Monthly Archives: June 2012

Race Report – Father’s Day 10K

I’ve been a bit of a running slacker lately.  My monthly mileage is way down, and I’m not going to hit 50 miles this month.  But I’ve been doing a lot of little races that I need to recap.

On Father’s Day, I ran the Annapolis Striders’ Father’s Day 10K.  It’s part of their Championship Series, which I’m registered for but won’t complete (too many trips out of town).   Yes, it was the day after I ran a 5K, which always makes for an adventure. But I had a great group of friends running, so I was looking forward to it.

This race was similar to the B&A Marathon/Half Marathon – it started at the same place and ran an out and back along the same trail.  I really like the B&A Trail (it’s a paved trail) so I knew it would be a nice run.

Unfortunately, due to the weather and other circumstances, we only ended up with a small group of us running.  Kim’s Dad was running his first race in a few years, after battling cancer and a few other health issues, and it was Father’s Day, so we agreed to stick with him, no matter what.  We started out doing our Galloway 1:1 pattern, nice and easy, and we were quickly in the back of the pack.  No matter – the Annapolis Striders are incredibly friendly and we knew that all the water stations would still be there for us.

At one point, Kim looked back at the bike monitor following us and said “You know, you can ride with us instead of following us.”  In true fashion, Kim and I were jabbering away while her dad pushed forward in the race.  I’d like to think we distracted him rather than annoying him, but who knows.  The bike monitor happily joined us and we convinced him to do bike tricks to entertain us.  He liked having cheerful people at the end of the race.  After all, there’s no shame in being last.   You’re out there and that’s what matters.

At one point, he even started singing to us.  It started with the Superman theme, which morphed into the Super Mario theme.  And then, as we pushed to the finish, he began to serenade us with “Call Me Maybe.” I laughed so hard.

Kim and I made a deal that her dad wouldn’t be the last to finish.  He was struggling through the race, and we watched him closely to make sure that he was okay.  As we ran towards the finish, a bunch of people came out to cheer.  They could see how hard he had worked to get through the race.  And that felt amazing.  Kim and I managed to slip behind him to the finish so that she and I were last, which was exactly what we wanted.    He was so proud of having finished the race and gave us both hugs to thank us for getting him through the race.  And even though he struggled, he was already talking about his next race and how to train.  That’s a great sign.

So definitely not my fastest race, but one of the more rewarding races.  It’s a great feeling to be able to help someone get through a tough race.  We’ve all been there for varying reasons and at varying speeds, but it’s nice to know you’re not alone.

Race Report – Run for Roses

I got sucked into the Maryland Women’s Distance Festival this year.  All across the state, there are women only 5K races (no, I wouldn’t call a 5K a distance race, but I love that it gets new runners out there).  If you do four, you get an award at the end of the season.  I like awards, so you know I’m in.

My first race of the series was the Run for Roses in Wheaton.  I don’t run a lot of races in this area, even though this is technically my local running region.  I really liked this race though.  Inexpensive and friendly.  And chip timed!

I hadn’t looked at the course beforehand, so I didn’t realize how hilly it was going to be.  Typically, I don’t mind hills, but there were some steep downhills on gravel paths, and that was more scary than fun.  I definitely walked down those hills.  But aside from that, the course was beautiful.  It was held in Wheaton Regional Park, which is amazing.  I want to go back just to stroll.  At times, I felt like I was in Epcot during the Flower and Garden festival with all of the educational signs pointing out veggie bearing plants and homes for various types of butterflies.  It was really a gorgeous course.

At the end of the race, everyone received a beautiful rose (mine still looks great days later) and a cute printed finisher’s certificate – something that will probably get recycled in my home, but an awesome memento for a first-timer.

I finished in a reasonable amount of time – right around 40 minutes.  Not my fastest by far, but not my slowest either.  I was just taking it easy (or trying to) and enjoying the run, but I struggled to keep my heartrate down.  One of the perils of running in the summer.  Just something I have to keep an eye on.

I ran this race with Jen and Betsy, and I am so excited that Betsy is back in the area.  I’m glad to have another local running friend to spend time with, and I hope she doesn’t mind that I drag her to random races all across the state!

Afterwards, we hit up the all important post-race requirement – BREAKFAST.  After all, I had another race the next day. Definitely had to refuel.

Race Report: Zooma Annapolis 10K

So I’m a couple weeks behind in my race reports, but a few weeks ago, I ran the Zooma Annapolis 10K.  The Zooma races started in Annapolis, and this was the 5th anniversary.  No anniversary celebrating, unfortunately.

A friend did packet pickup for us, and well, it didn’t sound so organized.  Rather than assign bib numbers prior to pickup, you show up and get your bib assigned there.  One fun thing is that it means you and your friends can have sequential numbers.  But it does tend to take more time.

