Running Stories -- 2008

The race was definitely an experience. The start seemed to take forever, as I got to Staten Island before 6am and my wave started at 9:40 (somehow I started with the professional men), and it was FREEZING (those who have done it before had sleeping bags - which I was very jealous of). I met some folks from Holland and they gave me a piece of their pre race meal (CAKE) and a piece of licorice which was salty.
Once we started running, things started to get better. I was on the top section of the bridge and was grateful because I probably saw 100 men peeing over both sides! It took a few miles to warm up but the views and the crowds were awesome. I loved seeing little kids ready to give out a high five and hearing all the bands. There were runners from all over the world - and I must have been right in front of some Italians for a few miles because I kept hearing "GO ITALIA", which was cool.
Around mile 5 I started feeling pretty good, and knowing that I would see Deirdre, Ben and possibly Patrick and Jerry soon gave me inspiration. I had decided beforehand to try to run around 8min/mile for as long as I could (but ended up running around 7:40’s), because I was not trained properly (too ambitious to have a wedding and honeymoon overlap with my 20 miler) and I figured that miles 18-26 would be a challenge regardless of how fast or slow I had ran the first 18. At mile 8, I saw Deirdre, Ben, Jerry, Patrick and my Mother and Brother. It was SWEET!!

At some point around now I took a popsicle stick which I thought had Gu on it and just as I was about it eat it I heard them shout “Vaseline”! HA! Close call. Miles 8-12 seemed to go by pretty fast and around mile 12/13 I started to feel really tired and unmotivated. I'm not sure why. When I crossed the bridge into the Bronx, it was wonderful. The people there were really fun and loud and kept shouting "Welcome to the Bronx", which made me smile (okay so I may have been a little delirious!).
Miles 13-20 were brutal (the crowd was great, though, they were very supportive and kept gently encouraging me to try to run (yes, I was walking as can be seen by my 2 11 minute miles)) and then – MEGAN to the rescue! She came up behind me and patted me on the back and said “you can do it, just run a few more miles”. Hooray for Megan because then I had the zip back in my step and realized that there was still a (small) chance that I could qualify for Boston (which was my super secret ultimate goal). Back to running – which somehow was easier than walking, go figure.

At Mile (these miles deserve to be in caps) 23, when I knew there was only about a 5K to go, I got my second wind (perhaps it was seeing Deirdre, Ben, Jerry, Mom, Bro and Patrick again) . Central Park seemed to be all downhill! With a jammed packed finish, it was hard to run as fast as I wanted to and the crowd was deafening. When I looked at my watch I almost cried because I was 2 seconds from BOSTON. Guess I’ll have to run another marathon after all ;)

Marita: March 2008 Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon, Wilmington, DE

You know your getting faster when…

Your running your normal 5k pace for the first 4 miles of a half marathon and you still feel loose.

Your time at 5 miles rivals your fastest 5 mile time.

Your slowest mile was your average pace 3 years ago.

After 2 ½ miles of climbing your 10 mile time is quicker than your fastest Broad Street by 30 seconds.

Mile 11 was the same pace as mile 3 (thank you down-hills)

You PR on a race you have run 4 years in a row by about 5 minutes.

You set a new personal record and beat your old time by a minute at the Caesar Rodney ½ Marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Old PR: 1:40.13 at Philly ½ Marathon, November 2007
New PR: 1:39.20 at Caesar Rodney ½ Marathon, March 2008

It was great getting to see all my Philly Runners friends today. Everyone had a great day, despite the wind and cold. 2 out of 4 teams cleaned up!!!! Yeah!!

Let the season begin!

Gary: February, 2008 Hyannis Half-Marathon, Hyannisport, MA

Here's my Race report from Hyannis Ma. I spent most of Saturday on the road driving 5 hrs north to cape cod.
Race morning I was up at 6 and eager to start I kept telling my self 1:58:00 I started to believe it. I stretched and warmed up well before hitting the starting line at 10:00.
The event was actually 4 races in one Marathon,half,10k,Marathon relay and all 3500 of us started together. I did see one other southerner a guy from U of Delaware, he was running the Marathon and we shared a goal pace of 9:00 mins.
The start was crowded and as always no one actually started at there pace. I felt as though I was running slow at the start trying to weave through all the slower runners. Never saw mile one but mile two was around 17:10 so I was on track to finish under 2 hrs and the pace felt good. As we approached mile six the 10 k's split off to the right and we went left up a hill I caught up to U of Delaware and told him we where right on pace. I walked through the water stop and lost him after that. Approaching mile ten I was feeling my lack of long runs. But I still beat my Broad street time and pushed on. Mile eleven is where I hit a wall started feeling leg spasms and fell off pace. mile 12.5 I dug deep and actually found a sprint from a quarter of a mile to the finish for a 2:04:05 finish. I'm still happy, the course was tough not hilly but long grades that made you feel like you where running up hill all day.