Category Archives: Race Review

Best of 2007: Personal Race Performance

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As 2007 quickly comes to a close here’s a look at some of the Best of 2007.

Here are 3 of my best race performances in 2007. What was your best race this year?

  1. Buzzards Roost 10K I ran 42:22 which left me very confident for later races and was only 54 seconds off my 10K PR. This was a 6:49 pace.
  2. Ovarian 4Mi Run I ran a 25:43 which I was very excited about. This was a 6:25 pace.
  3. DINO Series – Fort Harrison 15K I ran a 1:07:32 with an all out sprint finish I was very pleased with this 5 minute PR and a tough course. This was a 7:14 pace.

After the Buzzards Roost race I felt confident that I would run some excellent 10K’s later in the year and this was a fairly tough course, so I was very pleased with my race.

The Ovarian 4 Mile run was definitely my fastest performance of the year, I ran a solid race throughout the 4 miles and felt like everything came together perfectly.

The DINO races are all tough and I was super-excited to have ran a 5 minute PR on a mostly hilly course. I was still reaping the benefits of my taper and feel that overall it was a good performance.

Honorable Mention would be the Mid-South Half-Marathon, which I ran a little slower than I wanted but felt that overall it was a good race.

Weekend Workout Summary

Friday – I was at the gym riding one of the bicycles, I put in one hour of easy riding and rode about 16.5 miles. My gym has several styles of bikes, one has the big fan wheel, another is a “real” machine bike with a seat and a back rest – more of a recumbent bike, and the last is a machine with a normal style seat. I think either of the two machines provide a good workout but I personally prefer the normal style because it is more realistic.

Sunday – I ran for the first time since Thanksgiving. We had gotten several inches of snow and a layer of ice. I decided to go ahead and run a loop at Mounds State Park with Brian. It was a pretty tough workout, some of the trails hadn’t been touched and it was beautiful, if not disorienting. We also saw a nice fat deer and lots of deer tracks. It was a good run, but very tough and we both could feel the extra work required due to the snow. My foot felt fine and still feels good so far!

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Guest Review: St Jude Marathon

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Indianapolis native Allison Martin recently completed her second marathon at the St Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN.  Martin now lives and works in Nashville, TN and plans to complete her third marathon next spring! She ran the race with her friend Bridget. Excellent job Allison!

 

YES! Another marathon completed!

This weekend my running partner Bridget and I ran the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis. The weather was great–40s when we started and maybe 60 by the end–with a clear sky and bright sun. Not too strong a sun though. The course was relatively flat with some gradual hills throughout, and sadly some at the end. (Who puts a three-fourths a way up a hill right before mile 24? C’mon!) And several Elvis impersonators, including two at the finish line for a photo op.
Bridget had been having knee pain for the past month or longer, classic runner’s knee, and it started bothering her around mile 13 a lot. We got these way cool temporary tattoos at the registration on Friday that showed your mile times based on your desired finish time. (Check out www.pacetat.com) So we knew that we were a consistent 2 minutes ahead of our 4:45 finish time. Until mile 15. We slowed down quite a bit. Bridget finally convinced me to go on without her since I felt good and her knee was killing. So I took off, determined one of us would finish in our goal time.

And man! I felt GREAT and kept a consistent 10:30 min mile. Not until mile 22 did I really start to slow a bit but by that time, I was so close to the end, I didn’t even care! I ran the whole time, only stopping to stretch at water stops cause my hamstrings were extremely tight!

And then–there it was! AutoZone Park! I entered, ran around the back of the baseball field and crossed the finish line at 4 hours, 42 minutes and 33 seconds!

HOORAY! Now for Country Music April 26th and maybe a 4:20 finish?

 

 

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Guest Review: Monster Mash Dash

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The following review is written by Michelle Hollingsworth a Club Kokomo RR member.  She raced this October event. This review was originally published in The Roadrunner (pdf). This review is about the Monster Mash Dash hosted October 6th by Tuxbro.  

I can always be persuaded to do a run in the fall. Fall is my favorite
time of year and a run through Eagle Creek Park sounded delightful. I
might mention I also love Halloween, candy, trick or treating and all
those fun doings associated with Halloween. Darin and I decided to
drive down to Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis to run the Monster Mash Dash on Saturday afternoon at Eagle Creek Park for the 4:30 5 mile run. I found the run on the internet and because it said “haunted” and long sleeved shirts awarded. I was in the car before Darin had his shoes tied. Saturday afternoon set record high temperatures for this time of the year. I believe it was 87 degrees when the race began. I thought I read on the internet that this course was flat. I was starting to question if this was a good idea when I saw the start line was straight up hill.

