Race Reports, Kudos and Encouragement for September 27th, 29th and 30th Racers!

[Maherae]

Ahhhhh...the last weekend in September..and our colors will be flying..internationally!!

Thursday, 27th

katerkat Diamond Dash 5K


Saturday, 29th

nucpharm (Stephanie) Akron Marathon; OH
escape (Susie) Big Dam Bridge 100 Cycle Tour (25 miler for her); North Little Rock, AR
Dennyha (Denny) and DW (M'Lisse) Hit the Brixx 10K; Charlotte, NC
Jenn117 Rump Roast 10K; Minocqua, WI
Pungodingy (Angie) Newfound 10k; Bristol, NH


Sunday, 30th

Mogulskr (Scott) Vermont 50 (MTB Event)
monte (Monica) Boulder Backroads Marathon, Boulder, Co. (FIRST Full!)

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Toronto, ON
solotraveler (Kevin)
Hockeychic (Kim)
Creativebeth (Beth)

Honeibee (Judy) Bigelow Tea Community Challenge 5K; Southport, Connecticut
Cindylou (Cindy) Bigelow Tea Community Challenge 5K; Southport, Connecticut
WDWFAN9 (Pat) Morton Arboretum Fall Color 5K; Lisle, IL

Go! WISH Team Go!​

 

[cdn_gal_eeyore]

Good luck everyone! I hope everyone has a fabulous race, and I can't wait to read the reports.

 

[Honeibee]

OK you guys, let's kick some butt this weekend!



WOW! Some of you guys have REALLY long distances this weekend!

GO TEAM GO!​

 

[Jen117]

ANNE!!! Thanks for adding me. I forgot to post on the Official Thread! Your the greatest!!!

GOOD LUCK WISHERS!!!!! I know I have good weather predictions on deck for my race. Sunny and high of 72!!!!!!!!

 

[Hockeychic]

Thanks everyone so excited about my first 1/2

Good luck to all other WISHers this weekend. Have fun!!!!!!!


Kim

 

[padisneyfan]

Good luck to all the WISHERS this weekend.

A special shout out to Kim and Beth. You go girls.

Nancy

 

[SilverE]

Good Luck All! Go get 'em!

 

[nucpharm29]

Hey all--just a quick note as I'm a LITTLE tired! The marathon was good--very scenic course, but very hilly at the end. Anyway, DH and I finished in 4:11 and some change--will have the official results later today! Will do a proper race report later--now, since I've had my cold soak, it's time for a beer and a nap!

ETA: Official time/chip time : 4:10:31

 

[RedDragon]

GO WISH TEAM!!!

Stephanie: AWESOME job!

Special shout out to Monica and Judy!! Good Luck!!

 

[Dennyha]

Hi everyone!
M'Lisse and I did the Hit The Brixx 10K this morning in downtown Charlotte. We started off the experience last night, by going downtown for a Brixx wood fired pizza dinner (with beer). The Brixx is a great restaurant, with fantastic gourmet pizzas as well as other food. Anyway, we came home, and prepared our clothes, numbers, and stuff for the early morning rise. Alarm went off at 5am, out of bed by about 5:30am, and out the door about 6:45am. We were parking our car about a half hour later. We walked over to the starting area to pick up our chips, and start the porta john polka . We learned that there was no bag check, so we walked our stuff back to our car. Now, when we got up, it was 52 degrees outside. Now fifteen minutes from race start, it was about 60. Very comfortable for pre-race, and perfect for the run. The 10K ran throughout downtown Charlotte, and it was very pleasant. The first 1/2mile was congested, but after that things opened up, and I was able to find my own pace. Temperatures were perfect, and a lot of the race was shaded. The course ranged from rolling hills to more rolling hills. My GPS reported that we were at a high of 900' above sea level to a low of 670' above sea level. I finished with a time of 58:51, and M'Lisse finished with a time of 1:16:00. We both felt good about our times, and felt good after the race. Good enough to get in line for pizza and beer. (How great is that! )

This wasn't a big race, and it wasn't a small race. It was "just right". It was handled well, with a nice scenic course, and lots of food and drinks (yes, including beer) for the post race events. This was a good prep for the ToT run in a few weeks.

The only downside is that we got stuck in traffic on I-77 on the way home, and sat in traffic for two hours. (It should be a crime for construction crews to throttle traffic down from 4 lanes to 1 lane, and then not be working )

Best wishes to everyone else getting in a race this weekend.

 

[HMHunters]

CONGRATS Stephanie, Denny and M'Lisse! Great job! I'm sensing a theme on the recovery drink of choice ...

 

[SeeDisney]

My husband and daughter ran a local 5K this morning. Both improved their finishes by a couple of minutes. So proud of my daughter.

My young song, 5 year old, did the kiddie K -- so darn cute!!!!

 

[gatorphipps]

WTG everyone! Great races!
Denny - Glad you and DW enjoyed the Brixx race...I did it a few years ago and it was fun. You need to do Thunder Road now!

 

[nucpharm29]

This was a very nice small marathon. According to the finishing numbers there were just under 900 marathon finishers. But there were a ton of relay-ers and half runners. The course was described on-line as "rolling hills with some steeper hills" Yeah, pretty well described! The end was pretty tough--but every marathon finisher (6 hours or under) received a free pair of brooks shoes--what I won't do for free shoes.

