Race Reports, Kudos, and Encouragement for Dec 1st and 2nd

[Maherae]

The first weekend of the last month of 2007 has arrived and WISH colors are flying internationally!!

Saturday, 1st
escape (Susie) St. Jude Memphis 1/2 Marathon; Memphis, TN
Pungodingy (Angie) and DD Jingle Bell Run
BigVic (Vic) Emerald Coast Jingle Bell Walk/Run and Fun Walk & Dog Walk for Arthritis; FL

Sunday, 2nd
goingthedistance (Paul) Tucson Marathon; Tucson, AZ
Goofyguy (Mike) Brian’s Run 10K; West Chester, PA
RunningLilo (Dena) Festival of Lights 5K
smileyk8 5K Santa Dash; Liverpool, UK (first event!)

Run to Victory 1/2 Marathon Randleman, NC
Creativebeth (Beth)
getnthinr (Wendy)
HMHunters (Renee )
jeanneg (Jeanne)
NYcpa (Kathy)
WDWFAN9 (Pat)
Xterratri (Lynne)

MouseDogMon (Jackie) Run to Victory 5 miler

GO! WISH Team GO! ​

 

[Kristi1357]

Go team, GO!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Go WISH Team! Have great events and lots of fun!

 

[princessrunner]

GO WISH TEAM GO!!!

 

[Big Vic]

Good luck everyone!

Ran the Jingle Bell 5K this morning.

Arrived around 0745 and picked up my bib and shirt (nice long sleeve and they even had my size). Found the rest of the team and hung out. Weather was good. Sunny and around 55 degrees (Guess it was around 60 when the race started). Around 0850 we started lining up, waiting for the gun.

0900 the gun sounded and we were off. I estimated around 350 runners, walkers, and walkers with their dogs. The course was an out and back through the surrounding neighborhood, with a water stop at the halfway point.

I actually ran some decent times (well decent for me). 9:49, 9:52, 11:24, and 9:32, giving me an pace of 10:18. Finish time was 33:14. Surprise, surprise!

After the race there was chili to eat, and the usual post race food and drink.

All-in-all, it was a fun time and definitely a "Do again" race.

 

[smileyk8]

good work big vic and thanks for your report. I'm just about to adjust my santa suit as it was one size so is huge! Really nervous about tomorrow, not only as it's my first proper run, but i managed to turn my foot on thurs so it's not great. Oh and it's forecast heavy rain for the event so at least u won't be able to see how much i'm 'glowing'!!!!!

Good luck everyone- go wish team

 

[gatorphipps]

WTG VIC!

Go team! WISH rocks!

 

[SilverE]

Great job Vic

 

[Duanerice]

Way to go Vic. Nice race where they serve Chili afterwards.

I ended up racing a 10K this morning. Great weather. About 65 at the start then up in the mid 70s by the time I finished.

We started in downtown Ft Myers, ran for about 1 mile then up over the bridge and across the river. These are big bridges! Ran into N Ft Myers, over to the other bridge then over that bridge and back to the park where we started. The good part was the last 3/4 mile was almost all down hill.

Ended up with a 53:53 for a 8:41 pace. Would have been a bit faster but I ran with a friend averaging 9 min miles until about mile 4.5. Felt really good so I told him I was going to pick it up a notch.

I am not fast by any stretch of the imagination but, it is amazing how this training stuff works. At the RFTT I about died averaging 9 min miles. Two months later and I am getting a little antsy because I am only running a 9 minute mile. Go figure, It works, it really does!

I think we had around 350 for the race. We had the usual bagels, bananas and orange slices afterward. The Ft Myers Track Club always puts on a great race. Very organized and they always start on time.

Good luck to all those running tomorrow.

enjoy,
Duane

 

[Big Vic]

WTG Duane!

Congrats!

 

[tiberius]

GO TEAM GO

Way to go this morning, Vic and Duane!!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Great job Vic and Duane!

 

[smileyk8]

Congrats duane.
I did the santa dash this morning- yay. So I arrived in liverpool city centre at 9am to get all set for 9.30 start. They said they provided toilets- which they didn't. I ended up going into liverpool port building (one of the three graces) and asking to use there's!!!!

