I guess I sort of put my Hills and Hollers Half Marathon report in the daily thread, but here's a little more.  It's a nice local community event on a tough rural course.  It has a good staging area with an indoor community center so you can be inside before and after the race.  Parking is right in front of it, so it's all low hassle.  It felt cold-  35 degrees but clear and sunny.  We were shaded a lot, so I'm glad I kept my light jacket, gloves and earband.  I wore more than a lot of the other runners, but that's what I do.

The course is not certified and has been about 13.3 in past years.  I didn't look at the race info carefully this year to see that they changed the course up a little- took out one big hill but it got replaced by one almost as bad.  Anyway, on the way out I saw the 11 mile mark for the return and I was at 2.75 at that point so I suspected there was going to be some "bonus" distance.   I ran near some people for part of the race and alone for much of it.  A lot of walking goes on in this race at all levels but the very front runners.  I was no exception.  I wasn't wanting to push it too much, either, in case I run the Monkey on Sunday.  I made that mistake in 2013 with these two races.  This race is great practice for Monkey, though.

So- I made it around the course and stopped along the way to take a couple of pictures, including a selfie with a horse.  One bathroom stop where I lost about a minute.  Final time was 2:24 for the 13.7 and my personal 13.1 was 2:19, which is a few minutes slower than last year, but I'll take it.  I won my age group- not many older folks are that interested in these really tough courses.   I wasn't thrilled with the timing company.  They didn't do chip times and tried to tell me they can't do chip timing with a start and finish line not being the same.  (BS)  They calculated paces based on 13.1, even though the course map provided to them clearly showed 13.67.  So everyone looked even slower than we actually were- a LOT slower.  They gave me some push back on that, too.  I've been involved in enough race administration that I know when the timing company isn't doing their job.   Not a huge deal-  small race, who cares?  Well, some of us kind of do, but whatever.....

I wasn't up for the pizza they had afterwards since it was still mid-morning, so I passed on that and my husband and I went out for more normal breakfast food.

A nice weekend of racing!  Congrats to everyone.

Quickadder—wonderful PR for a birthday gift!

Falconfixer—great meeting you.  (I think we violated a forum norm by forgetting to take a picture at lunch. Oops.) I’m always glad when people have good experiences running Richmond.  Sounds like a solid day and a smartly-run race for you. Congrats!  (Funny about the ‘Bama flag, too!)

Watching the runners finish in Richmond, I was struck by how MikeE was not like the others (though he definitely belonged!)

Let’s review:

• The man is 59 years old.
• He finished:

98^th overall in a race with 4238 finishers (Top 2.3%)

87^th man in a race with 2099 male finishers. (Top 4.1%)

• Of the women who finished ahead of him:

5 were in their 20s

5 were in their 30s and

1 was 40 years old,

….pretty much all young enough to be Mike’s kids or grandkids.

• Of the men who finished ahead of him:

1 was 19 years old

31 were in their 20s

35 were in their 30s

18 were in their 40s

1 was 50 years old

Or to put it another way: only 1 runner who finished before Mike was within 10 years of him…and that was the lone 50-year-old, 9 years younger than him.

• THAT is some pretty awesome Masters running.

Also, that picture by TriBee is pretty accurate; we basically laughed all weekend. 

Congrats to all!  Hey Quickadder thanks for the reminder.  I was going to check the age-graded calculator.  My PR half in Jan. 2010 was 56.42% Age Graded.  Yesterday (I'm 56 now) I'm at 60.42%.  Also I forgot to mention earlier I came in 9th in my AG.

Mike,

 

Being new here, I'm still figuring out who the speedsters are (quite a few, apparently) and who is happy to just plod along like me, lol.  I guess it's no secret where you fit in!!  That is so impressive!  Congrats!  And great attitude about a few ticks of the clock - it takes away nothing from that performance.

 

I like what one of his friends on FB posted  "it wasn't 3:00:09, it was 2:59:69" 

Nice racing Mike.

