Racing is Awesome!

RedLeg

posted: 2/17/2007 at 5:41 PM

Hey folks, I have been running pretty much non stop for the past 6 years...I am in the Army and that is just part of our lives! Up to this year I never participated in races....as a matter of fact running more than 2-4 miles always seemed kind of dumb to me. My first race ever was the NYC Midnight Run this past New Year's eve. It was a fun run and I didn't even train for it...we had been in the field for almost 2 months straight military training with no PT and no running. Even though it was just a fun run (or maybe because it was a fun run) I got hooked...I decided I would try a half marathon next. I ran my first half marathon on Jan 13 - the Museum of Aviation Half Marathon, at Robins Air Force Base, GA. I had planned in finishing it in about 2 hours...being my first 1/2 and all...I ended up finishing in 1:46:53, third place in my age group. I didn't even know I won an award, and went home right after the race. 2 weeks later I received a little trophy in the mail...pretty awesome! My next race was the Hilton Head Half Marathon - Hilton Head Island, SC, on Feb 10. I hadn't planned on doing this race. We were going to be in the field, military training for three weeks straight and were not supposed to be back until Feb 10. We managed to be back the night before so I decided to go ahead and do another race. I was feeling pretty fatigued after three weeks sleeping on the back of a tank, waking up at 5:00 AM and going to bed after midnight and training everyday. On top of all that I had bruised my left knee and shin pretty bad after taking a plunge off the turret of my tank. I finished the half marathon in 1:38:05 - second place in my age group. This time I stuck around for the award ceremony....pretty awesome! Well today, I ran my third race - the Run the Reagan Half Marathon in Snellville, GA. I finished in 1:34:15 - third place in my age group and another award....uber awesome! I wish I had been doing races before... my prejudice again long distance running is gone... I am completely hooked....and in better shape than ever! My next race will be the ING Georgia Half Marathon. After that, we go back to Iraq for another year or more. Besides missing my family, and American soil, I will definetly miss the awesomeness of racing! For all those out there who have been running for a long time but not racing give it a try....you will love it! HOOAH!!!! Rei Manneck Cool

Smile when you're ready!!

Pron8r

posted: 2/17/2007 at 6:30 PM
modified: 2/17/2007 at 6:30 PM

Great run, RedLeg! You keep improving at that pace, and no telling what kind of times you'll be posting. Well done. Semper Fi.

My Masters (>50) Race PR's: 5K - 20:17 10K - 42:36 HM - 1:31:22 Marathon - 3:20:48

mikeymike

posted: 2/17/2007 at 7:51 PM

Well said. There's somthing about racing.... And nice progress on your times!

Runners run.

JakeKnight

posted: 2/17/2007 at 8:48 PM
modified: 2/17/2007 at 8:49 PM

Quote from RedLeg on 2/17/2007 at 5:41 PM:

Besides missing my family, and American soil, I will definetly miss the awesomeness of racing!

Racing is indeed awesome. I had one of my best today, and can't wait for the next one. And your improvement on the half-marathon is amazing, especially if the shorter runs are your thing (should I mention that wussy Army 2 mile PFT? Roll eyes

) As for your deployment, God bless - and keep your head down. But there's some good news: there's no need to give up racing. There are a whole mess of races that do "satellite" runs in Iraq and elsewhere for deployed troops. I was just reading about it today on one of my favorite political blogs; they didn't care about the running, they were yakking about one of the race organizers that was sadly killed, but I followed a few links and found out that, especially if you're in Baghdad, Iraq ain't a bad place for racing. The Marine Corps Marathon is probably the best known, but a lot of others do it, too. Even my own local Country Music Marathon has a run in Iraq, run on the same day - and I think (not sure) that you might even be eligible for awards and stuff. (As fast as you're improving, that might matter to you). I know you're at least eligible for awards for the overseas race (which might make getting hardware easier for you ... hope you don't have to hump all your trophies around in a pack Smile

) I think most of the "satellite" runs are the marathons, although I do thinks some half marathons and 10ks do it, too. You'd have to Google around. And I think most of them do them in Baghdad, although the Country Music Marathon does it in Tikrit, if you're closer to there. The point is that you might just have it backwards; rather than missing out on races, you might just find (in Baghdad at least) that you're in racing Mecca (pun intended). Think of all the travel you'd have to do to go to all those marathons here in the States - and they're all going to be right in your backyard. Check it out. Here's some links to get you started. http://starbulletin.com/2005/12/17/news/story10.html http://www.blackanthem.com/News/U_S_Military_19/175_runners_compete_in_Honolulu_Marathon_in_Iraq2716.shtml http://www.cmmarathon.com/press/press_cmm_and_iraq.html http://www.3coscom.army.mil/news/story.asp?src=3coscom&id=216 Check that last one, by the way: looks like if you run Boston in Iraq, you don't have to qualify for it. Nice! Keep us posted. Semper Fi.

E-mail: JakeKnight2002@aol.com
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va

posted: 2/18/2007 at 8:47 AM

Great story RedLeg!!! Congrats on your awesome times/finishes, and also, a big thanks to you for serving our country. Be safe!!!

Racing is Awesome! (Read 534 times)