There were over 6000 santas there so i was in quite a crowd. Managed to settle somewhere in the middle and made it around 5km of the (surprisingly hilly) city centre in just under 31 mins (30.57 to be exact!). There were no km markers around the course and as i was about to start thinking of walking people began to line the street and i turned the corner to see the finish! Such overwhelming relief! Here's a lovely picture of my not so sexy suit, my medal as worn by moose from canada in epcot and the crowd before we started.

My first run over and done with, it was quite emotional really!

 

[Big Vic]

WTG smileyk8!

Great pace and congrats on your first run!

 

[escape]

Congratulations Vic on some very impressive times! You are getting so speedy!

Duane, great job!!! I know what you mean about the time being more comfortable. Although my time has not really improved, my comfort level of for doing a half has. I don't think it's so overwhelming as I did before. Of course, doing 4 of these within a month and a half helps. Now if I could just feel that way about the full.

smileyk8 - sounds like you had a lot of fun. For some reason, I can't see your pictures. I'd love to see all those santas running. Congrats on a good time as well.


I did the Memphis St. Jude half-marathon yesterday. I LOVED this race. This was a benefit weekend for the St. Jude Children's Hospital. So many staffers from the hospital cheered us on throughout the race. It was really nice.

There were ~ 11,000 runners (full marathon, half and 5Kers). The start was kind of neat. Everyone lined up according to expected pace. After one group started, the next one waited about a minute before taking off. This cut down on some of the crowdedness at the beginning.

The course was great and scenic. The weather was perfect (in between two rainy days). The support was great - water/powerade at EVERY mile - including the 5K run. Plus, there was entertainment at just about every mile, including a couple of Elvis impersonators along the way.

One of the best parts of the race was at the end when we got to finish inside the AutoZone baseball park. The stands were filled with spectators rooting everyone on. The marathoners finished on one side and the halfers on the other. Very nice! The food at the end was awesome. Pizza, bagels, doughnuts, the best sugar cookies, fruits, all kinds of flavored water, regular water, soft drings and BEER. It was really nice being able to sit in the stands and cheer the others coming in after our race. We even got to see a marriage proposal at the marathon finish line (all caught on the loud speakers, of course).

About my time....

We were required to have a 15-minute pace to receive a finisher's certificate. I didn't know that beforehand. OFFICIALLY, we were required to finish in 4.5 hours (support would not be provided after that). Normally, I can do a 13.5-14 minute pace. However, yesterday, my running buddy was having some major knee problems and we weren't able to go our regular speed. We were on course to complete the half in about 2 hours and 45 minutes but around mile 5, her knee gave her fits and we had to slow it down. By around mile 11, we were doing about a 20 minute pace. We managed to finish in 3 hours and 17 minutes - a 15 minute pace....which, under the cicumstances, I'm very happy with the time. We barely got in in time to get the finisher's certificate - even though that really doesn't mean much to me. It's all about the bling and we did get a very nice medal.

I HIGHLY recommend this race. St. Jude is a wonderful organization and I'm so glad that I could help with their fund raising efforts.

 

[escape]

Congratulations Vic on some very impressive times! You are getting so speedy!

Duane, great job!!! I know what you mean about the time being more comfortable. Although my time has not really improved, my comfort level of for doing a half has. I don't think it's so overwhelming as I did before. Of course, doing 4 of these within a month and a half helps. Now if I could just feel that way about the full.

smileyk8 - sounds like you had a lot of fun. For some reason, I can't see your pictures. I'd love to see all those santas running. Congrats on a good time as well.


I did the Memphis St. Jude half-marathon yesterday. I LOVED this race. This was a benefit weekend for the St. Jude Children's Hospital. So many staffers from the hospital cheered us on throughout the race. It was really nice.

There were ~ 11,000 runners (full marathon, half and 5Kers). The start was kind of neat. Everyone lined up according to expected pace. After one group started, the next one waited about a minute before taking off. This cut down on some of the crowdedness at the beginning.

