I received an email today from Dan Des Rosiers (race director of the Vermont Ultimate XC) saying the Jay Marathon is no more. After 8 years at Jay he's decided to move on to other races (Quebec and Moab). According to a post on the forum, several things seemed to play into his decision including the actions following this years race. Quite simply, the forum was out of control following this years race with several participants blaming the RD for their DNF. Bottom line, Dan just wasn't having fun putting on this event anymore. It's a real shame.
I wish him well in his other races. I'm thankful I was able to run Jay once. It was definitely worth it.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Expectations are Relative
Recently I was searching for something on the web and stumbled across a post by Nate Jenkins titled "5253 miles to nowhere". Now I don't know Nate personally and have never met him. I do know he's a local guy (Lowell) and what I'd call an very accomplished runner. I think he describes himself as a professional road racer. Anyways, the post was both interesting and a little sad. Here's a guy who ran over 5,000 miles in 2008, averaged 100 miles a week, and appeared disappointed in nearly every race he ran. He ranked his performance on each race from worst (what he called pathetic) to best. In fact, pathetic was used 5 times, and ****ty was used 5 times to describe his results.
A few of his pathetic (worst) and ****ty results:
I love to run (in case you didn't know) but I don't ever want to get to the point in my life that running causes so much disappointment. If that's the life of a professional runner then count me out (ok, I wasn't really 'in'). I'm perfectly happy with my middle of the pack, weekend warrior status. When all else fails, lower the bar :-)
Now get out there and enjoy yourself!
A few of his pathetic (worst) and ****ty results:
- 31:24 10k
- 1:07 half marathon
- 2:25 marathon
I love to run (in case you didn't know) but I don't ever want to get to the point in my life that running causes so much disappointment. If that's the life of a professional runner then count me out (ok, I wasn't really 'in'). I'm perfectly happy with my middle of the pack, weekend warrior status. When all else fails, lower the bar :-)
Now get out there and enjoy yourself!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Dedicated...
You know you love running when:
- you head out for an 8 mile run
- in the dark
- on back roads w/o streetlights
- in the pouring rain
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Granite State Snowshoe Series
I know it's a little early to start thinking about snowshoeing in New Hampshire but I have to say I'm pretty excited about it already. I started snowshoe racing last year as a way to recover from nearly a year of injuries. My very first race was the Cobble Mountain Snowshoe Classic in Gilford, NH. It was directed by a relative 'new' face in race directing, Chris Dunn at Acidotic Racing. Chris and the folks at Acidotic Racing did such a great job putting on an outstanding event they got me hooked on snowshoe racing, and particularly on their races (I raced all three of their events this past season). I have to admit I'm not sad to see the Biddeford Race left off the schedule this year... that was probably the single hardest (effort-wise) race I've ever done (road, trail, snow, long or short). It was 100% max HR for the entire race due to the snow conditions. Yikes.
If you live in NH and you want to race snowshoes, you typically would have to travel to Western Mass and race in the WMAC Snowshoe Series. Not anymore!
Welcome to the Granite State Snowshoe Series !
Our own little snowshoe series right in our backyard. Various race directors got together and formed this awesome series. Right now they have 6 races in the series and it may expand to 8. The races are:
If you live in NH and you want to race snowshoes, you typically would have to travel to Western Mass and race in the WMAC Snowshoe Series. Not anymore!
Welcome to the Granite State Snowshoe Series !
Our own little snowshoe series right in our backyard. Various race directors got together and formed this awesome series. Right now they have 6 races in the series and it may expand to 8. The races are:
- Pooh Hill Snowshoe Scramble (Jan 10, 2009)
- Cobble Mountain Snowshoe Classic (Jan 31, 2009)
- Sidehiller 4 Mile Snowshoe Race (Feb 7, 2009)
- Frosty's Dash for a Cure (Feb 8, 2009)
- Horse Hill 7k Snowshoe Race (Feb 15, 2009)
- Kingman Farm Moonlight 5k Race (Feb 21, 2009)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
No Big Lake 1/2 Marathon in 2009??
