Vanda Doyle ran the Union Street Tavern Trot race and finished with a time of 35:23.
3.5 miles road/trail. Very humid but without sun, which was fortunate. Disappointed overall after such a positive run In August. Hit the conservative goal pace for first mile but legs not feeling full of energy on the day so remaining miles much slower than planned. Limited race prep due to fall 2 weeks ago and couldn’t sustain the strength training needed. However, really happy to find a little extra in the last quarter mile uphill to the finish. Great atmosphere with a beer at the end and loads of friends to run with.
Liat Reuveni ran the Jerusalem Night Run 10k and finished this distance in the time of 1:02.
Running with friends in the old city of Jerusalem with a unique international atmosphere. Going back to a race after an injury.
Michelle Hall ran the Buffalo Thunder Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:44:09.
I ran a local race on a course with beautiful scenery. We ran up 300 feet in elevation in the first two miles, then down 1300 feet over the next 11 miles. So it is a pretty fast course. I took second in age. The person who took first in age held the record on the Pikes Peak Marathon for 20 years, so I was not too disappointed. The day was perfect weather and I felt good throughout the race. This is my first half marathon at high elevation (7000 – 6000 feet) and I was only off my PR by a few minutes. I was able to run the race at an average pace of 7:57, which made me very happy. I am shooting for a marathon at sea level and running somewhere close to 8:00 min pace. We will see if I can do that in another 5 weeks.
Kevin Dollard ran the Newport Liberty NJ Half Marathon USATF State Championships and finished in 1:30.
I needed to run one more race within my team (Adidas Garden State Track Club) association state in order to qualify for USATF travel stipend for up coming Cross Country Nationals in December in Tallahassee. Also fit in nicely for a tune up race for my goal race (marathon) 3 weeks out. Did a MP workout for the 13.1.
Jonathan Bogaard ran the Navy Air Force Half Marathon and finished in a time of 2:50:25.
Best race ever! I ran with my nephew (retired Air Force Colonel) in his first HM in Washington DC in the Air Force Half Marathon which was ON the Air Force’s birthday! We stayed together the entire race and although he struggled from time to time we crossed the finish line together chanting “Air Force!”. Almost an hour slower than my first HM in February and still a “PB” (personal best) experience by a country mile.
Tom Van Ongeval ran the Crescendoloop, Belgium and finished this race event in the time of 56:11.
The crescendoloop is a local 14k race. It was its first edition with 43 participants. I started without ambition slower than normal but could easily maintain myself in the first group. After 3km I raised the tempo and after 8km I came in second position. This is the first podium place (2nd) since I started running again about one year ago. Honestly, it felt as a reward for all the training so far albeit only in a local race. It really felt good to feel the power in the legs. This gives me the spirit to continue preparation for the Frankfurt marathon ! Thanks to the coaches who kept me focused and sometimes stopped me when I was about to overdo it in training.
Peter Tornquist ran the Oslo Marathon 10K and finished with a time of 56:50, which was a PR by 2 minutes!
Used this as a tune-up race for the Berlin Marathon next Sunday. Wasn’t entirely sure it would be a great idea to do a race while tapering, but coach Danny who encouraged me to to “run it somewhat hard, just to stay sharp”. It turned out to be a great confidence boost, taking all focus away from the marathon and just running for fun. And hey, I even improved my race PR by a couple of minutes!
Best of all: I feel much more confident that the training has worked, and that I’m prepared for whatever happens during the 42K ahead 🙂
Chris Carrier ran the Makin’ Tracks 5k, finishing this distance in the time of 21:56.
I was hoping to maybe PR in this (unlikely) or beat my time from the same race two years ago. Either was unlikely as my PR was a week after the marathon last year (not having run since and having had a month more training) and the time from the same race two years ago was 20 degrees cooler. Even so, one of my goals was to run sub 22:00 so I did achieve that for 7th overall and 3rd in the M40-49 group!
Andrew Goodwin ran the Canadian Army Half Marathon with a finishing time of 2:22:09.
It consists of two races, a 5K followed immediately by a Half Marathon. Interesting race. Where else can both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense run a Half-Marathon, with minimal security, with 8500 other runners? And I got to shake the Governor General’s hand as I ran by his house.
Despite what I consider to be a slow time, I finished top 10% in the race and age category. I’m OK with that.
Jon Douglas ran The North Face Endurance Challenge 50K: Wisconsin and finished this distance in the time of 06:17:52.
This was my first ultra and it amazing. I took it nice and slow: walked the uphills, ran the flats, and tried not to fall (and succeeded!) during the downhills. I met a lot of nice folks along the route and time flew by. I’m looking forward to my 50 mile run in October!
Tom McCray ran the Philly Rock & Roll Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:38:35.