Haven't posted in a while. Life gets busy so I lurk a lot. Almost feel like a stalker but had to put this in here. Last weekend was my first Ragnar. We ran South Beach. A fellow co-worker and his wife were putting a team together in August and asked if I would join. I said yes and promptly forgot about it.

Things got real about a month ago when I was reminded it was time to plan. Yikes. Needed a flight to Miami. What to pack? Am I in decent enough condition to actually keep up my end of the bargain. Thankfully our team captains had things lined out really well. Not their first rodeo.

I won't bore you with too much detail as I need to get back to work but we had three team members that were complete unknowns. We started in Melbourne and finished in South Beach after 33 hours or rain, winds, dark, sun, heat, re-routes and very little sleep. I made some really cool new friends and we are already planning Quit Beaching and Run (team name) return to a Ragnar soon. These things are really fun but wear you out. And the vans really get ripe after day 1.

And this weekend is Monkey marathon. Yeah that was smart.

See ya.

Mt Lemmon Half Marathon Race Report:
This was Revel's inaugural running of the Mt Lemmon Marathon and Half Marathon. Looking at the elevation maps of the revel series of races, I determined that this would offer the best chance of equaling the 1st half of the Canyon City Marathon where I ran a sub 1:36 half on way to a 3:31 marathon. Goal this time was 1:35:00. My training this year has been pretty inconsistent and tho my mileage the last two months has been pretty good, I was feeling a bit apprehensive about this race.

To train for the long down hill that this race entails (basically 11.5 miles before finishing with 1.5 miles of flat) I chose a local mountain (Black Mountain south west of Palo Alto) with about 3000 foot elevation drop in 5 miles. Additional runs involved running from my home to the "Dish" (radio telescope behind Stanford) also with some extended downhill (about a mile with 300-400 foot drop). 2 runs on Black Mountain were 10 and 12 milers, with at least 4 miles of uphill and then 4-5 miles of downhill. Dish runs were longer 14-15+ miles with "Dish" sections right in the middle. Ran a couple of 10Ks in October, neither went badly, but weren't great either, which directly led to some apprehension.

So, though I put in some work, I just wasn't sure I put in enough work to accomplish my goal. To further muddy the waters, work wouldn't give me any days off and wanted me at work on Friday and Monday. This wouldn't have been too bad had we been flying, but wife and I had already decided to drive. I was able to get the ok to leave an hour early on Friday and was hoping to beat the worst of the bay area traffic.
After a couple of false starts, DW and I headed out around 5pm on Friday and arrived in Azusa, CA around 11:30PM which is about 1/2 way. Got up early next morning and after a stop at Santa Ana Botanical Nursery were on our way to Tucson. Traffic wasn't too bad and finally arrived at the race expo just before 5:30PM (they close at 6PM). Big relief for me. We checked into our hotel and then head out to find the location where we need to catch the bus in the morning. Found it and then headed for dinner. Finally got back to the hotel and were in bed just after 10PM. I was just a little nervous and so only woke up about 3-4 times when the alarm finally goes off at 4:15 AM.

Got dressed and then head out looking for the "grab and go" breakfast. We can't find them or anyone to help us, when DW thinks she's forgotten something and heads back to room. I walk outside and find the hotel person smoking and ask him about the breakfast. He replies, "oh, those were gone in the first 15 minutes." So, by the time we got up. We jump in the car and get to the bus pickup point at 5AM. We pile into a bus and we're off. We look back down the canyon on the way up and it is an absolute gorgeous view of Tucson at night and then the sky starts to change with sunrise and it's even better.

Bus arrives at the dropoff area about 45 minutes before the start. We hang out on the bus as long as we can and then go join the rest of the runners. I jump in line for a port-a-potty and take care of business. Then join DW and just sort of stand around looking at the other runners. Temp is mid-40's and am really thankful we're not doing the marathon, 'cuz the high for the day will be mid-80's. With 15 minutes to go I start to shed my sweats and pack my drop bag. I pull out my space blanket and DW is hesitating on leaving her jacket so I offer my space blanket to her. She accepts and then they start us heading over to the start line. We drop our bags at the truck, grab some gatorade and they're collecting the space blankets. Oh, well. DW doesn't want to start near the back, even tho it is chipped timed, so we move forward about 1/3 of the way up.

