Yoi Ohsako ran the OTF Jingle Bells 5k and finished this distance in the time of 20:36.
I had an “A” goal to PR (20:30 or under) and a “B” goal to go under 21 minutes. Given my current level of fitness, I thought this was a realistic goal. So my strategy was to run a 6:35 pace overall with mile splits being 6:45, 6:35, 6:25. My first 2 miles went well (6:44, 6:32) but I just could not hold that 3rd mile and ended up running a 6:41. Not a complete collapse but I slowed down. I still got a 2 second course PR.
But what I really liked about this race is the friendliness of the staff and volunteers and how well organized it is. They even have podiums for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in age group and for the very first time, they even created the gold, silver snd bronze medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
I ended up finishing 2nd in my age group (M 40-49) which I was happy with but I never go into a race to place but to perform so as long as my race time is good, not placing does not bother me.
Luc Berthouze ran the Valencia Marathon and finished with a time of 3:15:18. This was a massive personal record by 17:41.
Although it didn’t go entirely according to plan, this race made me realise a sub-3 is probably within grasp. Just need one or two (Dylan-special) training cycles and performing on the day. The crowd support was phenomenal and unforgettable, particularly over the last 2 miles. I also enjoyed meeting up with good RC friends. It just adds an extra dimension to it.
Jaron Brown ran the Jingle Bell Jog 5K with a finishing time of 21:49.
This was 5K race number 40 for 2018. I finally finished my 40 5K race obligation! The race was fun and I ran a much more disciplined race than the 5K I ran the previous day. I finished 8th overall and first in my age group. This race had 850+ runners, so I am a bit more prideful in my results compared to the previous race in which there were only 9 runners. I’m so proud of my wife for sticking it out with me and crushing these races through ☀️?⛅️????.
Jaron Brown ran the Winter Harvest 5K, finishing this distance in the time of 21:30.
This was 5K race number 39 for 2018. I lost a bet and have to run 40 5K races in 2018. My wife is running all of them with me. The weather conditions for this race were pretty miserable: 50 F and steady downpour throughout the entire race. There were puddles and streams running through the streets. Nonetheless, my wife and I pushed through. I started out in front and ran an undisciplined first mile because the guy behind me was on my heels. I was about 20 seconds too fast in the first mile. The course had a bunch of rolling hills and was also about 0.12K short. I ended up pulling away from the guy and winning the race outright. My wife was the second overall female finisher. I’d like to act like we are some fast running couple, but (truth be told) there were only 21 registered runners and only 9 actually showed up! The bad attendance is likely due to the horrible conditions. We’ll take our trophies with pride nonetheless!
Mary Apsey ran the CIM Marathon and finished in a time of 3:52.53. This was a new personal record by 6 minutes!
I’ve been battling chronic shin/calf pain for several months and I did my best to keep up with my training but that wasn’t always possible. I had to substitute pool running for quite a few of my scheduled road runs. Despite that, I still managed to get a PR by over 6 minutes and I also got a BQ time. Perfect running weather definitely helped, but I also have to give credit to the wonderful coaches here that devise the workouts.
Nancy Maynard ran the San Ramon Bah Humbug! 5K and finished with a time of 24:45.
Hard but a good 5K race on Saturday. It rained early in the morning but stopped a few minutes before race time. It was dry the whole time I was running, and started to pour two minutes after I finished. My time was six seconds slower than my PR last year, but good enough for first place in my age group. Thanks to the RC coaches for the speed work leading up to this race, and to the RC community for support!
Will Lamb ran the Great Edinburgh Christmas Run 10k and finished this distance in the time of 38:43, which was a PR!
This was a crazy race, but first – the good stuff. I placed 10th out of 445, and got 2nd for my age group. I’ve never done a 10k before. I wanted to see where I would sit in a faster race. What made this special was the fact that I did a good time with a calf strain. I didn’t have a very solid race plan. I just figured – aim for 6:30 pace for first mile and then shift to around 6:20 and try to hold. My avr pace was 6:22, so this rubbish strategy seemed to work.
The course was slightly labyrinthine and slippery in sections, with obstacles from pedestrians, dogs and a few cars. I didn’t need to stop thankfully, but these were definite impediments. The real drag was that they got the distance wrong: it was 130m short! So I still am not sure about my 10k time, but guessing it would be around 39:35. That was more or less my goal, so I’ll count this as a win 🙂
Jim Paterson ran the The Haven Jingle & Jog 5k and completed this distance in the time of 23:28, which was a PR by 6 seconds!
Final 5K of the year was the Jingle & Jog benefiting The Haven – an assisted living campus for old and young with special needs – a great cause. I probably started this one out too fast since my splits went backwards but my official time was 23:28 – another PR and 1st place age group.
Jorge Escalante ran the Entel 10k and finished with a time of 36:19, which was a PR by 13 seconds!
The route changed compared to last year route, it had 2 km less of downhill. Also, I made a mistake, instead of following my race plan I decided to follow a runner who usually beats me. He beat me again and I didn’t make my goal time.
Michael Beavers ran the Holiday Hustle 5k and finished this race in the time of 26:06. This was a personal record by 3 minutes 10 seconds!