Race morning, we arrived at the start.  Ample parking – hooray!  The race also featured a half marathon, and the two races started together.  I will say, there were a lot of fun skirts being worn.  I love that running skirts are popular!  So comfy and cute.

Katie, Jen, and I ran together, and met up with Monica at the start.  She was running the half, so planned to pace a big slower than us.  Additionally, Katie was thinking she might want to try for a new PR, so we were setting off on a solid pace.  After all my races over the past few weeks, I wasn’t sure if my body could keep up, but I was willing to give it a shot.

The race itself was nice.  Pretty course.  Annapolis is a pretty town though, so it’s hard to have a bad race course there.  Our friend Jon was working medical for the race and someone let him drive the cart.  We had too much fun picking on him when we saw him.  “Who let you drive?”  We hit the turnaround and saw Monica, who had decided to also turnaround at the 10K point and not do the half.   The weather wasn’t great and she had been racing more than I had this spring.  Smart move – run a strong 10K rather than kill yourself for a half you don’t really care about.

Pushed Katie to her PR and met Kelly at the finish.  Cheered Monica in.  This race features a finisher’s necklace.  In previous years, I wasn’t so impressed, but this year’s necklace is really cute!  It’s a silver disc that says “run” in script with a little black bead hanging next to it.  Initially, I thought I would just add the necklace to my medal hanger, but this necklace is definitely going into wardrobe rotation.

After the race, there were nice little meal boxes and wine, since Barefoot Wine was a sponsor.  Not a bad way to celebrate.  But we had bigger and better things planned.

Since this was one of Katie’s last weekends in town, we headed off to Chick and Ruth’s.  An Annapolis staple.  Delicious. And we had to have the 6 pound milkshake.  Six pounds of delicious, delicious strawberry milkshake.  And yes, we finished it.  Though we wouldn’t have finished without Monica’s pre-teen son.  That kid is a milkshake drinking pro.

I think I will be back for this 10K, but I don’t know that I’d ever do the half.  This was advertised as a 3:30 half, which is a respectable time.  But as we were leaving, the clock was at around 3 hours and they were already opening up the lanes of traffic, forcing the runners to run along the sidewalk.  Apparently, there was some sort of disconnect between the race organizers and the police.  Monica was glad she had decided to not run the half after all, and we hoped that those runners out there had safe finishes.  There were lots of first-timers out there, and when the race plan doesn’t go as expected, that can be very tough.

 

Tinker Bell Half Marathon Now Open

I am so sad to not be able to run this next year.  It was one of my favorite races this year!

Runners Get Second Chance to Earn Their “Fairy Wings’’ at Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend at Disneyland Resort

 Registration opens today for the second annual event Jan. 18-20, 2013; nearly 20,000 runners expected to sign up for the women-focused weekend of events centered on health, fitness and active lifestyles

 ANAHEIM, Ca. (June 12, 2012) — Starting today, runners interested in earning their ‘fairy wings’’ can sign up for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland Resort in January.

Registration is open at www.runDisney.com for runners interested in the weekend of events aimed at health, fitness and active lifestyles for women and girls. The second annual runDisney race weekend, scheduled for Jan. 18-20, will again be anchored by the 13.1-mile half marathon through Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure Park – including the new Cars Land – and the streets of Anaheim. The half marathon course will include music, entertainment and Disney characters at various junctures as well as runners in colorful Tinker Bell costumes. Runners who finish the half marathon will receive a Tinker Bell medal with its own set of wings.

The race weekend, hosted by Disneyland Resort and the City of Anaheim, features a variety of events, including The Never Land Family Fun 5K and the runDisney Kids’ races on Saturday (Jan. 19), and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon on Sunday (Jan. 20). There will also be a health and fitness expo Friday and Saturday (Jan. 18-19) showcasing the latest running merchandise, as well as guest speakers – all geared toward women.

The Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend is one of two women-focused event weekends in the runDisney series along with Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend, which takes place every spring at Walt Disney World Resort.  Both event weekends are among the largest women-specific events in the country.

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 About runDisney

runDisney is a series of events providing runners unique opportunities to run through Disney theme parks.  Race participants earn Disney-themed medals, experience legendary Disney entertainment and guest service and ultimately celebrate their accomplishments with a Disney vacation.  The original event in the series, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna, celebrates its 20th year in 2013 and takes place in January followed by the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler in September and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in November.  Disneyland hosts the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend in January and the Disneyland Half Marathon in September during Labor Day Weekend.  More than 100,000 running enthusiasts participate in runDisney events each year. For more information, visit runDisney.com and follow us on Facebook (runDisney) and Twitter @DisneySports.