Masters Running

1

Race Reports for the October 13 and 14 weekend (Read 26 times)

Mariposai


    I don't see anyone listed on the Intrepid thread for racing this weekend, but one just never know.

    We are cool Master runners after all and we tend to just jump in to embrace the starting line at any time.

     

    Go racers go!!!!

    "Champions are everywhereall you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard

    stumpy77


    Trails are hard!

      Since Mari was nice enough to start, I'll add in my mini report.  Yes, I did jump into the race at the last moment.  There was rain forecast and I didn't want to go if it was pouring.  Come departure time, only a light drizzle and 48F, so off I went.  LS shirt, shorts, and weather resistant hat.  Sort of wished I had gone with some gloves.

       

      Spent the last few minutes under a tree chatting with a mother and her young daughter.  At the start spent a little time with everyone enjoying the nice, cold rain.  It was not THE most organized start, with the go signal coming from the DJ stand, which was not very near the start.  Had a bunch of kids doing the dash and crash method.  A pair of them managed to stay in front of me for the first mile or so, but finally passed them for good.  Mother and daughter finished not long after me and I congratulated the daughter on a good run.  Her mom told me she had said "we need to catch the man in the orange shirt".  Told them I was very happy to have been  a rabbit for them 

       

      This was my attempt at cherry-picking a race.  It worked, sort of.  Last years race had no one out of their 40's.  This year's was about the same.  unfortunately, it was such a small race that they didn't have AGs.  So, 5K in 28:45, finished 11 of 38, and first (of one) in the hypothetical 60+ AG. Happy with my time--about 2 minutes faster than I've been doing.  Winner was a sixth grader in about 23 minutes.  Rain definitely keep a bunch of people away.

      Need a fast half for late fall.  Then I need to actually train for it.

       

      Mike E


      MM #5615

        It sounds like you had a great time, Stumps...nice job on the rabbit duties.

        coastwalker


          Nice cherry-picking and rabitting, Stumpy, And congrats on the hypothetical AG win.

           

          I was interested in the Livingston Manor Half in NY (we have a niece an hour away) for a Fall race, but they use Active for online registration, and I let the organizers know I'll never use Active and asked for a paper entry form. Instead, they set up an alternate registration platform for me. So I had to register. That was back in May. I sort of had a training plan in place, but that all went kaflooey because of a long Sept. vacation when I basically couldn't train, and some recent ankle issues. So my longest workout before this weekend was a 10-miler, whereas I prefer to have done at least a couple of 13-15 milers before a half. So I went in with some trepidation.

           

          This is a point-to-point race where they bus us from the finish to the start. It was raining and 39° when I arrived, so I stayed in my car as long as I could before boarding a bus. I had a very stylish disposable poncho on over my shorts, l/s shirt, cap and light gloves. The course was almost constant rolling hills, with more downhills than uphills, and very scenic in a rural kind of way. By the time we got to the start, the rain faded to a drizzle, and many of us took the 15-20 minutes we had to stretch and warm up. The race was limited to just over 200, so there weren't a lot of us, and I got to meet some of the other racers. When I told them I'd be racewalking, a surprising number had stories about family members (mostly older) who used to racewalk. Throughout the race, we went back and forth from rain to clouds, to a bit of sun, to more rain, etc., etc.

           

          I took it a little easy the first 3 miles, averaging about 11:00/mi. In mile 1, one woman near me asked another woman (in orange) what her goal was, and she said about 2:30, so I figured I'd stay with her for a while and then see what I could do. When mile 3 was about 11:10, I got a little pissed with myself, and decided it was time to get serious. So I picked up the pace, but so did 'orange woman.' We traded leads quite a few times over the next 3 miles or so, but then she must have faded 'cause I never saw her again. I felt good and was racing well in my middle miles, staying in the 10:20s to 10:40s for 4-9. But then, going around a curve with a steep angle from curb to crest of the road, I did something to my right foot, and had pain under and a little to the rear of my outside right ankle bone. It hobbled me for a few seconds, and faded, but it kept coming back, especially anywhere there was more than a slight camber to the road, which was almost everywhere, and I had to back way off every time it reared up again. It broke my focus, as well as my ability to maintain a decent pace. To be honest, I was also getting very fatigued, so I don't know how much better I would have been able to do. When I lost my focus, it seemed to drain everything. So the last 3 miles of the race were pretty ugly and disappointing. Still, I managed a 2:25 finish, and was first (of 1) in 70+. The rain had picked up again, with some wind, in the last 2 miles, so I was wet and chilly after I stopped moving after the finish. So I skipped the award ceremony in favor of walking the 2/3 mile back to my car to get into some warm clothes and start the drive back to the niece's home for a hot shower and a sandwich before DW and I began the 4.5 hr drive back to NH.

          Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.


          Marathon Maniac #957

            Sweet AG wins!  (Take them where you can get them...)

            Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."


            an amazing likeness

              A few years ago I noticed I was running the same races each year, and made a decision to deliberately drop the usual -- other than a group of core events each year which I really like -- and try more of the races I've heard about and just never got them into my schedule.

