Looking forward to reading the turkey trots and all other distances race reports.

RA Masters Runners Rock!!!!

Copied for the most part from a daily thread:

Considering yesterday's wind and rain, conditions for this morning's race were quite good: low 30s and overcast. There may have been a breeze, but nothing that we felt back in the woods. The race had HM, 10K, 4M and 2M distances and I opted for the 4-miler, although in hindsight I could have done the 10K. The course was all on trails that I was familiar with from previous runs, hikes, bikes rides, and X-C skiing, so I knew there were some tough hills that I just planned on walking up.

I'm not sure of the count, but there were several hundred people racing. The HM left at 8AM while the rest of us left together in waves starting at 8:30. It was a good course on mostly wide trails with some single-track in spots, but the footing was treacherous. Basically you had sticks and other small stuff on a bed of wet leaves, which in turn hid the exposed roots and rocks underneath. So I never really got up to a normal "race pace" just due to keeping a careful stride and lifting my feet more than usual. And I not only walked the tougher uphills, but the steep downhills were no picnic either since there were a number of washouts with loose gravel etc. The occasional mudholes were the least hazard of all and I was able to skirt around them without any trouble.

I was surprised to have a sub-12 pace for the first two miles, but was not surprised that the last two segments were slower due to having the worst of the hills. I finished 2nd of 5 in the 70+ AG, beaten by several minutes by someone who was a lot more comfortable with trail conditions than I was. They showed my pace as 13-something but must have calculated on an assumed 4-mile distance, whereas the course was a bit shorter than that. But a good run for Thanksgiving any way you look at it!

Seattle Half Marathon
December 1, 2019 (7:00am) / 44^oF
Chip Time - 2:50:30 (13:01m/m)
Overall - 3257/4509
Men - 1644/2156
AG (76-79) - 4/10

With temps at starting time predicted to be a continuation of the last several days’ chilly, below-freezing level 28o's, I invoked a long-standing, but never yet honored, vow to wear something on my feet too whenever it was cold enough to have to everywhere else too. After all, I wear Merrill trail thongs or Japanese sandals for the rocky, rooty, mountain ultras I like plus I often carry a pair of cut-down thongs for any rough stretches in mostly-paved, local marathons to say nothing of always wearing thongs at night when I can’t see what I might otherwise be stepping on..

I also decided to break another long-standing vow to always to always enter the longest option available in multi-distance races where’d I’d often feel sorry for runners who’d waste their entry fees on 10K or half-marathon distances when a marathon that would give much more exercise, fitness and fun in the same event would do too. However, with the early start with other slower runners eliminated this year and, with marathons now taking up to, and, often, more than, seven hours, the fun part, especially on endless pavements, doesn’t seem to be as much fun anymore, especially when there’s other things to do for the rest of the day I used to be able to get back in time to do when it was possible to run 26.2 miles in four or five hours and get back home by lunchtime.

However, with temps jumping up to the forties, as soon as it got light enough around mile three to see, I let my bare feet take full advantage of the ensuing bike/pedestrian pathways and last two miles to the finish on newly-paved, super-smooth, barefoot friendly asphalt.

Nevertheless, I was still sorry that I’d miss most of those seven hours with “RoadKill” Rick, a super-Maniac (650 marathons since 1978) with whom we have a combined 85 years of continuous annual marathons. However, voila! He’d also independently arrived at the same conclusions so, for the first time for either or us, we ran half of the Seattle Marathon we’d been doing whenever we’d been in town since 1978 and 1990, respectively.
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I once vowed to quit running if 26.2 miles ever took more than five hours I used to think was so pathetic in those days but, somehow, having a good time meeting up with old friends also still trying to keep in shape after all these years has become more important that having a good time on the clock. In fact, nowadays, any time is a good time.

ps joe - yep, the comments along the way
are always kind of fun, e.g.
“Aren’t your feet sore?”
. . . “nope, not as much as the rest of me.”
“How long have you been running barefoot?”
. . . “1943.”

Though my current version of running is way more pathetic that the five hour plus runners I used to think were so pathetic in those days, it wasn’t pathetic anymore when getting “way-to-go’s” from other runners along the way and, in the latter miles, even from some of the leading elites finishing their marathons faster than my half.