Veteran

Yesterday was a day reserved for veterans. Let's give our props to all the troops who serve & have served to protect our freedom.

Wednesday agenda-Veterans day

Hope all have enjoyed the day. I did because, not only did I get to run (thanks to Jon) but I spent a little time with friends who also ran. It was a night race that went over bridges (my favorite, ha ha). We started on the crest of one & ran against the wind to the turn around, in the dark. When I do a mystery race, its usually small & primitive; this was the opposite as it used the chrono tag & drew over 750 participants. I had a great mile (sub 6) and then it went downhill from there. I failed to break 20 again, but by the grace of God, I still won my age group;Jon was 5th overall but fell to top master (ill take that any day). Along for the ride was Alan & Linda. Alan is the owner of accuchiptiming.com & does a wonderful job at that but said he's starting to miss his roots-running, so he participated in this race. I usually bring in runners to the world of multisport (tri & du) but Linda, a triathlete, is a reverse case and has entered my domain. She has improved so much under my tootledge that I missed her finish (sub 34) by mere seconds when interrupted en route by a friend. She has done an unbelievable number of races since we met, surpassing most athletes;one event per month (12 max) is the normal limit for someone actively racing. After that, it takes a better than average to an elite athlete with heavy passion &/or training to survive more.

Friday agenda-5k

Disappointed with how it conducted last year & in consideration of my injury, I decided to visit rather than race this one. Last year, medals were given instead of the crystal like trophies. They had horrible age categories & worse, I was listed as winning my age group all the way until awards were actually given out. To my dismay, some mysterious runner took the title. Besides, I couldn't get there in time to start as the main road to get there was blocked by law enforcement. Post race was 4 star.

Most say I am half crazy. Following this sentence may prove my critics right.


Saturday agenda-half

I decided to do the inaugural Jewfish creek half marathon. Kinda a tough decision knowing that I am scheduled to run the 13.1 marathon on Sunday. However, due to the number of 5k races out there, this would be the only way to force me to do required long runs in preparation for the Goofy challenge. This one was only the second time in my career that I headed down south (Monroe county) for a distance race. Aware of my foot injury, I had to run carefully. It was a straight, out & back course. Other than the wind & the bridge itself, the external conditions were great (cool day). I was unable to place due to the poor age categories (no master & ten year age groups). I finished better than a quarter to 2 hours. Post race was less than Niketown. Plus, they had the audacity to have most of food there for sale, even if you were a runner! Teammate Jon won the 5k that was also hosted.

Sunday agenda-half

This was the main event & the one most were training for. This is evident by the attendance of over 2,000. I began the event both injured & tight from the previous day. Cognizant that my chances of placing were next to impossible, my only goal was to finish under 2 hours. By the grace of God, this came to fruition. Post race was 5 star with a pancake breakfast. Less cool & windy but the course had multiple curves & turns. This was well represented by Runners depot.

Honorable mention

* Louis wins age group at 13.1
* Jon takes home hardware from all the races.