The expo on Friday was nice. It was just set up really poorly. All of the most popular booths were set up in the same area. So parts were really congested, where the poor people in the back of the room were getting very little traffic. There wasn't much for us at the expo, as this is a mostly local race, so most of the booths were for local businesses. Had a nice dinner and retired to bed early. We stayed at the race hotel which was really nice. It was pretty bizarre, though. The hotel was built inside the original silos for the Quaker Oats company, so all the rooms are round. But the bed was comfy and 2 blocks from the start.

We probably should have gotten to the start a little bit before we did--but I wanted to stay in the comforts of our room for as long as possible. That led to us scurrying around to find the dry gear bag drop site. The starting area wasn't well lit, so it was hard to find anything.

DH and I lined up with the 4 hr pace group, hoping the pacer would help us run a steady race. We had a great time with him and the rest of the group. I really reccommend the pacers if you're shooting for a specific time. Yeah, they're pretty nutzo, but that can be viewed as cute around mile 16. He told stories and jokes the whole time--but the best part was he gave us the game plan for the race before the start.

So, we're off. The first miles of the race are really nice. The weather was great too which was a plus. The course winds through Downtown Akron and the University of Akron (Go Zips!) And then you leave Downtown and head to the Towpath trail. The towpath trail was beautiful, and a nice departure from running on concrete or asphalt. After we left the Towpath the course started getting hard--this was mile 15 or so. But when miles 11-13 are downhill (steep in some parts) you gotta know you're gonna have to go back up at some point. We stayed with our pacer until around mile 17. I was having some severe foot pain, and was having to walk more and more. DH stayed with me the whole way.

At mile 20 I was ready to quit. The course was still mostly uphill and I was dying. Starting to cramp and my foot was still screaming. And then there was Heartrate Hill--a very steep incline right after mile 21 (evil, cruel, race director!) But my saving grace was the IL's had the kids at mile 22, and I knew I could finish, even if I had to hobble to the finish. Luckily, most of the rest of the course was downhill. We coasted down the dowhhill portions and walked the water stops and the uphill parts. Now we're back in Downtown Akron and can see the crowds and hear the bands. We're golden! Because we walked so much towards the end, and the end was downhill, DH and I finished strong--we even passed some folks right before the finish! Finish time for us 4:10:31

The post-race party probably would have been fun. But A. we needed to get to the kiddos and B. it was WAY TOO crowded. I was pretty disappointed by the food/drinks for runners though. They had runner's food pre-bagged for you which I thought at first was a great idea--but in the bag was a nasty protein bar, a terrible half a sandwich and some popcorn. I had to fight for an orange. Then for drinks it was either water out of dixie cups or beer, once again Where was the Powerade, juice, soda, bottled water??? Luckily, FIL was at the finish and we stopped at a corner market on the way back to the car and got some refreshment.

Once again, this was a nice race. Little crowd support, but what there was, was great. The course is NOT EASY and the time allotment to finish is not great for walkers. It also caters to more elite/fast runners--I was intimidated by all the Boston Marathon gear I saw. I thought I had a great time, but finished in the back half of my age division. We probably won't be doing this one again, mostly b/c there are other great Ohio marathons to try--Maybe Flying Pig this year????? Thanks for reading

 

[nucpharm29]

Denny--great race for both you and DW. And who can't beat pizza and beer at the finish!

 

[Optimator]

Denny and M'Lisse - Good job on for your 10K! Those are some great times.

Stephanie - Congratulations! Excellent time on what I know had to be a tough course. Those are some tough hills climbing out of the valley there. Enjoy the shoes!

 

[Big Vic]

Denny, M'lisse, and Stephanie- WTG! Congrats!

SeeDisney - Congrats to your DH, DD, and DS!

 

[hockeygirl]

Stephanie--great job on your marathon! You had an awesome time on what sounds like a very challenging course! Great job!

Denny and M'lisse--WTG on your 10k! You guys both had awesome times!

SeeDisney--Glad to hear your DD, DS, and DH had great races as well!

 

[SilverE]

Staphanie: Great job on the (hilly) marathon!

Denny, M'Lisse: Congratulations on the 10K!; sounds like a race.

SeeDisney: Congratulations to the whole racin' family

 

[escape]

I'm back from my weekend in Little Rock where DH, Steve, and I did the Big Dam Bridge 100 bike tour on Saturday. I just did the 25 miler after doing my 9 mile walk/run on Friday. What an great ride! I wish I would have taken the camera as we passed through some realy nice scenery. The Big Dam Bridge is awesome! However, it would be rather hard to take a picture while riding a bike, I guess.

Stephanie - we did ride to Maumelle. We rode past the Target Distribution center and turned around somewhere past that. The 50-milers went on to Mayflower, I think. If it weren't for all the hills in LR and the area, I might have attempted it.

Steve didn't fare so well. This was his second century attempt. The first was at the Hotter 'N Hell in Texas a few weeks ago with over 11,000 other bikers. He completed that one with flying colors. For this attempt, he really wasn't feeling well and his legs were really cramping big time despite drinking plenty of fluids with electrolytes. He had to drop out at around mile 80. He was sooooo heartbroken. Yesterday was his 50th birthday and he really wanted to complete the 100-miler. Of course, 80 miles is pretty incredible to me but that wasn't his goal so he was depressed.

He didn't feel like celebrating his birthday too much with his legs still giving him fits but we did manage to get him to go to a place called "The Flying Saucer" where they serve over 400 different types of beer. We figured he might as well drown his sorrows there instead of a hotel room. After a few German and other varieties, he started feeling pretty good and managed to laugh some so the day ended up being good for him.

So, the lesson is this - beer is good for after all runs and bike rides alike!