Hey Team, it’s been a while. It just didn’t seem appropriate to get into race results last with so many people still struggling to make sense of what happened in Boston. Now that the suspects are accounted for it’s a little easier to start getting back to what we do best.
We’ll cover results from last weekend, but first we shall start with the freshest race reports. It was touching to read about all the Boston tributes done at each race.
Andrew Butler ran the Salt Lake City Half to support Boston and the running community. Andrew braved the miserable, cold and raining conditions to be a part of that. “It was awesome to be part of a great race that showed great support for the Boston community and for the runner community,” said Andrew. He ran a cool 1:54 in the race.
Fred Fischl returned from a 16 month racing hiatus to run a 1:47:58 at the Rutgers CGI Unite Half Marathon. Amazingly, the race started with all 5,000+ runners sang a moving rendition of Sweet Caroline as part of a tribute to Boston. Fred was able to finish strong and ended up right about where coach Jeff (and all the rest of us) was pushing him to run.
Simeon Bayles ran a four mile race in Central Park. This held special significance because this is the race he ran last year that kicked off his current stretch of racing. Simeon showed us just how far he has come when you compare his 26:23 this year to his 29:07 from last year.
About the mood there, Simeon added: “It was really cool to race after the events of this week. A little weird to have bag checks, no trash cans, police/police dogs/police aerial stations/ and everything else but I really have to hand it to the NYPD and NYRR they are both really well run well managed organizations. I think all the runners were just more into it today from the moment of silence to the national anthem to the race itself. I bet there were a lot of PR’s out there today. Oh yeah and everyone ran with ‘I run for… BOSTON.’ bibs.”
Eduard de Vries PR’d on a 5k that was partially roads, partially trail and all fun. Eduard ran a 25:55, but slipped once on the rain-soaked trail, which probably cost him about a minute. Looks like he’s close to his goal of 24 minutes. We just need to get him on a dry, flat road to see how fast he can do!
Sang Yim had a workout scheduled but decided to run a 10k race instead. The race was along one of his normal training routes so Sang knew it had the potential to be fast. Can you say “home course advantage”? Sang ran an unofficial 41:09, which was a PR. Not bad considering he was keeping things in check the whole time. After going out too fast he was able to reel himself in and take it relatively easy the rest of the way. It wasn’t a target race and Sang kept himself aware of that fact. By doing so he got the benefits of some faster work and will be ready to get back to some hard training sooner than if he had went all out. Nice work Sang!
Robert Islam ran the London Marathon (lucky him!), and finished in 3:01:07. Despite it being a warmer day out there , Rober still ran a 14 minute PR and came oh so close to finally going under that magical three hour barrier. On a cooler day, that very well could have been his. Robert can take that confidence with him into the next training cycle and he’ll be really prepared to fly by that mark the next time around.
Karl Gallagher ran a half marathon, one that contained a lot of firsts for him: First trail race. First run in parks he ‘tramped around in’ as a kid. First run with major elevation gain (2,650 ft). First race he tried to strategize what he was bringing with him (not many aid stations).Karl ran a 2:32:27.27, and that’s including walking up some of the steeper slopes (which most of the people had to do).
Last weekend…
Rich Heinzeman ran a nine minute PR at the Martian Marathon in Dearborn, Michigan. It was Rich’s first full marathon as an RC member, and he crushed it (3:06). Rich finished 14th overall and 5th in his age group. Of the two loops, the first loop went well but he actually encountered sleet on the second one (by mile 22). Rich finished strong and crushed the runners in front of him on the last 4.2 as he dropped sub 7-minute splits. He brought the thunder, they couldn’t handle it. As soon as the BAA certifies that course, Rich will have his Boston qualifier and will hopefully be on line in Boston in 2014.
John Toth ran the Eisenhower Marathon. There was a small field for this one, and even smaller course. It was a double out and back style course, which meant that runners encountered 26 different mile markers in less than seven miles. Oh boy. Despite some early pacing issues (damn mile markers!), John still ran a 3:34:01 and won his age group. Like so many others, John’s thoughts were soon with the victims of the attack in Boston:
“My experience makes the news from Boston even more tragic. What should have been a joyous celebration to so many runners turned into a horrific scene. I am so sorry for not only the victims of the explosions, but all the runners and spectators who were affected by the actions of the individuals who are responsible.”
Rotterdam Marathon:
The Rotterdam Marathon was another larger race that took place last weekend. Team RC had three runners on the line for it. Berthil Allart was one of them who battled the heat. Berthil ran a 5:03:27, and for his efforts he said, “I am glad that I made it but I know that I should have been able to run a lot faster.” I’m sure so many others in the field shared those thoughts. In a hot marathon, sometimes you more of a survivor than a finisher.
For Erno de Korte, this was his first marathon ever. Erno ran it in 4:36:58 (now for the obligatory Nice – Nicer – Nicest), and even though he missed his “secret goal” of 4:30, it’s nothing to be upset about. The heat can add on quite a bit to your final time. Erno, if you want to subtract 15 mins from it, go right ahead!
As far as the conditions, Erno gave us some more background as to what was going on over in the Netherlands. For the last few months temps have been at or below freezing for the most part. That was even the case in the couple of weeks leading up to the race. Then all of a sudden on race day it was in the 70’s F (or in the 2o’s for those of you on the C scale). A marathon in the 70’s is bad enough, but it’s so much worse when your used to temps that are half of that, or even less. In a word: brutal.