I was reading Andy Schachat's column On the Run in Fosters Daily Democrat and learned one of my favorite 1/2 marathons, the Big Lake Half Marathon, will not be coming back next year. What a bummer. Race director Keith Jordon and his staff at Endorfun Sports have decided to focus on their primary events: triathlons. With the addition of the Black Fly Tri in July 2009, I guess it was too much to manage.
If you've ever taken part in a Keith Jordon event you'll know what a huge loss this is. I've run this race 5 of 7 years since its inception back in 2002 and I for one will miss it.
There's a possibility it will return in 2010 but I'm not holding my breath.
If you've ever taken part in a Keith Jordon event you'll know what a huge loss this is. I've run this race 5 of 7 years since its inception back in 2002 and I for one will miss it.
There's a possibility it will return in 2010 but I'm not holding my breath.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Successful Day at Manchester City 1/2 Marathon
Well that wasn't what I expected. After a lousy week of training (heavy, tired legs) and a course described by the race director as "hilly, challenging and scenic", the last thing I would have expected would be a PR. Funny how things work out sometimes!
I drove the course on Saturday to have some idea what to expect. I'm glad I did, otherwise I probably would have let up and not pushed so hard on a few of the miles. More on that later.
It was COLD and windy. The cold I could handle, the wind was a pain, especially since it hit us immediately as we headed north along the Merrimack River on River Road. I struggled with the wind for the 1st 4 miles or so, occasionally tucking in behind some other runners when possible. Mile 2 and some of mile 3 were steady climbs with a couple of short, steep hills as well. Surprisingly, there were LOTS of spectators along the entire course. I probably ran the hardest in the first 4 miles and had the slowest miles of the day as well, a double whammy. When I made the turn onto Union Ave the clock at 4M was 26:00 even (6:30 pace) and I was BEAT. Any thoughts I had of a PR were out the window at this point but I knew I had a couple of easier miles coming up so I tried to pick up the pace. Mile 5 was a long steady uphill and mile 6 was a long steady downhill before turning into the woods for a short trail run through Livingston Park. These two miles felt much faster but I was afraid to look at my watch (I hate disappointment). As we crossed over DW highway the course snaked back and forth through some nice neighborhoods, eventually looping up and around Derryfield Park (where they have the high school XC races) and eventually up onto Mammoth Rd. Although this was a decent climb, it was stretched out for nearly 2 miles (mile 8 was at Derryfield). I wasn't looking at my watch for mile splits but the course had clocks every 2 miles so if I could do the math I could figure out my pace. I passed mile 8 at exactly 52:00 (6:30 pace). Talk about consistent :-)
From my drive yesterday I knew the next 2+ miles would be fairly flat (at least no significant hills) and slowly started to pass a few runners. This race was both a 1/2 and full marathon and all were running the first 13 miles together so you never really knew who was doing what. The half and full marathons had different color bibs but they apparently ran out of half bibs so a bunch of us (me included) were running with full marathon bib numbers. The next clock was at 10 miles and this time I was just under 1:05 (6:29 pace). I was totally convinced a PR was out of the question but......I decided to push the last 5k as hard as I could to see what I could do. The last 2 miles were a straight shot down Hanover St, which had a few hills early on but was mostly downhill all the way to Elm St. I don't remember a clock at mile 12 but I knew I was flying at this point. I made the left onto Elm and had about 1/4 mile to the finish at Veteran's Park.
The clock read 1:23:23, a new PR by nearly a minute!
I ended up running the last 5k in 18:43 (6:02 pace). Like I said, not at all what I expected.
I placed 33rd overall out of 924 finishers. For my efforts I also picked up a 1st place win in my age category. Not a bad day!