No PR’s, but my goals were to have a great weekend of running, test my fitness and practice my nutrition plan for next month’s Marine Corps Marathon. Used my Saturday shake out run as an opportunity to share my love for with my girlfriend. We ran together as she finished her first 5k without stopping to walk. Sunday was my turn and all went well but I still need to work on my pacing. The first 5k was faster than plan, so the 2nd half of the race felt much harder. Especially since we had very high humidity, but my hydration plan worked well and I don’t think I lost much time at the water stations.
Grant Crabtree ran the Bismarck Marathon and finished with a time of 3:52:48.
I ran a Boston Qualifying time for the first time in my life. I executed my game plan of running around 9 min/mi for first half and around 8:50 for second. I’ve run over 40 marathons in 30+ years and until the last few years, never seriously thought I could ever BQ.
Dennis Hetland ran the Tunnel Light Marathon and finished in a time of 3:30:20. This was a personal record by 19 minutes!
Super neat event. A true downhill course with only one small incline around mile 8. The weather was great and the scenery beautiful. Probably the only downside for me was the tunnel(2 miles or so), found it hard to get into a pace and ended up being a little on the fast side. Which actually worked out well as after we were out of the tunnel it felt good so tried to maintain the effort. Worked out well as a PR and BQ effort was the result. I’m sure that has no effect on my positive thoughts of this event. I would do it again and would recommend it to others. I struggled in training this summer so felt great to have a break through event.
Bill Calvin ran the Fox Valley Marathon and finished this race in the time of 4:15:52.
Kudos to the people who put on this race. It is very well-organized, lots of water stations, lots of volunteers and a good amount of fans with signs and voices. A beautiful setting as you run a lot of the race on paved paths through the woods.
I was running probably my best ever marathon. I was right on schedule for twenty miles when I got hit by cramps in both calves, cramps in my groin and sometimes felt as though a band was tightening across my ribs. I know it was getting warmer outside (probably around 70 F at this point) and my pace went from 8:48 to 9:15 for miles 18-19 and then to 12:00-12:30 from 20 to the end. I had my best ever pre-race carbo loading, and had taken a total of three power gels and one carb bar (51 grams) during the race. I was feeling so good that for some reason I ran miles 13 and 14 at 8:32 pace.
I am disappointed by the bonking but still had a lot of fun and recommend this marathon to anyone who wants to qualify for Boston as it is a fast course and fun to run.
Fabio Barbalace ran the Navy-Air Force Half Marathon and finished with a time of 02:01:34. This was a PR by 13 minutes and 4 seconds.
Where can I start…it was emotional. I ran the same race last year with the walk-run method, and this was the first half marathon entirely run since 2005, so I believe that considering what I have been trough in the last years, my performance was simply amazing. Being 70 pounds overweight, shin splints, ITBS, Plantar Fasciitis, but I have never stopped or given up. 71.6 F at the start, with 69.4 F Dew Point and 94% humidity, but despite of that, I was able to finish 13 minutes faster than the same race run last year, with a pace 1 minute faster per mile, and with excellent running form kept until I crossed the finish line. I have never run with a form like this in my entire life, not even when I made my personal PR in the half 11 years ago! I felt like an olympian, fast and smooth for the entire race, especially uphills, where I passed a lot of runners.
I think immediately at when I joined RC in December 2015, my 30 minutes PR in the marathon 3 months later, the 3 hours driving for my 3-D gait analysis at the UVA SPEED Clinic, and all the countless hours and hard work spent with nutrition, strength training, mobility exercises, ART, and AIS. The priceless help of my sweet three-quarter preparing my recovery meals and my coaches, who kept supporting and motivating me even when I had some doubts about my training. In the last year I lost 45 pounds, I am in the best shape of my life, and I have the best supporting team I could ask for. When you work hard, you are committed and consistent, and you surround yourself with wonderful people, results will come, and you will always run to win. Boston, it is just a matter of time, but one day I will make it to that Start line.
Leslie May ran the HARRA X-country relay and finished this race in the time of 1:13:28.6.
Fun race sponsored by HARRA, our club Bayou City Road Runners fielded FIFTEEN 4-person teams. This is the first event like this I’ve done, had never met my team before, the hills were horrendous, only 2 miles per leg but difficult, mud in spots, but we won the Veteran Women’s division. Not sure of my time due to worrying about passing the baton (I was leg 3). HOT, HOT, HOT, with the heat index it was in the 100s …. Overall a good experience and look forward to doing it again.
Thanasis Kypraios ran the Alkyonis Road 30k and finished in a time of 2:28.
I am currently training for an autumn marathon and this 30K race was a perfect chance to do a fast finish long run and practice the refuel plan. In February I ran there the 50K race and I had very good memories. After the 10th km the race included rolling hills – it was a nice variety, but I would find it difficult to follow my training plan (which was a fast finish long run). However, I did my best to run conservatively the first 15K, accelerate and increase the effort until the 28th km and cool down to finish the race.
