Race Reports for 5/26, 27, 28 and Encouragement/Kudos!

[Maherae]

FANTASTIC!! We've got a busy weekend of WISH runners!!

Saturday, 26th
hockeygirl (Laurie)Spring Lake, NJ 5 Miler
kareneast (Karen) and DH Space Ranger (John) Spring Lake, NJ 5 Miler
KeenHo (Howard) and DW keenercam (Cam) Spring Lake, NJ 5 Miler
wtplclc (Carrie) and DH Scott Mackinaw Memorial Bridge Race
jam217 (Jill) Coopersburg Day 5K, Coopersburg, PA
Sir Bouncealot (Andrew) The Wild Five 5K in Davenport, IA

Sunday, 27th
Little Miss Mickey (Ashley) New Prague Half Marathon
cdn_gal_eeyore (Leana) Calgary Women's Run 5.5K

MEMORIAL DAY!!
Big Vic (Vic) Eglin AFB Gate to Gate Run 4.4 miles
Bahamamomma1, Saddleback Memorial Hospital 5K
Honeibee (Judy) South Salem Memorial Day 5K (with DH)
Goofyin08forErica (Erica) 2 Mile Run for Sight

You've been training..now go get 'r' done!! Anne

GO! WISH TEAM, GO!

 

[Kristi1357]

GO TEAM GO!!!

 

[Bahamamomma1]

I will be doing the Saddleback Memorial Hospital 5K on Memorial Day. Mission Viejo, Calif.

Walk On! Trot, Run or whatever...just do it.

 

[solotraveler]

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

Kevin

 

[skfulkers]

Good luck this weekend, everyone!!

Steve

 

[Cindylou]

Best WISHes to everyone racing this weekend. Looking forward to the race reports.

Cindy

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Go! WISH Team Go!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Hope everyone is having great races this weekend!

 

[hockeygirl]

Yesterday, I did the Sping Lake 5 miler at the Jersey Shore. MY DBF (my scream team) and I arrived in Spring Lake around 8 am, found a parking spot and headed to the starting line. Since we had to park quite a ways away from the starting line, I did an easy jog to warm up a little. We got to the starting line which was on Ocean Ave, which runs parallel to the beach and ocean! Before the race, I had a little time to stretch out a bit which was great. It was quite hot out yesterday and at 8:30am it was probably in the low 80's already!! Well, there was SOOOOOOOOO....many people running this race it was crazy. The race started right on time at 8:30, and we were off down Ocean Ave. It took me approx. 2-3 minutes to cross the actual starting line. As I crossed, I started up my watch so I could keep my time along the way. I actually had my ipod yesterday too, which I haven't in my previous two races, and I don't think it made a difference for me.

The course was a nice run through Spring Lake, which is a very nice beach town on the jersey shore, lots of beautiful houses along the way. The only problem I felt was that there was just so many people and the street was just not wide enough. I probably ran the first mile and half on the grass/sidewalk on the side of the street. I just never felt like the crowd thinned out until the last 100 meters or so. I found it very hard to pass people, and I felt like I was weaving in and out of people the whole way!! The course was flat, no hills at all. Since it was so hot, they had several fire trucks along the way spraying water out, which was AWESOME!! I ran through each one and that kept my body temp. down, they also had plenty of water at each mile mark to keep hydrated!

My watch time was 48:14, with an average pace of just under 9:30. I was very pleased and happy with my race. Not sure what my official time was, as they haven't posted them yet. After the race, I got my medal, and then they had water, bananas, cookies, Quiznos sandwiches, and soda for free. We picked up some food, sat and ate a little bit, then we headed back to the car to head home.

All in all, it was a nice race, I didn't see any other WISH team members, Kareneast and her DH were supposed to run. I had my shirt on but there was just soooooo... many people that it was nearly impossible to find anyone!

I hope everyone else great races this weekend! Can't wait to read the reports!!

 

[msblrobs]

GOOD LUCK WISH'ERS!!

I can't wait for the race reports

 

[nucpharm29]

I hope everyone is having a great racing weekend!

laurie--great race report!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Laurie, good report. Sounds like a good idea for the water spray. Food supply sounded good too. Sorry that you felt crowded in there. I suppose it affected your time, but I hope you were able to enjoy the view.

 

[cdn_gal_eeyore]

Today I ran the Calgary Women's Run 5.5K. This event was only open to women, and it was really neat to see the turn out. There was both a 5.5K and a 10K.

My mom and I picked up our bib and race gift which was a pair of socks yesterday:

The weather this morning was really warm and it was still cloudy out, so it made for comfortable running conditions. Here are my mom and I at the start:

I got a lot of compliments on the skirt!

