The Running Thread - 2016

[michigandergirl]

ATTQOTD: 3:40 for me 35-39F.
By the time I'm 65+ I'll probably just be focused on winning all the 5k age group awards after playing mind games with all the other gray haired women I see as competition???

But that pace chart does make me really impressed for all of you participating or gunning for it eventually

On a side note: they released the rock n roll Chicago medals and I'm geeking out about the ferris wheel design that I will get to earn in July. I will be hot but I will get my bling!

Those are awesome medals! Hmmm, I've been looking for a July race...might be a good reason to make a trip to Chi-town with the girls.

 

[opusone]

QOTD: What are your thoughts on races/events that aren't your standard road race or trail race? (ie Color Run, Obstacle Course, Foam Run, ect) If you have run one, what was your experience like?

I did the Foam Glow 5K last year in Chicago with my daughter and some of her friends, and I was not impressed. The course was horrible (think back and forth through a big open field), and there were only three small points along the 5k course that had foam. The rest of the course was very dark, non-level dirt and gravel with absolutely no scenery.

 

[michigandergirl]

QOTD: What are your thoughts on races/events that aren't your standard road race or trail race? (ie Color Run, Obstacle Course, Foam Run, ect) If you have run one, what was your experience like?

ATTQOTD: I have not tried any of them out. The only strange race I have done is a beer mile. I think they are great for getting people who may not otherwise start running to get out the door, but for some of these races they turn into pub crawls which kinda defeats the purpose. I am not much of a trail runner either, back in HS CC the courses went through woods, rice fields, ect which I enjoyed, but I just haven't had much interest in them since returning to running.

A coworker and I ran a Dirty Girl 5K mud run once. We had a riot and laughed so hard our tummies were sore the next day. I think these types of races are fun to do with family and friends because they are more about the experience than time.

 

[roxymama]

Those are awesome medals! Hmmm, I've been looking for a July race...might be a good reason to make a trip to Chi-town with the girls.

I'll be there the whole weekend for the "remix challenge"! Word of warning...last year was hot so not a race to try to PR. It'll be more about completing it then going hard for me. But those medals right??? If you do the 5k + either 10k or half you also get a sweet looking guitar medal too. (I'm doing the 5 & 10)

 

[Miranda]

I don't know if Ragnars count as non-traditional road races but I've done three of those and loved them. Probably the most fun I've had running.

Yeah, I wasn't sure if relays counted, either. I have not done a relay myself, but we have one here in NH, "Reach the Beach", where you run from Bretton Woods up in the mountains to Hampton Beach. I'd like to run it sometime, I think, although I don't really have any runner friends, so I'd have to get out of my extreme introvert comfort zone and find a team of strangers. I know they have forums where teams form up, but I'm a super slow runner, so I'd need to find a team that didn't mind a turtle tagging along.

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: What are your thoughts on races/events that aren't your standard road race or trail race? (ie Color Run, Obstacle Course, Foam Run, ect) If you have run one, what was your experience like?

I experience enough mud and other obstacles while hashing that paying for it in a race holds no appeal for me. The only non-standard race I've done is a tower climb up 54 stories of stairs, and that was pretty fun. Way more work and effort than I expected it to be.

 

[Disney at Heart]

ATTQOTD: No non-traditional races for me. Like some others, I don't think I'd like running while people fling things at me, and I found out from DH (who did one Warrior Dash) that there are rocks, glass, and yucky things in the mud sometimes.

 

[michigandergirl]

I'll be there the whole weekend for the "remix challenge"! Word of warning...last year was hot so not a race to try to PR. It'll be more about completing it then going hard for me. But those medals right??? If you do the 5k + either 10k or half you also get a sweet looking guitar medal too. (I'm doing the 5 & 10)

And bonus bling??? I'm a sucker for bonus bling! And I'm totally fine with not trying to PR...

 

[roxymama]

And bonus bling??? I'm a sucker for bonus bling! And I'm totally fine with not trying to PR...

Edit to say re-sized pic so it wasn't so big.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I've seen a lot of responses about many non-traditional races being formed to get more people/kids out enjoying physical activity. I also appreciate this aspect that many of them have and respect that added dimension of these types of races. I don't think I would have become a runner without rD events so I am forever grateful for non-traditional events existing and getting me out the door and improving my health and happiness.

On the other hand, I have also seen examples of (primarily) non-traditional races and race circuits, that were clearly organized as a profit making endeavors to take advantage of the fitness boom, close down and disappear with people's money. I've always been a bit leery of color/foam/obstacle runs because of these few bad eggs.

I am just like you. If not for Disney I would have never started running. I still see them as traditional races because they are timed and do count for a BQ if you make your time in the marathon. But I am so thankful for these races as they helped me change my life.

QOTD: I have never done a non traditional race. I have considered a mud run or obstacle race but I don't want to risk injury and slow down my training. It isn't worth it to me yet.

 

[Barca33Runner]

I am just like you. If not for Disney I would have never started running. I still see them as traditional races because they are timed and do count for a BQ if you make your time in the marathon. But I am so thankful for these races as they helped me change my life.

Yeah, I can go either way with the classification of rD races. I likely wouldn't have signed up for just any Half Marathon when I was getting started so I tend to think of them as being non-standard. They definitely afford the opportunity to be taken more seriously than a color run though.

 

[IamTrike]

QOTD: To keep things going a little with a Boston theme, what is your required BQ time?

ATTQOTD: 3:05:00 I have two and half years left to hit this mark. Goal is before I turn 35, or shortly after to go sub 3 hours.