Philip Sheridan was able to get to 18 miles before the wheels started to come off. The heat was just too much, and Philip was suffering from dehydration (really thirsty, headaches). Apparently they put sponges in the cups at the water stations? If you’re not used to drinking from a sponge (?) then that could be tricky. Philip was still able to run a 3:01, which is impressive for those conditions. A friend of his (who is a 2:53 guy) came in a minute after him, so that gives you a rough idea of just how much the heat can slow you down over the course of a longer race. Philip’s thoughts were with Boston as well:
“I really hope things settle down in Boston shortly and the people who committed that cowardly act are caught, all the innocent people affected who went out to watch what was two great races (the men’s and women’s). My wife and son were standing around that area waiting for me on marathon Monday two years ago.”
Boston Marathon:
Finally, we present the results of the Team RC’ers who ran in the Boston Marathon. For many there was a hesitation to even think about the race, let alone write or talk about. But as Debra Hexsel put it so nicely:
“I have shyed away posting anything relating to ‘me’ from Boston. But I’ve decided that it’s important to do this not only for me but for all runners everywhere–I’m not letting anyone take away from my achievement. I don’t necessarily need to “see” this anywhere, but I do need to write this for ‘me.'”
Writing about it and talking about it can be very helpful. It can also be helpful to read about the experiences of others in the same situation. Because of that, we’re going to share with you a couple of their experiences, starting with Debra’s:
“I went into Boston more or less in a blur because, well, it’s Boston! I’m a newbie. Just taking in the Expo, I was surprisingly calm the entire time. Back in the hotel room I then realized I left my Enduralite tabs by Hammer in Houston. So I end up at “the” Marathon Sports on Saturday afternoon. While walking there I see a restuarant called “The Forum.” That particular group of words has special meaning to a group of friends so I snap a picture of the sign–little do I know that the store I went in and that restaurant sign I have a picture of would play such a significance.
[Race day] “Admidst all the chatter I just wanted to find myself in “the zone.” That sense of calmness carried over as I entered the athletes village. I was so relaxed!!! Just a sense of calmness and feeling that I belonged there. And it all felt so right. That same calmness was with me the entire run. I would scold myself some when a water stop wasn’t as smooth as it should have been and I felt as if I’d wasted energy dodging people. But that all worked itself out.
“Note to self–> train downhill more! I did not give in to that feeling in my quads. It clearly was NOT lactic acid, it was just that they were fatigued from all that downhill. Each time I encountered an upward slope or “the hills” I was elated. It was such a welcome relief to my legs. That is when I knew it wasn’t lactic acid. I would say the hardest part for me was probably at two miles to go. I pushed through–that’s a spot where I can improve. But my mind and my emotions controlled from 3/4 mile to go and I truly finished strong.
“Two favorite things: the crowds, especially at Wellsley and having a PR of 17 minutes. I don’t know what Casey created but it did allow me to push through … coming back from a stress fracture (12/9) and being in a boot (until 1/3) had me saying I earned it, I’m still going — I’ll get a 5:59:59. As Casey’s training plan progressed, I felt I should still be able to qualify–at 57 I needed a 4:10. So I had that as my goal. I am thankful that my training carried me through because 4:10 would not have been a good spot to be crossing the finish line or in that area. Shattering my PR of 3:56 with a 3:39 is something I want to shout to the world but that’s just wrong. Thank you for letting me talk about it here.”
Chuck Dixon ran a 2:44, and had this to say about his experience:
“I faded just enough in the last 2 miles that a pb was out of reach. I was happy with my effort given the times for the day. Even though I did not get my goal it was my best effort.
“Mary and I were heading back downtown to the finish area when we first found out what had happened. I heard something when we were leaving our hotel room but didn’t think anything of it. Masses of people were heading away from town, and were frantically trying to get in touch with loved ones. We were very lucky we were not in the finish line area because I wanted to head to Marathon Sports to get a sweatshirt but was very slow getting showered after running. I figured we were about 10-15 minutes from being near the explosions.”
Richard Marshall went out slow and that approached paid off for him. Richard ran a 3:00:07…oh so close to going sub-3:00! Richard felt good during the race, but looking back he can see where he can improve for next time. Between analyzing the race and looking back through your own training logs, you can find a wealth of information to show you what you did right and what can be worked on more for next time. Of course, knowing that he’s trying to improve on a 3:00:07 show that Richard is in good position for the next one.
Jennifer Sheely was another one of our team to run a PR, with a 3:32:56. That’s even more impressive when you consider that she had to stop and stretch a few times due to a nagging calf issue. She felt great until coming down the other side of Heartbreak Hill (21 miles in).
Amy Feit ran a 3:42:50. She ran a fairly consistent race, going through the first half in 1:46:19. Those hills in the second half of the race get to a lot of people, so a drop off of a few minutes is nothing to be ashamed of.
Tracie Winters ran quite a remarkable race. Going for a “feel good” race, and aiming for the 3:51 – 3:53 range, which was her pre-injury and pre-RunnersConnect range, she definitely nailed that goal. Ultimately she ran a 3:37:23, which is a amazing considering she was just hoping to break four. Tracie went out a little faster than she had planned but as we can see now, it all worked out for her. She even kept thinking about slowing down, until 21 miles in where she realized that she could really drop a big PR.
It was great to hear about all of your races, as usual. There were a lot of marathons run by Team RC members lately, and a lot of success stories came out of those. Most importantly we are so happy to know that all of Team RunnersConnect is okay. Quite a few of the RunnersConnect family was in Boston for the marathon and we’re thankful that we all emerged unscathed. We’re also thankful for the support that you all have shown for the Boston community. Hopefully we’ll see many of you out here on Patriots Day in 2014!