Basically, this race was a series of consistent rolling hills.The race sure made you appreciate the down hills because you know about 10 seconds after you get down you are going straight back up and so it was the whole 5 miles. I generally don’t think much about hills because around here it’s not much of an issue but after about the 10th hill I was beginning to notice. Around the three mile mark I was starting to dream about those wet cloths they handed out at the
BeeBumble race. That was a great idea and I was sure hoping they had some to hand out soon.

I almost forgot the internet said “haunted” run so where were the “haunters?” I was hopeful, that someone might jump out and try to scare me or something, but realized I was being “haunted” by this extreme heat and these never ending hills. I never saw any “haunters” so that was kind of disappointing.

The park is nice for running paved winding roads with bits of shade here and there. The leaders quickly surfaced and paved the way for the rest of us. I was sure glad when this one was over. At the end of the race there were bananas, cookies and of course water. There were no wet cloths. There was a costume contest for the kids and adults.

This race was chip timed, but after waiting around afterward for what seemed like an hour, we were told by the race director that something had malfunctioned and he wasn’t able to get a print out of the race results. He said the results would be accurate online tomorrow, but for now he didn’t have any information to give awards.

He announced that if you thought you won an award to come up and get it. I thought No way people are going to be scrambling all over
each other to get these awards. I have been to a few Indianapolis races and they usually give away nice prizes. Gift Certificates to
running stores, restaurants, etc. So, of course I made my way (okay, I ran) to the table fully expecting 20 other females to claim they also won. The nice race director handed me a flashlight and said congratulations!” I know my mouth fell wide open. Not that a flashlight is bad, but is that a TOOL? Basically, if I can’t eat it, spend it, drink it, or wear it I don’t want it. I of course didn’t say that, I was very gracious and said “Thank you.” Believe it or not no other females even claimed that they won prizes. I believe they might still be sitting around laughing at me and my flashlight.

Darin just sat back and laughed. He now owns my flashlight. I always find a way to make a fool of myself, but at least I can laugh and
learn from my mistakes. Later, as I was looking through my packet, I saw the t-shirts were short-sleeved not long-sleeved like advertised. Also, it might be worth mentioning that the bathrooms were a step above an out-house so if you are planning on doing this race in the future and eating dinner in Indy like we were you will have to leave the park to change clothes and clean up because there are no luxuries here. It did cost $4 to enter the park by the way. In general, after the 3rd, 4th or 5th strike I think this race might be off my calendar for next year. I am glad we did it for the experience, but just had too many issues!

Comments from the Race Director

This was the same weekend as the Chicago Marathon, nothing could be done for the heat. I don’t know where she heard the course was flat – I have conducted events at Eagle Creek Park for 20 years and always advertise the course is rolling. As for flashlight award – we did those 2 years ago and a lot of people liked them – so we decided to do them again.

We did have a cable connection break for the computer – the only time this has ever happened – we had to run to Best Buys that night so we could run full results and  have them posted by 9pm that night.

All in all we had a good event despite the very high temperatures and
computer problem – no medical issues, lots of water, food. Lots of awards for costume contest. Good money raised for a good cause (Child Care Referral Services).

 

Thanks Michelle for allowing me to publish your thoughts on the race and congratulations on winning your age group.  She ran a 38:05 (7:37) placing 23rd overall.

It is always good to hear about concerns with local events. I know as a race director I appreciate hearing from the participants about what could have been done differently so that next year’s event can be even better.

 

Yesterday’s Workout

I went to the gym again on Friday and did a little pool workout.  I’m not really much of a swimmer, I have trouble breathing while doing laps! So I swam a few laps, treaded water and did some other aerobic stuff!

 

 

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Guest Review: Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon

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This is a guest review from fellow Anderson runner Wray Jean Cornwell. She and friend Kathy recently completed the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon. The race site says “not fast. not flat. not certified. flying monkey attacks.” The race is near Nashville, TN. Thanks Wray Jean for the review!

Pre-Race Thoughts

At packet pick-up we got two race shirts. One long sleeve tech, tan with brown sleeves made by Patagonia. A performance base layer, $38 retail. Then we got a cotton short sleeve one, tan with a picture of a stick figure runner on it, with only one leg and one arm. There are two monkeys flying overhead with is body parts. The packet of course had a Monkey sticker.

