Category Archives: Race Review

Guest Review: Lewis & Clark Marathon

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In order to spice things up here I asked Anderson runner Brian Rayl to write a review of the Lewis & Clark Marathon in St. Charles, MO. If you would like to submit a review e-mail me and we’ll see what we can work out. Enjoy!

Five Central Indiana Runners traveled west to the Lewis and Clark Marathon September 16th in St Charles MO. Wray Jean Cornwell,Carolyn McKinney, Ann Morris and myself competed in the marathon and Sherry Robertson and Kathy Wehrley ran the half marathon. Ideal weather and a cool temp at start time made for an enjoyable race. Sherry placed 4th in AG with a 1:34:57 PR, Ann placed 4th in AG with a 3:52:57 BQ. Kathy finished with a 2:09:59, Carolyn at 4:03:04 Wray Jean at 5:06:47 and I finished in 3:40:30 PR.

The marathon and half marathon racers start out together on paved roads and cross over the Missouri River before heading into Historic St Charles at which time the half marathon finishes and the marathoners continue on the Katy Trail. The Katy Trail is an old abandon railroad bed lined with crushed stoned. The marathon course continues out to the 19.5 mile mark before turning around and heading into the finish. Overall I would describe the course as flat with the only significant hill crossing over the Missouri River.

There was plenty of water/sports drink on the course and also a couple of stations that had Gu. The out and back we could hit the same water stations twice. Some individuals had brought out pretzels and orange slices for the competitors.There was food and refreshments at the finish area but it did seem like it was starting to run out.

Ultramarathonman Dean Karnazas who also ran the marathon was on hand to sign books and or bib numbers and also for photos.

The only negatives were the finish chute was a little crowded as some runners basically stopped just after the finish banner, also early in the course around 3 – 5 miles some runners cut across the course at the port-o-let facilities.

Overall I enjoyed the event, my family went out with me and I was able to see them along the course and this made for a fun training run for me. Now it time to focus on the Chicago marathon on Oct. 7.

I also included a little comment from the Lewis and Clark website

The 6th Annual Lewis & Clark Marathon and Half-Marathon was the biggest and best one yet! 4,400 runners and walkers completed either the full or half marathon on a new course that began at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Maryland Heights and finished under the Lewis & Clark Statue in historic St. Charles’ Frontier Park.

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Race Day: DINO Series #5

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On a cooler Saturday morning 206 eager competitors (89 in the 15K and 117 in the 5K) lined up for a muddy start to the DINO Series 5th race of the season at Town Run Trail Park in Indianapolis. The 15K started at 9am with the 5K following five minutes later. This is a little late for the current weather trend, but stays consistent with the DINO Series 9am start for all 7 races.

I ran the 15K course which is 9.3 miles, except today due to the structure of the trail and modifications by the city the course was actually more like 10 miles, and the 5K distance was closer to 5 3.3. We were dutifully informed of this well before the race start so you had time to mentally engage yourself for the longer distance. According to the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association which helps maintain the trail, the trail was modified due to high levels of erosion.

Town Run is mostly a Mountain Bike trail that is primarily single track throughout the entire course. It winds along the White River from 96th Street goes under 465 and supposedly comes out on 82nd Street somewhere. In the 15K we did a two loop course. We began by running the 5K loop and halfway through our second time around that loop we went straight out to complete and approx 5 mile loop through open meadow and more woods. After completing this grueling loop we finished along the 5K course. This was no easy race.

I started farther back in the pack than I should have and spent most of the first 2 miles trying to get around long “trains” of runners on the single track. After finding a group that I felt comfortable staying behind we got into some semblance of a pace and didn’t have to worry about the single-track much after that. I and some others faded from the main pack and around the 4 mile mark the group I was with completely disintegrated with me staying in the front and running a long while by myself before other runners started catching me. Due to the million switch backs and turn you could see those ahead and behind you at various points, but you couldn’t always be sure how far behind they actually were. I used some Clif Shot Bloks at the 5 and 10K marks, they seemed to help a little bit, but I took half the recommend amount of 6 per hour. They are given away free at the registration table for the DINO races!

I’m not excited with my overall time or individual splits, but this is actually a little faster than my last DINO race and considering the course, my current training, and nutritional habits I am happy with my 1:19:11 (7:55) ten mile time. My splits were 7:50, 6:51, 7:44, 7:43, 7:57, 8:17, 8:11, 7:48, 8:29, 8:17 (ones with similar formatting are approximately the same mile). I was very happy to place second overall in my age group and 23rd place overall.

Did you race this weekend? How did you do? Tell us about it in the comment section.


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Race Day: Bears of Blue River 10K

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With a 7:30am start the Bears of the Blue River 10K insured a cooler start, with a little rain it was actually an excellent starting temp in the mid-70’s and a slight drizzle.  The Bears is a combined 5K and 10K.

We started out with the 5K group, not really knowing who was racing in each section.  I started with a group of women I knew from other races and knew where running the 5K.  I let them go after mile 2 which was a mistake but ran a 20:37 5K which was about 30 seconds off where I wanted to be.  I was hoping to run just under 20 minutes.  I had been having some stomach issues all week and had been fine until Saturday morning!  I felt the lack of energy during the race.

After passing the finish area, my wife told me that I was in second place overall in the 10K and that the leader was about a minute ahead of me.  The second 5K is pretty lonely because of the small group of participants and the lonely course winding along the Blue River.  That 5K pretty much stunk, I had a decent enough lead to hold onto second place but definitely should not have.

My overall time was 43:02 (3 minutes behind where I wanted to be) but was good enough for a second place overall finish and earning $50!!!

