Here is wishing our great intrepid racers good luck!!!

10/14, down under's 15 twocat - Melbourne Marathon, Australia

10/15 evanflein - Green Mountain Marathon, VT

Any others who raced this weekend can post here, no distance requirement.

We just love reading your racing report.

These RA family race pictures from last weekend made me smile.

Our own Jay, the magnificent daily recap starter of our group

Henry

Go racers' goooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ran the five mile Princeton (MN) race today and I won it.  My first win since I got to 60 year old. It was a tough course for me because a lot of the course was on dirt trails, and we had a damp night so it was pretty muddy.  I don't like running on trails since I had the knee surgery last year, it isn't that stable.  My knee was sore after the race but it is beginning to feel a little better.  It was an enjoyable race. My time was about 34:20 a good time for me on the course with so much mud and uneven trails.

Wow, great result Spinach. Do you eat Popeyes to give you strength?

Now for my own RR. I was anticipating a DNS or DNF as I was struggling to even walk for much of this week. Not quite what caused my right hip to be so painful. I did manage to jog about 50 yards last night so decided to at least start today.

The race was the Atakapas 7 mile trail race in Lafayette, Louisiana. A little of a misdescription as 6 miles were on roads with just mile 4 in the woods. Race started promptly at 8.30, which is an unusually late start here. The sun and temperature were both rising quickly and it was close to 80F at the start and of course humid too.

Decided to start near the back and take it very gently to see how the hip would react. Some slight discomfort and the shin felt numb but I was still moving forward and actually passing people. Was thinking I was at around 12 minute pace but mile 1 came in at 9:30 much to my surprise. Water stops at each mile and I stopped at each, drank half and poured the rest on the back of my neck.

Slowed the pace slightly and the hip wasn’t complaining any more. Miles 2 and 3 were 10:0x each. Mile 4 was off-road - mainly a narrow trail through woods alongside the river. Very cautious with the ups and downs resulting in almost 11 minutes for that mile.

Now just 3 road miles to the finish and now fairly confident that I can finish. Even picked up the pace a touch to catch and pass a couple of runners.

I showed total mileage of nearly 7.3 miles and my finishing time was 1:12:15. Good enough for 26th overall and 2nd (of 5) in the M60+ AG. Finisher medal was a washboard themed bottle opener ... Louisiana knows how to make them useful!

Your shirt looks happy...

Here is a picture of the finish of the race.  I was not feeling very good at the finish but my leg is feeling better.

 

Congratulations!

This will be short since DW and I are heading out to get something to eat as soon as she is ready with her post race shower. The Melbourne Marathon course is stunning. If you look at the relive video at https://www.relive.cc/view/g14884686303 you can get some idea of the sights. Lakes, bays, a botanical garden and a finish in the Melbourne Cricket Grounds stadium are just the highlights. The course is fairly flat. A few very modest inclines. The weather was outstanding! Sunny, cool, no wind and dew points in the 40s. You could not ask for anything more.

As for me, I am happy to have been able to run the race and to not be facing a life and death battle with tongue cancer. I started off pretty strong. My goal was to stay with the 3:40 pace group and then try to get ahead at the half way point. Well that part worked. Then around mile 16 my toes (toes!) started to cramp up. I think it might have been partially due to my sneakers coming a bit loose by then. I should have stopped and retied them as soon as I thought they were no longer tight. Stupid. By mile 18 I had to stop and work the cramps out. I took my last Hot Shot. This is a cramp stopping drink that as the name implies is really hot. (Think drinking a jalapeno.) It may have helped over the long haul but for the next few miles I battled toe cramps and then calf cramps. The banes of my marathon existence! After about mile 22 the cramps were gone but by then my legs were shot from battling them. Eventually, the 3:40 pace group passed me and I decided my goal would be to just finish. I did, in 3:49:31. Probably as good as I had any right to expect given what my body has been through since mid-August.

My DW ran the half. She did quite well. Plus, she stops to admire the local birds something I must admit I did not do! Overall, we both really happy with our decision to come down under!

If you ever decide to run the Melbourne Marathon I would suggest paying a few dollars extra and getting their "Very Important Runner" (VIR) package. One thing the Aussies do not know how to do is run the finish line food. You could get water, sports drink and banana's cut into thirds. That was it! If you got the VIR package you had a special room (overlooking the stadium!) where there was lots of different things to eat. So worth it, even if just for the view of everyone coming through to the finish area.

Great racing, Spinach, Quickadder, and Twocat (and Mrs. Twocat)! I'm sorry about the various discomforts, Spinach and Quickadder, but they didn't seem to get in the way of your races. And I'm sorry about the toe and calf cramps, Twocat, but I'm glad you fought on.

Nice job of bringing back the memories of your '02 Detroit Marathon, Rochrunner.

Jay