We decided to drive the course. We hit the wrong park first. Why have two park next door to each other with very similar names?

We stopped a mountain biker and asked if this was Percy Warner park…no, this is Edwin Warner Park…..we mentioned the marathon and he told us it’s the next park down the road. He also said, “Good Luck with that one”……whoops, that didn’t sound very positive.

So…on we go to the next park….. Well, we quickly find out what his comment was all about. Talk about “hills”….yep there’s one right after another one….with downhills stuck in there….and very, very few flats.

We come upon a runner name Johnny…..and talk to him and ask all the questions about surviving this marathon…..he continues talking to us all the way up and around a hill……doesn’t miss a beat or lose his breathing. He’s ask our PR time…and then says add 30 to 40 minutes more. That would put us around 5:30 or so. We laugh out loud….. We talk a good five minutes or so…..very nice guy.

Race Day

Very foggy morning…..very foggy. Good thing we are only 10 minutes away from the race and that we had been there before. So…we knew what we were looking for in the fog. Weather conditions 41 at start high of the day lower 60’s, foggy at the start.

The first .3 and the last .3 are cross country. It was runable….. I hate CC running. Just don’t do well…..so, I’m glad that this is short and sweet.

The course was amazing….just down right beautiful…..the changing of the leaves…..the rock formations on the sides of the hills……the winding/twisting uphills/downhills…..just a wonderful place to run. The sun shining in the trees here and there….no wind to speak of…the fog was even beautiful. Very little flats …..we ran most of the rollers and walked when the hills got a little hard. Which didn’t take very long…. Legs were showing signs of wear by the halfway mark……we knew it was going to be pure survival to finish this.

18 aid stations….one station with three porta johns…. Aid stations had plenty of stuff to drink, some had pretzels/orange slices…..one had clif blocks….we hit some aids stations twice.

We did the first 10 miles in 2 hours….. mile 15 was around 3 hours….. Our goal was to finish in 6 hours.

I hit the wall around mile 17, 18. I remember doing this…but Kathy said it differently. On the way home we were talking. She said that when I hit that wall and just stopped walking….in her mind she thought “crap”….she can’t stop now… I can’t go on ….she’s done….what am I going to do? How am I going to pull the both of us through this.

Well, I remember stopping for a moment…than I just started back running….and telling myself that we can do this…. walk/run…. walk/run….

The downhills were brutal….the hills were painful. My butt hurt/my feet hurt/my hammies hurt/my quads hurt……just keep going forward.

For me the worse time is between 14 and 18 miles. You just have so much further to go…you can’t get the miles in perspective….but once you get to 6 miles, 5 miles….you know you can do it….you start thinking about where you run and your 5 mile, 3 mile course….and you just start clipping those miles away….

The last few miles were a test of faith. Starting to run again was slow…but once you got going it felt ok….just it didn’t last that long before another hill….or a downhill that was very painful.. I remember wishing for a hill when even running some flatter areas got to be too long….and the pain would start hurting pretty badly…at that point. I wanted a hill so I could walk!!!

Our last mile…we walked some areas that we could have ran…we were over it by then. And two girls passed us. They had went out too fast or whatever…we didn’t see them in the beginning of the race…than at about 9 miles to go..there they were. We passed them and stayed ahead until that last mile area. One of the girls, had a great monkey call that she did upon arriving at every aid station…..it was great. We’d hear it from time to time before passing them…and would think, what is that?? Can it be a real monkey???

So….we come up to the last .3 miles. The girls pass us….it’s ok. Really….we are ok with it. We can see the finish line below us…..we take off from there.

Running side by side around the pine tree and down the hill (little hill)…..I feel great. Legs aren’t hurting now….I’m almost done. Woohoo, we both keep picking up our pace….side by side….we hit the finish line….DONE!!!!

5:32 was our time….extremely pleased. Never would have expected doing under 6 hours.

Post-race

What a run….it truly was an awesome day for a great run…..and I was so HAPPY that it was over. Just wanted to get off my feet and take my shoes off.

At the end….there were homemade goodies of all kinds….and door prizes, tons of them.

Awards were shortly after we arrived…..the winners also got a stuffed monkey of some kind.

Kathy and I both got a door prize, within the first 10 to 15 names called. Each of us took the race poster…it’s very cool. There was bags/water bottles/socks/gloves/hats/wine/energy powder/sticker/3 pair of Fila shoes and a few other things to choose from….. and yes, we both choose the poster.