               

              With that in mind, I've had my eyes on a new-ish race, the Pumpkin Harvest Half in Bethel Maine, thinking this would be a nice run in the foothills of ski country at the height of fall foliage...so I signed up a few days before and headed north to Bethel Saturday morning.

               

              Leaves were falling, just like embers, In colors red and gold, they set us on fire. Burning just like a moonbeam in our eyes.

               

              Setting out at 6A, it was an interesting 90min drive to ski country with the sun slowly revealing concrete grey skies and areas of fog over the lakes and foothills of rural Maine as I wound my way through towns named for their European heritage...Paris, Norway, Oxford, Waterford.

               

              Texts with my wife. (caveat...we don't text much, but for some reason she was chatty)

               

              me: Arrived Bethel, have bib.

              her: That is good. Is it a bit chilly.

              me: It's 38 degrees....

              me: ...and raining.

              her:  can you get your money back or see your bib?

              me: Oh, it's not that bad, just sprinkles.

              her: I'll meet you somewhere for breakfast

              me: 45 min to start, so plenty of time to sit here and relax

              her: It might be snowing on the big hill at the end

              me: I drove up the big hill on the way in...it looks cruel. [note -- the course finishes up a big hill at 12.8mi]

              me: porta potty (there's 1) very tippy, scary ride

              her: lot of runners there?

              me: all the runners are huddled in their cars parked on the road.  Looks like a pretty small race...no idea how many people running, I'd guess 100 from the number of cars on the street

              her:  Oh, good luck.

               

              Off to run the race.  I'm way under dressed. Expected cloudy and 50F, not raining and 40F. I do have a toss shirt on -- it's pink, something my wife tossed years ago into our rag bin...where clothes go to be used for oil changes.  Turns out the start is down the road, 3/10mi from the commons where we've gathered.  So pack of runners walks slowly through downtown Bethel Maine at 8:15AM and the natives are non plussed as they head to the local grocery for morning coffee and Bud Lights.

               

              And...we're off. The open 5 miles are what I would call...just about perfect. Two lane country road, rolling hills, 100 or so runners, fall foliage stretching into the distance, foothills to the right, river valley to the left.

               

              Around mile 5 a car pulls up right behind me...going slowly....then stopping. I can now report that the average pace of a rural mail carrier as they sprint from mailbox to mailbox is 8:20/mile. We hopscotch each other for the next mile or so.

               

              Other than 1 runner a couple hundred yards up ahead, I'm pretty much alone. There's a water stop every now and then, and I stop at each to thank the volunteers for standing in the cold & rain. Slowly reeling the runner ahead, but suddenly I catch him. He has stopped to take a picture of a road sign -- Moose Crossing. Aha...he's from out of town.  We chat for the next few miles until he suddenly fades at about mile 9.

               

              The course has now made a turn onto a busy, two lane road. We're running with our backs to traffic on a road with no shoulders. Heavily cambered. Logging trucks, pickups, and most scary -- leaf peepers. As each car approaches I have to look back and decide to stop, step off the road, or try and stumble in the dirt and rocks next to the pavement.  This stinks. It extra stinks that it is hilly, and at miles 10-11-12 I'm working really hard and not loving it. At all.

               

              Finally, at 12.8, off the road-of-impending-death, and hard right up the hill of are-you-kidding-me to the finish.  I decide I'm going to run it, no matter how short little strides it takes. About 3/4 up the hill, a spectator says "go, you got one coming!".  What?!  I've been running by myself for the last 4 miles...each water stop person has treated me like an apparition...how the hell is "one coming"!

               

              me: Just finished. 22 OA. 3AG.

              her: very cool

              me: I won a pumpkin pie!

               

               

              runners huddled in cars along the historic common of Bethel Maine

               

              shot of the finish line from tippy porta-potty line. Hill-of-cruelty to right.

               

              AG place is a small pie...

              Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

              Mike E


              MM #5615

                Okay...you’re at mile 5...and then...

                 

                Oh...I think I get it...the mail carrier followed you for the rest of the race...which you finished at an 8:20 pace.  How did you place?

                 

                Oh...you weren’t done...congratulations!


                an amazing likeness

                  Jay -- just scanned the web site for Livingston Manor, that's (1) a long drive, and (2) a pretty neat little event.  Rain and 38F is about the worst race day weather. Add heavy camber and it makes for a long, long day.

                   

                  Mike -- you gotta wait for the finished product.

                  Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                  stumpy77


                  Trails are hard!

                    MT--that is a cute little pie

                    Need a fast half for late fall.  Then I need to actually train for it.

                     

                    Mariposai


                      Amazing race reports from our intrepid weekend racers!!!

                      Congrats to each of you who took AG wins (you too stumpy).

                      Milktruck, nice new race for you! Great pictures. I enjoyed reading the text messages between you and your DW.

                      Stumpy, way to be the coolest rabbit Smile. Nice racing!

                      Coastwalker, way to get serious and get it done Smile.

                      "Champions are everywhereall you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard


                      Marathon Maniac #957

                        Milktruck - great race and report - and I think pie is a great AG award!

                        Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."