The race starts and we're off. My strategy for the first mile is to try to be close to 7:15 pace and assess how I feel and adjust accordingly. There are still lots of slower people to get around and the first 3/4 of mile are just spent dodging and weaving. A woman and younger man are sort of staying with me, or I'm staying with them (you pick) and we cross mile 1 at around 7:08. Ok, that's good, I don't feel badly at all. The three of us are moving up and mile 2 goes by in 7:06, ok not bad. Mile 3 has what appears to be a gentle uphill and my two companions fall back just slightly as we cross the marker in 7:18. It's around here that I can feel a blister forming on the outside edge my left forefoot where I land. In mile 4, my companions speed up and go ahead of me a bit. I check my watch and we're now moving at a 6:50 pace, so I slow just a tad and cross mile 4 marker in 6:54. Suddenly the young male pulls to side and 1/2 mile later the woman pulls over too. Not sure what happened, but I keep going. Mile 5 is just under 7:00 minutes. And mile 6 is 7:01. About 1/2 way the aid station has food and tho I'm not hungry or thirsty I grab a banana and start to eat it.

Slowed just a bit while I had my meal and mile 7 went by at 7:03. Around mile 8 another older runner starts to pass me. I ask him his age group and he's in the 50-55 range. I notice he has an accent and ask him where he's from, Marco is originally from Brazil, but has lived the last 20 years in Phoenix. He's really nice and I wish him luck as he pulls away. Mile 8 is 6:57. Then another male runner goes by and 1/2 mile later 2 females blow by me. Mile 9 goes by in 7:04 and 1 of the 2 ladies pulls up. Not sure, but looks like maybe a calf cramp. Her partner sort of looks back, but continues on. I'm keeping Marco in site and the lady just a bit behind him, but can't really see the other runner anymore. Mile 10 is also a 7:04 - I can now feel a second blister forming on the outside heel on my left foot. Oh, well, I'll just need to land a little more on the ball of my foot. The grade seems to change a little in the next mile and as I approach the 11 mile aid station I see a runner pick something up and continue. I don't think he's moving that fast, but I don't seem to be making any ground up. As mile 11 goes by in 7:10, I know we're about to hit the flats and try to maintain pace. As we hit the flat section I can tell I'm slowing up, but I can also see I'm gaining just a bit on the next runner. We hit mile 12 and I have 7:23 on my watch. It is pretty clear to me I'm going to catch the guy fairly soon and we both catch a woman with about a mile to go. As I go by them both, I can also see I'm making up ground on the woman who passed me in mile 8. I pick up my pace and we make a few more turns. Just before mile 13 I catch her. Mile 13 is 7:35 and I start my kick, then slow as I can't tell where the finish line is, then I locate it. I can hear them announce my name and try a little harder and see the clock 1:34:00 as I pass.

Now I can really feel the blisters on my left foot! So, I head to the med tent to get my foot taped up. Foot still hurts. Did I mention I run in vibram five-fingers? Probably should have laced them up tighter. Oh, well. Grab some food and they point me to the results table. Official time 1:33:19.9, 33rd overall, 25th male and 1st in 55-59 age group! Start to head back to finish area and DW is already walking out! Cool! Her results 1:51:17.8!!!

RunnerKSA – congrats on the AG win on a tough course!

Tammy – cool that you got to run most of the race with a friend, and that you both won your AG!

Quickadder – awesome to get a PR on your 63^rd birthday – well done!

Falconfixer – great BQ!

Catwhoorg – massive PRs are awesome!

Opie – well done at Mt. Lemmon HM!

Mike – what a super friendly race! Oh, well, I guess that was Tramps and Tribee, but hey, how cool is that? Congratulations on an awesome race and 1^st AG, and a finishing time I can only have in my dreams….(love the picture, too).

C-R – well done on your first Ragnor!

Rmcj001 – awesome race at Mt. Lemmon!