15K ends or starts a great first week of training.
i'll get to the stats but first a few things i wanted to point out in the picture. This is the last turn off the parade route to the finish. The road is brick here. It's an original brick road in the city, somewhat repaired over the years. Who decided to end a 9 mile plus race on uneven bricks?
Also see the woman 3 people back from me? i was behind her when we turned the last corner. Somehow i was able to hammer down a sprint and pass three people in the last .25 mile. i'm really not the most competitive person but when i see a finish line the juices start flowin' and the race becomes all about me and the clock.
i had a few goals yesterday. Finish strong, under 1:20, don't break stride going up the hill. Man what a hill!!!
This was the largest event i had been to yet. People from all over the U.S. were here.Of course most from Michigan. There was a 5k, a 5k walk and a 15k. i saw bib numbers over 2500. i was 452. My friend Mike Barr estimated about 800 runners at our start. The 5k folks started about 15 minutes before us. Then it was our turn.
From the start of the gun, it took us 25 seconds to walk to the mats and take off. It was a big race.
The course was awesome. 4 miles out the penninsula, across, and four miles back the other side, into downtown and 3/4 s of the parade route before turning on the brick road to the finish. Plenty of water and gatorade along the course and with the Michigan July heat and humidity much needed. Lot's of people with their hoses out to spray cool water on a runner. Great cheering sections as well the entire race. It was the most positive racing experience i have had yet.
THE HILL. It had an EMT on top just in case. The hill was serious. It ended a few people runs. It caused a lot of people to walk up it. It had three seperate rises, two water stations and an EMT. No shade. i beat the hill. Thanks to advice i have read regarding hills through the running blogs, i kept my stride, albeit a little shorter, and beat the hill. The run down another exercise in restraint, but a real good time to recover.
This race is a definite must run, if you can
Anyway the stats:
time 1:18:52 yay!! i beat 1:20
pace 8:31
overall 271 out of 539 finishers. no stats on the DNF's, but they were there
age group 30 out of 42, no hardware here
"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)
Sunday, July 09, 2006
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7 comments:
Way to go! Perhaps I'll run it with you next year. Which race exactly was it?
It's the cherry festival one up in Traverse City. We drove the course the night before and it did have some beautiful views of both bays since you go up one side of the penninsula and then back down the other side. I'm sure the breeze off the bay helped too.
http://www.cherryfestival.org/events/search_detail.php?event_id=158
Good for you! Beating that goal you set! Whoo-hoo!
WTG!
I sure miss that part of the country.
Hey, I got a plug...does that mean I'm famous now!? Congratulations on a great run and a stong finish. You are way ahead of pace so far for the marathon. I bet a lot of those people you beat have been running for years! I don't know why the number of finishers was that small. Seems like there should have been a lot more. BTW, did you hear the people playing Gonna Fly Now (Rocky's Theme) on repeat loop around mile 6 (just after The Hill)? Loved it.
they were playing "Chariots of Fire" when i went by.
congrats! i just found your blog from...um...i forgot who! nice stuff!
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