The race is a USATF certified course with the first 5K being an out and back and the second being a loop.  Only small hills grace the course that has ample water stops and overall support.  Cold water and fruit await the finishers as well as the prospect of $$$.  This was my third year competing in Shelbyville but only my second earning money.  It seems to come and go with the top runners. Last year had 2 Kenyans, this year only 1.  It got a little lonely and boring out during the second 5K but the course was very well marked.  This was the 28th annual race held in conjunction with Shelbyville’s annual Bears of the Blue River Festival.

Ok well I guess I’ll post my splits although they are kind of embarrassing.  I think some of my Mini splits were faster.
6:37, 6:22, 6:59, 6:44, 7:20, 7:30, 1:27

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Updated Title to reflect proper event name, per comment below.

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Race Review: Pop Weaver 5K

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This race also known as the 2007 Weaver Popcorn Kernal Klassic is run on a loop course in the countryside surrounding little Van Buren, IN.  It is famous for its free post-race popcorn and being part of the annual Popcorn Festival.  Hosted by Pop Weaver Popcorn it is a relatively cheap race with bags upon bags of popcorn given away to age group winners.

Each participant, presumably, received a post race e-mail with stats about their race.  Here is what my e-mail said:

Congratulations on finishing the 2007 Weaver Popcorn Kernal Klassic on August 11, 2007.  For your records, the weather that day was Sunny, Nice & Cool.
There were 5 finishers in the Men 25 to 29 age group and
106 finishers in the race.
Your overall finish place was 17 and your age group finish place
was 2.  Your overall finish percentile was 16 while your age group percentile was 40.  Your time of 19:30 gave you a  6:17 pace per mile.

It was definitely cooler than the preceding days but still warm! I am okay with my overall time of 19:30, but ran 9 seconds faster last year and over a minute faster in 2005, so that is frustrating.  My splits were 5:59, 6:50, and 6:40 for the last 1.1 (which actually breaks down to 6:03 pace).  My GPS-enabled friends agreed that the overall course was accurate but that the specific mile markers may have been a little off.

The race pretty much started on time and quickly leaves the town for some country roads.  There is shade for the first and final stretches, but most of the race is run on rural, corn-field lined roads, without any shade.  The 8:30 start made for decent weather on this specific day, but the sun was definitely out in full force.  The course featured 3 water stops, but only one actually had people passing out water.  The course is easy to follow because you are basically making a square! This is also a popular race for local high school teams to participate in and they have their own chute since they can’t win prizes or actually pay to participate (I believe).

After the finish they had plenty of ice-cold water and fruit available for all participants.  This years awards ceremony was a little confusing.  Someone the overall walkers won in amazing times of 7 something for the guys and 14 something for the females. The walk was a 5K.  I think they mistook the fun run sheet for the walkers results.  Sadly, this was never really corrected and the walkers where never publicly recognized, they made a passing comment at the end about walkers coming up to get popcorn.

Now for the fun of the whole event.  Overall 1st place winners received a gift certificate and a bag of popcorn.  Let me explain abut these bags of popcorn! Large, color-coordinated, paper bags are filled with boxes of various Pop Weaver brand popcorn. First place is blue, second is red, and third is white and supposedly each bag has a little less popcorn than the preceding.  This year I brought home like 26 bags of microwave popcorn in my 2nd place bag.  We traded around to get rid of the kettle corn (my wife doesn’t like it and we still have a half-eaten box from last year!) and took a few extra boxes at the end of the awards.  So that provides a little more of a festive environment for post-race activities.

Overall a good race. All results are posted here.

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Race Review: Lapel CdLS 5K

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This race is probably the definition of low-key events. With a 7:30am start, you are able to beat most of the heat typical of mid-July weekends. This year it was almost chilly at the start due to weird weather patterns. I feel this event is so low-key that I actually rode my bike the 10 miles from Anderson, raced, then rode my bike back.

All proceeds from this event benefit the CdLS Foundation, which provides support to families who have a child with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. The foundation is located in Connecticut, but this is a personal issue for the race organizers as they have a child with CdLS. They have done everything possible to maximize “profits” than can be sent back to the foundation.

The course is exceptionally flat, and would be a good PR course if it weren’t for the 180 degree turns. This year there were only 2, but that was because the leaders missed a turn (no one told them where to go, although a map was available at the registration area), the field followed and we all set some amazing times, I passed the mile mark at 3:41. Typically there are 3 180 degree turns, one water stop and a loop around a little park to make the 5K distance, this year’s distance was approximately 2.7 (various GPS watches gave slightly different distances).

Ample water, grapes, and bananas were available at the finish. An important note is that this race is not scored in the traditional sense. They give out overall and age group awards but it is based solely on your bib # and finish order. A clock is viewable to get your finish time, but they do not track finish times. This year’s age group awards where blue, red, and yellow (I think) key lanyards. One older runner asked, “Where’s my whistle?!?”

To add to the fun flavor of the event, random awards were given to the 8th place (8th year of the event), 17th place (Conrad’s, the young man with CdLS, age), and 21st place (21st year of the Lapel Village Fair) of each division (men, women, walkers).

This event is a part of the Anderson Road Runner’s Road Race Series, which is where many of the participants come from.

My time was 17:09 overall with 3:41 (.6miles) 6:25, 7:02 (1.1 miles), which is a 6:22 pace, which got me 4th place overall.

CHESTERFIELD RACE RESULTS POSTED

5K 10K

Did you race somewhere this weekend? Tell us all about your experience in the comments section.

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