The run started off down a gravel road which was really uneven. I had been running out there last weekend so I knew the terrain a bit, but it wasn't ideal for a race start really. The course was an out and back so we got to do it twice! I kept playing leap frog with a power walker in front of me. I was averaging 10:18/mi or so, so I was super impressed with her pace! And a few seconds ahead of me was another power walker that I couldn't catch up to. There were some really neat people out on the course. A lady in a wheelchair was being pushed by her husband and they were a really friendly, nice couple. The major downfall was the turnaround for the 5.5K. It happened right at the first water stop, and the pathway was really narrow. You had people stopping for water, 10K runners trying to get through, and a poorly marked turnaround sign. I reached the turnaround way before I knew it though!

My sister-in-law caught a couple of shots of me as I approached the finish line:

And here is my mom coming in:

And happy at the finish line!

I started my Garmin a bit late, but I recorded 3.1 mi in 31:58 for a 10:18/mi pace. I think the clock read 32:02 when I came in. Not really sure where that extra 0.5K was on the course. My mom also beat her first 5K time by about a minute!

It was a great race - and really neat that my brother and SIL came to cheer us on. It is inspiring my her to want to do some walking events. Afterwards we headed out for brunch where I rewarded myself with banana bread french toast!

Can't wait to read everyone else's race reports!

 

[hockeygirl]

Leana--great job on your race!! That is so cool that your mom does the races with you!!

Lily--not sure that the crowd affected my time too much, i was still able to manage a 9:15 first mile, which is pretty fast for me. gee, I wonder what I would have done if there was less of a crowd!!

 

[cdn_gal_eeyore]

Laurie - congrats on a good race! A terrific pace even for the crowd you were running with. Way to go!

 

[westcliffemom]

Loved reading the reports girls!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Leana, Thanks for your report. I agree, it is so wonderful to have your Mom participate in events with you.

 

[escape]

Laurie - awesome pace! Congratulations!

Leana - great race, too! As others have said, it's nice to have your mom do this with you. Loved the pics and skirt!

 

[kareneast]

This was a beautiful 5 mile course that started along the Atlantic Ocean, went through the surrounding neighborhoods, past 2 lakes, and finished back along the ocean.

John & I arrived at around 7:15am for an 8:30am start, parked & walked the few blocks to the start/finish area. We walked around & did some stretching. By 7:45am the lines for the port-o-potties was getting very long & there really wasn’t very many of them, so we figured we had better get on line. We ended up being on line for almost 30 minutes so I guess it was good we lined up when we did. Now it was time to line up for the race start. John & I had decided to run our own races, so we wished each other luck and we were off. It was a very cool start line. They have a Fire Department Ladder Truck on a side street backed up to the main road with the ladder extended across the street. For the start you ran under the ladder. As I crossed under the ladder I wondered if that was bad luck. Hmmm??? It took us over 2 minutes to cross the start line and it was already a very hot 75 degrees. The first 5 minutes I did a lot of weaving between people. I followed a man that was larger then me who was running a nice easy pace. As he would create a hole through the crowd, I followed him through it. I looked at my garmin seeing that 5 minutes had gone by without any walking breaks, so I figured I had better take one, knowing my body would never make it at the pace I was going (especially with how hot it was). So, I ended up settling into Run 4 / Walk 1 intervals for the first 3 miles before the heat was really starting to get to me. At that point I switched to Run 2-3 / Walk 2-3. I have been training the last couple of weeks to do R3/W2 intervals, so I was happy to see I basically could maintain that, at least for a little while anyway. There were fire trucks every mile or so spraying water on racers & I was very grateful to the homeowners that also had sprinklers or hoses spraying to help us cool off too. It was also nice to have a few homeowners playing music for us along the way, especially the boy that was playing his bass drum to help entertain us. So now I make the last turn and am back along the ocean with the finish less then a half mile ahead. I ran into the finish feeling very hot, but very strong. Went through the shoot, received my medal and went straight to the post race water & food. By the time I made my way back, John was leaving the shoot. He got his medal and we had a photo taken of us together in front of an American Flag. It was a great race & it will be on my list to run again next year.

Here’s the numbers:

Karen Clock Time - 1:04:15 Finished 2556 out of 3414 women
Garmin – 5.08miles 1:01:40 12:08mpm
Mile 1 – 11:40 Mile 2 – 12:04 Mile 3 – 12:20 Mile 4 – 12:31 Mile 5 – 12:33

John Clock Time – 1:13:39 Finished 4049 out of 4228 men
Garmin – 5.08miles 1:11:15 14:02mpm

Photo of the start line

Crowds at the start in front of us

Crowds at the start behind us

Racers all around the lake

Laurie – I’m sorry we didn’t get to see you on Saturday. We had our Wish shirts on too. With the race volunteers having the same color shirt as us, I kept seeing a shirt in the distance thinking maybe it was you only to find out when we got closer that it was a volunteer. You were probably long gone by the time John & I made our way through the food/drink line. Great job on your finish time! You definitely are speedy!

Leana – Congratulations to you & your mom on your race. Nice finish time!

 

[Jen117]

Congrats Karen!!! You did awesome. That's a nice pic of you and your son by the castle. I didn't notice that before!