The weather was hot and humid. I took 4 saltsticks and drank water every 2.5 km’s. Among 300 participants, I must have been in the 60th position at the 15th km and then, I started passing runners. In the end, I finished 26th. I focused on passing every runner I could see ahead of me, so I managed to keep the desired pace when the sun was sunny and the humidity high. After I finished, I was exhausted and I immediately went for a short swim.
P.S. It has been 2 years that I have been training with Runners Connect Team. I want to thank all the coaches for their tremendous help and, of course, every single member of the RC community who are always here to support and encourage each other. Thank you RC Team!
Naoise McLoughlin ran the Belfast Half Marathon and completed this race event in the time of 1:28:47.
This was my goal race after being out for three months through injury. I was training for 3 months for this race but wanted to take things slowly and not go straight away for a PB. My PB for a Half is 1:27:35 so I was hoping for something in the 1:28/1:29 range.
This was my first race using the RC plan so I was naturally a little apprehensive, even more so after my warm up 10K two weeks ago was a lot tougher than expected. I decided to sit with the 1:30 pacers for the first 10 miles, this worked great and I was very comfortable there. When the pacer shouted “5K to go!” me and few others kicked on.
Looking back I realized that not at one point during the race did I enter the “red”. This was the most comfortable I have felt during any race I have taken part in, maybe I should have went harder but I feel that I need longer with the RC team before I feel really strong and confident enough to push on for a PB. My confidence in the training now is there, running easy does work!! Now to set the next goal!!
Bill Leppert ran the Rhythm and Roots 5K, finishing this distance in the time of 20:27.
Did not go as planned, I started a little too fast, slowed too much in the middle worrying about the big hill on mile 3. Lost some speed on the last mile due to THE hill and the fact the opponent I wanted to be close to on the last mile was long gone (beat me by 38 sec.). On the bright side I was 6th overall and won Grand Master my opponent, 59 yrs young, took masters and 4th place, we both beat all the 40’s and up. 🙂 Time to start preparing for the next race! 🙂
Marius Enescu ran the Baneasa Trail Run 10k and completed this distance in the time of 52:35.
~11 KM in 52:35, which is a PR, considering I have never run this exact distance on a trail. Interesting race due to various aspects. First of all, it took place in a forest trail in a hot and humid day and the location made it feel even warmer. The race started in waves and I was distributed to the last wave, although based on performance I should have been in the first one.
However, I decided to use all this to my advantage 🙂 So I started a bit fast, pacing at around 4:00-4:30 (first half km) while still on road, in order to overtake a large part of my wave (4th), before entering the narrow trail path, as I knew I will have to slow down. Then I paced myself for the whole forest trail (~9.5k) at an 4:56 average, but I was alternating the tempo a lot since I was over passing people constantly. All this over-passing was not only a confidence booster, but it also reminded my how human kindness feels, since a lot of contests were moving aside to make room…)
By the time the forest path ended I was already passing by people from the 2nd wave, even if they started with a 5 min lead (also some from the first) and as the last ~1.5K were entirely on road I allowed myself to go fast, finish very strong with a gradual acceleration, 4:31 for KM 10 and 4:08 for the final part. 28th General (out of 500 total) and 16th on my category is not bad at all, especially given all these conditions.
One other thing I tried for the first time in a race was to run without music. While it felt really strange in the beginning, it crept on me by the middle and I was loving it by the end 🙂
Carmen Lopez-Acevedo ran the Madrid Corre Por Madrid 10k and finished with a time of 53:55.
This course was my worst race last year, with a time of 1:02. It´s a beautiful course as you see all the Madrid landmarks but has some killer hills, KM 5 up the Gran VĂa has a gradient of 4% for over 1km, and the last 800m is uphill as well. I was nervous as my speed training over the summer has been less than ideal, the heat and humidity have made it difficult for me to hit the paces, but the RC training has paid off! Although technically not a PR by 9 seconds, my watch recorded 10.2km total distance which is a pace of 5:18min/km and my previous 10km was 5:19min/km so I’m taking that as an absolute PR! The best part was I felt in control of the pacing the whole way through and still had a little left in the tank by the end.
Shweta Soral ran the Satara Hill Ultra Half Marathon and finished in a time of 02:03:38.
The race was not for PR that everyone had told and it happened too. But it was all climbing up on the hill till 10.5 and then coming down. So I could see that I was string while climbing up and didn’t have any muscle/glutes/cramps issues. And I finished 3rd in my age category !!!
Victoria Boland ran the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival Half Marathon with a finishing time of 2:03:17. This was a massive PR by 00:16:26.