The course was great and scenic. The weather was perfect (in between two rainy days). The support was great - water/powerade at EVERY mile - including the 5K run. Plus, there was entertainment at just about every mile, including a couple of Elvis impersonators along the way.

One of the best parts of the race was at the end when we got to finish inside the AutoZone baseball park. The stands were filled with spectators rooting everyone on. The marathoners finished on one side and the halfers on the other. Very nice! The food at the end was awesome. Pizza, bagels, doughnuts, the best sugar cookies, fruits, all kinds of flavored water, regular water, soft drings and BEER. It was really nice being able to sit in the stands and cheer the others coming in after our race. We even got to see a marriage proposal at the marathon finish line (all caught on the loud speakers, of course).

About my time....

We were required to have a 15-minute pace to receive a finisher's certificate. I didn't know that beforehand. OFFICIALLY, we were required to finish in 4.5 hours (support would not be provided after that). Normally, I can do a 13.5-14 minute pace. However, yesterday, my running buddy was having some major knee problems and we weren't able to go our regular speed. We were on course to complete the half in about 2 hours and 45 minutes but around mile 5, her knee gave her fits and we had to slow it down. By around mile 11, we were doing about a 20 minute pace. We managed to finish in 3 hours and 17 minutes - a 15 minute pace....which, under the cicumstances, I'm very happy with the time. We barely got in in time to get the finisher's certificate - even though that really doesn't mean much to me. It's all about the bling and we did get a very nice medal.

I HIGHLY recommend this race. St. Jude is a wonderful organization and I'm so glad that I could help with their fund raising efforts.

 

[princessrunner]

Great job Susie, smileyk8, Vic and Duane. You all did an awesome job!!

 

[Big Vic]

Susie, sounds like a great race!

Congrats.

Hope your running buddy gets the knee deal taken care of.

 

[MouseDogMom]

Vic - Great time on your 5K

Duane - Fantastic 10K! I'm envious of your weather.

Smileyk8 - Congratulations on your first race!

Susie - Great job. Glad you finished within the limits even though you slowed down for your running buddy.

I ran the Victory Junction Gang Run to Victory 5 Mile this morning. What a great experience! The Victory Junction Gang Camp is a year round camp founded by Kyle Petty and his wife for children ages 7 to 15 with chronic medical conditions or serious medical illnesses. There's a half-marathon and a 5 miler - I opted for the 5 mile to make sure my feet can be in shape for Disney, but the rest of the WISH contingent did the Half. The race morning began with a NASCAR-style worship service in the gym. I sat with most of the WISH team (Wendy, Renee, Pat, Kathy & Lynne; Jeanne & DH and Beth were on the other side of the gym). After a quick port-a-potty run and a stirring rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" played on the trumpet, Richard Petty waved the green flag and we were off.

The half marathon and 5 mile course started together, but split at the 2.5 mile point. I'd been running with my Galloway group until then, so I told them goodbye and set off alone. We were doing 3R/1W intervals and were averaging much better than our usual 12:00 pace, so I was hoping for anything under 1:00:00 for the 5 miles. The course rolled; towards the end of the 4th mile (around mile 11 for the half, I think?) there was a killer hill, but I managed to run up it and keep going. After the 4 mile mark we turned into Victory Junction Camp, and there were volunteers all along cheering us on. Then it was downhill and around the main circle of the camp to the finish line, where Kyle & Patti Petty met every finisher at the line with a high five. Got the Bingham medal, cut off the chip, grabbed some food (served on plates from Walt Disney World Resorts!), then had to pick up my gear bag (which they'd temporarily lost - 15 minutes of panic there but what great staff while they searched and searched) and head back to Raleigh to be at church by 3:00.

Really liked the small-town feel - Nascar fans would LOVE it (Vic, you gotta do this one!). It was great getting to meet so many WISHers close to home!

Oh yeah, I PR'd! Finished in 56:42 for an 11:18 average! Splits were
10:47
12:11
11:27
11:28
10:38

Jackie

 

[Big Vic]

WTG Jackie!

Congrats on the PR!

I am definitely putting this race on my calendar for next year.