Results for the Manchester City 1/2 Marathon can be found here.
I drove the course on Saturday to have some idea what to expect. I'm glad I did, otherwise I probably would have let up and not pushed so hard on a few of the miles. More on that later.
It was COLD and windy. The cold I could handle, the wind was a pain, especially since it hit us immediately as we headed north along the Merrimack River on River Road. I struggled with the wind for the 1st 4 miles or so, occasionally tucking in behind some other runners when possible. Mile 2 and some of mile 3 were steady climbs with a couple of short, steep hills as well. Surprisingly, there were LOTS of spectators along the entire course. I probably ran the hardest in the first 4 miles and had the slowest miles of the day as well, a double whammy. When I made the turn onto Union Ave the clock at 4M was 26:00 even (6:30 pace) and I was BEAT. Any thoughts I had of a PR were out the window at this point but I knew I had a couple of easier miles coming up so I tried to pick up the pace. Mile 5 was a long steady uphill and mile 6 was a long steady downhill before turning into the woods for a short trail run through Livingston Park. These two miles felt much faster but I was afraid to look at my watch (I hate disappointment). As we crossed over DW highway the course snaked back and forth through some nice neighborhoods, eventually looping up and around Derryfield Park (where they have the high school XC races) and eventually up onto Mammoth Rd. Although this was a decent climb, it was stretched out for nearly 2 miles (mile 8 was at Derryfield). I wasn't looking at my watch for mile splits but the course had clocks every 2 miles so if I could do the math I could figure out my pace. I passed mile 8 at exactly 52:00 (6:30 pace). Talk about consistent :-)
From my drive yesterday I knew the next 2+ miles would be fairly flat (at least no significant hills) and slowly started to pass a few runners. This race was both a 1/2 and full marathon and all were running the first 13 miles together so you never really knew who was doing what. The half and full marathons had different color bibs but they apparently ran out of half bibs so a bunch of us (me included) were running with full marathon bib numbers. The next clock was at 10 miles and this time I was just under 1:05 (6:29 pace). I was totally convinced a PR was out of the question but......I decided to push the last 5k as hard as I could to see what I could do. The last 2 miles were a straight shot down Hanover St, which had a few hills early on but was mostly downhill all the way to Elm St. I don't remember a clock at mile 12 but I knew I was flying at this point. I made the left onto Elm and had about 1/4 mile to the finish at Veteran's Park.
The clock read 1:23:23, a new PR by nearly a minute!
I ended up running the last 5k in 18:43 (6:02 pace). Like I said, not at all what I expected.
I placed 33rd overall out of 924 finishers. For my efforts I also picked up a 1st place win in my age category. Not a bad day!
Results for the Manchester City 1/2 Marathon can be found here.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Manchester 1/2 Marathon This Weekend
I guess you could file this under "what was I thinking...". I was hoping to run a fast half this fall but I may end up running half fast instead (sorry, I couldn't resist). Although the 1/2 marathon is my FAVORITE distance by far (pun intended), rumor has it the Manchester Half has a few hills and is considered 'challenging'.
I'm heading up to Manchester on Saturday for packet pickup and plan to drive most of the course afterwards. I don't like surprises. Hills are ok, STEEP hills suck (up or down).
Should be somewhat interesting to run considering the full marathon and the half both start at the same time AND run nearly the entire 13.1 miles together (the full takes a right at the finish on Elm St and the half takes a left).
Looks like great weather though: sunny but cold (temps may be in the 20's at the start, yikes).
I'm heading up to Manchester on Saturday for packet pickup and plan to drive most of the course afterwards. I don't like surprises. Hills are ok, STEEP hills suck (up or down).
Should be somewhat interesting to run considering the full marathon and the half both start at the same time AND run nearly the entire 13.1 miles together (the full takes a right at the finish on Elm St and the half takes a left).Looks like great weather though: sunny but cold (temps may be in the 20's at the start, yikes).
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