This time around with finding Runners Connect was the first time I ever trained properly for a race. What a difference Runners Connect has made for me. I have learned so much here in the short amount of time I’ve been around and was able to run such a strong race. I kept waiting for it to get unbearable, like my other previous 2 races, but I felt so strong for the entire race I really thought my Garmin must’ve been broken or something.
I did program my Garmin watch to remind me of my paces so I wouldn’t run too fast. I’m not sure I would do this again as I was all over the place with my paces. It seems I ran faster than planned. I was able to speed up anyway the last few miles but maybe not as much I would have liked. The last mile and 1/2 or so you could actually see the finish line around the Sydney harbor and that was a bit tough psychologically. Seemed so close yet so far!
So thankful to Runners Connect and the great community here. Couldn’t have raced as strongly as I did without you all!
Ridwaan Bardien ran the Cape Town Marathon and finished with a time of 04:52, which was a PR!
It was my first Marathon – I felt absolutely fabulous during my race – Enjoyed every second of it. A BIG THANK YOU to RC for the Help ??
Fred Inklaar ran the Scott Offroad Run and finished this race in the time of 2:22:10, which was a PR!
Not a race to set your PB: weird distance (26.5km), lots of hills and difficult paths (narrow, uneven, muddy). But a great race to admire the Belgian countryside and to enjoy the atmosphere. Also, a great training run for the Athens marathon that will be held in 9 weeks. Didn’t blow myself up, and practiced with food intake. All went well.
Karen Scobie ran the St.PietersBear Trail 10k and finished in a time of 1:11:00, which was a PR!
This was my first race since my fibular fracture last spring. I chose a trail race so that I wouldn’t stress about pace and just enjoy the scenery. I didn’t start running hard until the second half and really enjoyed powering up the steep scrambles in a couple of places. The last 2 km was single track downhill and I was in a great pocket – I felt like I was flying 🙂
Edward Sum ran the Toronto Ten-Miler Half Marathon and finished this distance in the time of 1:28:45. This was a personal record by 1 minute!
It was an oppressively humid day. Training-wise, I was very well-prepared and had even scouted the course on my bike 2 weeks ago. I had aimed for 1:25, a challenging target, and planned to do a small negative split. I was slightly slower than the anticipated pace in the beginning as the humidity continued to build up. I was able to maintain that until the 13k mark where I started falling off the pace a bit. However, I stayed as composed as possible to not let the wheels fall off completely in order to limit my losses. In the end, I was only 3 minutes off my ‘A’ goal and still managed to PR. I’m quite happy with my result! Thanks to Coach Sarah for all her detailed planning and motivation throughout this cycle!
Douglas Schwenn ran the MVP Rochester NY Marathon and finished in 3:32:32. which was a PR!
This was my first full Marathon. I was trying for a Boston qualifier and I did that, And I think that my time is fast enough to get me a slot. I finished 2nd in my age group and 23 over all of 380 in the solo runners in the full. I have been training over a year and a half for this run. I think that the training I’ve gotten here at Runners Connect made the time I got possible. Thank you very much Runners Connect, Mark it particular.
Tony Malinauskas ran the Mud-Stash race and finished with a time of 54:38.
This was a 4-mile obstacle course race in mud at a ski slope. I ran the competitive heat and came in behind the only other Master’s-aged runner in the heat, but had a faster time than all other Masters the rest of the day, which makes me 2nd of 13 in overall age group. This will be my last mud run until the World Championships the middle of next month — excitement is building.
Ida Erlien ran the Oslo Maraton Half Marathon with a finishing time of 2.08, which was a PR!
The first 5K of this race went really well, so I think I increased the speed too much the next 5K. Struggled a lot after 15K, so I had many walking breaks. I wanted to quit a hundred times!! But I finished, although the last 6K went slowly due to my walking breaks. But this was my first HM and I’m really proud of myself!! I´ve never been so tired before, so I did the best I could! I have improved a LOT after training with RC, thanks to the coaches and support from other RC members!!
My friends cheered for me 300 meters away from the finish line, and I said to them “I´m never, ever doing this again!!! They told me afterwords that a women next to them actually said to another woman “Look at her, Ida runs like a God, really good form!” HA-HA, that´s the funniest thing I´ve heard in a while! Honestly I felt like a combination of an elephant and an ostrich, stumbling my feet to the finish line with the worst facial expression ever! But I´ll take it as a huge compliment!
I already signed up for another HM in the spring, can´t wait to run more, become stronger, faster and of course: knock away minutes from that half marathon time, woohoo!!!
Rod Champagne ran the Erie marathon and finished this race event in the time of 4:24:35.
Just not my day. Too humid for me, gotta work on that. Ran marathon pace till 12 miles then had to back down. Second half was survival. My positive takeaway is that albeit the heat my legs never felt better. On to the next race!