I'm in the 3:15 bucket but I'm going to try and qualify in Oct for 2018 so I probably need to be closer to 3:10 to actually get in.

QOTD: What are your thoughts on races/events that aren't your standard road race or trail race? (ie Color Run, Obstacle Course, Foam Run, ect) If you have run one, what was your experience like?

ATTQOTD: I have not tried any of them out. The only strange race I have done is a beer mile. I think they are great for getting people who may not otherwise start running to get out the door, but for some of these races they turn into pub crawls which kinda defeats the purpose. I am not much of a trail runner either, back in HS CC the courses went through woods, rice fields, ect which I enjoyed, but I just haven't had much interest in them since returning to running.

I've done a glow run and a 200 mile relay. The glow run was a fun 5k to do with family.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

I kinda forgot, but my wife and daughter ran the Expedition Everest Challenge a couple years back and they really enjoyed it...a 5K at Animal Kingdom coupled with a scavenger hunt. Too bad they don't do that one anymore...

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

I kinda forgot, but my wife and daughter ran the Expedition Everest Challenge a couple years back and they really enjoyed it...a 5K at Animal Kingdom coupled with a scavenger hunt. Too bad they don't do that one anymore...

I am so sad about that. I was just reading someone's TR and it looked like so much fun! Perfect for me as a beginning runner.

 

[Baloo in MI]

QOTD: To keep things going a little with a Boston theme, what is your required BQ time?

3:25.... With age comes grace. Of course I am still 25 minutes from that!!

 

[keahgirl8]

ATTQOTD: I'm 3:35:00 which is conveniently nearly as long as it takes me to complete a half marathon. I still have several years in that range though so maybe one day I'll get fast enough but realistically it's improbable.

Exactly. Possible? Sure. Anything is possible. Probable? Not really. lol

QOTD: What are your thoughts on races/events that aren't your standard road race or trail race? (ie Color Run, Obstacle Course, Foam Run, ect) If you have run one, what was your experience like?

I have not. Nothing against people who do them at all! I know they are fun for a lot of people! I just don't need to increase the likelihood I will get hurt by sliding around or having someone throw something at me.

RunDisney events are the only non-standard runs I have done. I have never done any of the races that you mention and probably will not be running any of them. Sweat is dirty enough for me when I've finished a run. I don't particularly want dyes, colored foam, mud, etc. to be all over my clothes/person and don't particularly want to figure out how to get myself home without making a huge mess in my car. I am willing to pay a bit of a premium for an enhanced experience (I runDisney after all), but I would actually probably want to pay less for most of those types of races.

If runDisney counts, then yes! Absolutely! That's as "non-standard" as I get.

I'll be there the whole weekend for the "remix challenge"! Word of warning...last year was hot so not a race to try to PR. It'll be more about completing it then going hard for me. But those medals right??? If you do the 5k + either 10k or half you also get a sweet looking guitar medal too. (I'm doing the 5 & 10)

They do one of those 50-60 miles from me. It's on the bucket list! I'm game for anything where I get extra medals.

ATTQOTD: No non-traditional races for me. Like some others, I don't think I'd like running while people fling things at me, and I found out from DH (who did one Warrior Dash) that there are rocks, glass, and yucky things in the mud sometimes.

Exactly! No thank you!

I am so sad about that. I was just reading someone's TR and it looked like so much fun! Perfect for me as a beginning runner.

Me too. Also, the medal was AMAZING. A working compass!

 

[DOOM1001]

I am just like you. If not for Disney I would have never started running. I still see them as traditional races because they are timed and do count for a BQ if you make your time in the marathon. But I am so thankful for these races as they helped me change my life.

QOTD: I have never done a non traditional race. I have considered a mud run or obstacle race but I don't want to risk injury and slow down my training. It isn't worth it to me yet.

I did a mud run and while going over an obstacle cut a layer of skin from my calf without even realizing it,a couple of minutes later I had to go crawl in a mud pit and as soon as my calf hit the mud there was a horrible stinging burn and I had no clue what it was until I got out of the mud pit,long story short the thing got infected ugly and took weeks to heal up,two years later I still have a dark spot there so no more mud runs for me.

 

[keahgirl8]

I did a mud run and while going over an obstacle cut a layer of skin from my calf without even realizing it,a couple of minutes later I had to go crawl in a mud pit and as soon as my calf hit the mud there was a horrible stinging burn and I had no clue what it was until I got out of the mud pit,long story short the thing got infected ugly and took weeks to heal up,two years later I still have a dark spot there so no more mud runs for me.

That's horrible! See? I'm not going to jump in a pool of something I can't see.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I did a mud run and while going over an obstacle cut a layer of skin from my calf without even realizing it,a couple of minutes later I had to go crawl in a mud pit and as soon as my calf hit the mud there was a horrible stinging burn and I had no clue what it was until I got out of the mud pit,long story short the thing got infected ugly and took weeks to heal up,two years later I still have a dark spot there so no more mud runs for me.

I am sorry to hear that. I am more worried about broken bones or an injury keeping me from my goals. While an infection is no fun and the scar is probably not fun to look at, as long as I could keep running I think I would be fine with it.

 

[DOOM1001]

That's horrible! See? I'm not going to jump in a pool of something I can't see.

I don't regret doing it,it was a fun experience nonetheless and even though I'm saying I'm done with mud runs maybe in a year or two I might change my mind and try another one,I'll just be more careful and wear calf sleeves.I have noticed at least in my area mud runs and other novelty runs are just not as popular as they were a couple of years ago,I guess people are realizing getting covered in mud or colored powder is not as fun as they thought or something to do frequently.