, but didn't wait around for a massage.

This was an expensive event, but given that it is for a good cause I would be happy to shell out for it again if it works in my schedule.

 

[BamaEd1]

Sounds like a great weekend. I love the idea of doing an event in a tropical storm. At least you're not worried about the sun and you always have a nice breeze!!!!!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Whoa, tropical storm event? Sounds like some name for a create-your-own event. Matt, good job. I love that you didn't let the rescheduling get in your way!

Kira, good job and a great cause. Glad you enjoyed.

Ed, love your comment!

 

[escape]

Kira, my DH is so jealous. If he could have fit this in his schedule, he would have been there.

Congrats on the PR! Way to go!

 

[jessily]

The Livestrong Challenge 5K went well for me. I definitely have a new PR - not sure what the exact time will be (why can't I start and stop my Garmin at the right times during a race!!), but my average pace was 10:33 so it will be between 32:45 & 33:00 - I'll have to wait for the chip time to be sure. I'm really hoping it is under 33 minutes, but either way my previous result was 34:49, so I have improved a LOT since April!

My other goal was to run the entire race, and I did that with no difficulty. I am particularly proud of myself for that since I did a 10-miler yesterday morning and my legs were a bit tired.

It was a well-run race, as you would probably expect from these guys. It started a bit late - I'm not sure why - but they were constantly updating us so no one seemed to be upset about it. Lance Armstrong was there, and welcomed all of us, and then he rode the 100 mile bike race. That was cool! There were a lot more bikers than runners/walkers, so once things got started it took about 1/2 hour for all the bikers to be staged before we went out.

There were a LOT of walkers and many people doing a 5K for the first time. I wish they had asked the walkers to move to the back so that there wasn't so much weaving around them at the beginning, but that was OK. Mostly this is a fundraising event, and a call to arms for fighting cancer, and it was great to be doing an event with so many people celebrating their lives and the lives of their friends and family. At the end the cancer survivors doing the run went into a different finish chute and each got a yellow rose. Very inspiring!

The course was well-marked and well organized. The post-race food and goodies were great! A full meal, a beer (mostly for the bikers I guess - who wants a beer at 9am?), and free massages. I ate, but didn't wait around for a massage.

This was an expensive event, but given that it is for a good cause I would be happy to shell out for it again if it works in my schedule.

Wow, I could have written almost the exact same race report Kira! I ran the 5k yesterday as well and thought it was a great event! I also am horrible at starting and stopping my watch, but my prediction for my finish time is exactly what you stated (kind of strange that there wasn't even a clock at the finish). I think I finished around 33 minutes. We may have been running right next to one another and not even known it!

Things got off to a late start (which was expected) and like Kira said, it would have been nice if they had encouraged walkers to stay to the back to at least avoid some of the weaving. But the focus of the event was on fundraising and celebration, not racing, so that was fine. It really is inspiring, when you're struggling to run, to look up and see someone in front of you with a "I'm a survivor" or "In memory of" tag on, and remember just how lucky we are. Suddenly running seems pretty easy.

My boyfriend was doing the 100 mile bike route so I returned to the finish line later in the afternoon to cheer on the bikers who had been out there for 7 hours+. It may have inspired me to get the bike which I have been wanting to try, but have been putting off forever. Overall a great event which I hope to participate in again in the future. If anyone is in the Austin area I would encourage them to check out the Livestrong Challenge (http://www.livestrongchallenge.org/site/c.frKPI1PAIoE/b.3920225/). That is the last city they visit this year.

Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend!

 

[wellesleyprincess]

My race went really well.

It was the toughest course of the summer, but still not to bad. Several hills and sharp turns. It was also the most crowded (nearly 300 runners).

I set a new PR for a mile at the 1st mile split (7:15) and a new PR for 5k (25:12). I won my age group and placed 100th overall. There were several cross country teams at the event which is why the overall ranking is lower.

It was a well organized and fun event. They had a DJ and a good post run spread (ranging from fruit and granola to Pizza at 7 am!)

Thanks for all the support!
Jennifer

 

[twoWDWfools]

Matt - ok, you win the goofy award of the week. Wow...

Kira - congrats on the PR!

Jessica - glad you had a good time! I'll have to look into one of those events for next year.

Jennifer - congrats on your PR too!