Kathy did an amazing job today, she held on and pulled me through some tough times. It was great running with my best friend. I’m even more happy that she didn’t quit at some point. I know she truly thought about doing that. I’m so glad that she didn’t. I would have finished without her, but it would have taken me an hour longer for sure. Thanks girl!!

So everyone….if you don’t mind a “few hills”, this is the perfect race to do. Totally a “must do” marathon, great race director, plenty of good humor and great freebies.

Thanks Wray Jean!! Don’t forget to send me race reports if you’d like them posted!

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Race Review: Drumstick Dash

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First, Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you and your family have a wonderful day of giving thanks.  I know I am thankful for much, includes my wonderful wife, friends, running, and you my fellow runners and blog friends!

In my first-ever Thanksgiving Day race I completed the 4.5 mile Drumstick Dash hosted by Tuxbro in Broad Ripple (Indianapolis). According to their website over 5,000 signed up for this 5th annual event. 

I traveled to the event with the Rayl family (Brian, Kelly, and Logan), all three of them completed the race! We all ran good races and had an excellent morning together!

The race began at 9am between Broad Ripple High School and the shopping plaza with the Running Company (event sponsor).  The high school’s electronic sign said the temperature was 32 degrees, the car thermometer read 38, and the official temperature from Tuxbro says 37.  So it was somewhere in the mid-30’s with gusting winds at the start.  Due to the wind I wore tights and a long-sleeve shirt and other runners were wearing as little as a singlet or shorts all the way to a guy in a parka and pants! It spit rain a few times and afterwards there was some white stuff falling too!

This race includes a turkey chase so we watched the 6 foot tall turkey ride through the crowd, high-fiving everyone, before he got about a minute running head start.  His captors (female and male) later finished the race 39th and 83rd (respectively), but their sprint from the start netted them some type of award. There were also some great costumes!

I ran with Logan for the first mile which ended in a neighborhood but included some of the major thoroughfares of Broad Ripple. We took it out at a comfortable pace and kept it relaxed while the large crowd sorted itself out.  They had people holding signs with pace times at the starting line so that you could line up in some type of order, which made for a pretty decent starting pack. We came through the first mile at 6:22.

The entire course was on roads, so nothing too exciting happened.  There were some people along the streets cheering, but not a lot.  The streets were a little wet from yesterday’s rain which caused some puddles in little dips and the side of the road.  One concern was that we were all taking the turns pretty close to the curb and there were leaves collected in the gutters which made it a little slippery.  Logan pulled away from me and I came through the 2nd mile at 6:28.

A water stop was available at about 2.5 miles which was also at the top of a hill.  Nothing real serious here, but just something to make you think about your stride and pace.  I took it in stride and I don’t think it bothered me too much.  Throughout the race I was continually passing people while only occasionally being passed as well.  Right after the water stop was the turn off point for the short course.  They offered two distances the 4.5 (which was timed and scored) and a 2.6 mile course which was not scored (they had a clock so you knew your time).  I came through the third mile at 6:36.

This next mile wound through a neighborhood circle.  Going into the neighborhood I could see the runners coming back out.  They were probably the back of the first packs. During this 1/2 mile loop.  I threw in a surge to try and catch the next pack in front of me. I continued passing groups of people as we turned onto Broad Ripple Ave and came through the 4th mile in 6:38.

The last 1/2 mile had a slow downhill, a quick uphill, and then a nice downhill finish! The finish line wasn’t marked overhead with a banner or anything so I wasn’t sure exactly where it was.  At the top of the hill two, what appeared to be, college runners took off for a sprint finish.  The first guy took off and the other one yelled at him and then chased him down.  It was funny to see, but didn’t really inspire me to try and sprint to the finish! I did pick up the pace and passed a good amount of runners in this section to finish the half-mile at 3:08.  My overall time was 29:14 (6:30).

I’m completely fine with that time, I had no expectations and haven’t done much running or any speedwork for a few weeks.  It would have been nice to beat Logan again (I beat him at Pop Weaver 5K), but oh well!! There was lots of food and water at the finish area.  Starbucks, the Noodle Company, and the Sunflower Market were all giving products away.  The Running Company had an amazing sale, but most of the stuff had already been picked over. The event shirt was a very nicely done black, Brooks Technical shirt!

All proceeds from this event benefit the Wheeler Mission in Indianapolis. The race slogan was Move Your Feet So Others Can Eat!

Overall this was another great event by Tuxbro.

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