This is the course where my running journey began and the second time I have run it. Weather was great about 50F but the warm weather brought LOTS of rain. The course was soaked and muddy and It is part road, part trail, and it starts out going through a narrow concrete gate and then down the side walk. If you can’t break out early you are stuck in the pack. My original plan was to shoot for a sub 24 but that wasn’t gonna happen so I just tried to run, enjoy, and not fall in the mud. Mission accomplished!
Kimberly Versak ran the Baltimore Inner Harbor Half Marathon and finished in 1:41:13, which was a PR by 20 seconds!
I tried to follow the race plan that I got from runnersconnect and kept slowing myself down miles 1-3, I wasn’t doing 7:50s as planned but I felt calm and not overly excited (and actually mile 1 and 2 were my slowest miles!). And then I just kept going. I remembered reading that the middle miles can be hard, so I broke them into 2 segments. I just felt so strong and so calm – especially in later miles which never ever happens for me!!
I picked people off but ever so gradually. I felt one twinge of tiredness in my legs but distracted myself immediately. I even had a last burst of speed to sprint in behind the woman in front of me. A fantastic PR all around, placed first in my age group and strava has me with a 5k split of 23 minutes is what I ran in a local 5k last spring!!
Huge enormous thank you to all of the coaches who’ve been so supportive and helpful and amazing this entire journey. I could not have done it without you – amazing!!!
Troy Tabor ran the St Jude’s Half Marathon with a finishing time of 1:49:37.
I ran with my daughter, son and their spouses.
Aaron Sobel ran the Run Houston – Sugar Land 10k and finished this race in the time of 49:31, which was a PR by 1:26.
Another 10K race today with another PR! I tried a different race plan where I alternated hard and easy miles except for the final mile and 0.2KM. I did this to try to better deal with where I tend to blow up on pace in a race’s later stages by actually intentional running a slower pace at that point. I think the strategy worked out to some degree, but I had trouble establishing a good pace early also because of a very crowded start. I was humbled, though, by finishing 6th in my age group. Good to know us 50 year olds still have speed I guess. I liked the way my season went – 2 10K PR’s and a time close to my PR in my most recent 5K a week ago.
Cheryl Mark ran the Seaford Hot Chocolate 5K, finishing this distance in the time of 22:28. This was a new personal record by 1:10.
I remember running this race as a young girl… Many years later, a friend asked if I wanted to run this race and we’ve been at it for the last 10 years. After years of eyeing the podium, I finally made it (3rd in my division)! PR and podium… but this race was even sweeter, not just because of the hot chocolate, but because the hard work paid off. This wasn’t the goal race but I love a good 5K, and this was a great way to close out 2018 racing!
Prue Blatchford ran the Blue Lake fun run 6.8km (Aus) and finished in a time of 33:53. This was a personal record by 1:20.
Ahh, what a race! I’ve been mostly walking the last couple of weeks to try and keep my ankle as “fresh” as possible for today, which meant my pace suffered slightly. Got through it with no issues, but boy, was that a tough run! 96m of elevation, all in the first 2.5km ? Happy enough overall, I managed a 1:20 pb on last year. 1st in my age cat and 4th female overall out of 308 ladies, 28th out of a field of 496!
Riona Courtney ran the Waterford Half Marathon and completed this race event in the time of 02:03:00.
Last race of the season. Really felt good on this run throughout. Had missed out on long runs and during week ones but I guess my mostly consistent training over last 9 months helped me maintain my time. I also know my nutrition was really good. I think not having enough of speed sessions with my club meant that I didn’t improve significantly on time. Something to keep working on.
It was such a sunny fun day and got The coveted hat so feeling pretty happy. Thanks for all the training help.. definitely kept me on track. Time to think about next year and where I will focus.
Richard Cavender ran the Hornbill Kohomia Half Marathon and finished with a time of 2:22:10.
First practice race, all up down hills, I have been running flat ground, walked some uphill sections, my expected time was around 2.20 so happy, I have been planning for this race for awhile, with the training program it made the difference. Even I did not practice on hills, it was my first HM am happy, with time a strong happy face at the end.
Travis Dowell ran the 10th Annual Hot Cocoa Run 10K with a finishing time of 54:52:12.
Ran this race last year for a good cause, benefiting ALS, at 57:47 and 9:05 pace, but this year only 4.2 miles were the same and they added trails with hills and mud to the end of the race. I beat last year’s time by over 3 minutes on the tougher course.
Carmen Lopez-Acevedo ran the Valencia Marathon and finished this race in the time of 3:50:00.
I really had no idea how this would go. Just 8 weeks after Chicago my legs felt fresh, but on the other hand I have only done one long run of just 21km in these 8 weeks. My only goal was to course PR so I decided to start off around 5:30 pace, it felt quite comfortable and I picked it up a bit. I know I could have properly PRd today but I was just happy to run with friends and enjoy it as opposed to really pushing myself. I ended up just 1 minute slower than Chicago and another BQ this time exactly 5 minutes! I followed same fueling strategy as Chicago, 4 Maurten gels and 1 caffeine overstims for last 5km, and run 9 minutes walk 30-40 seconds. I have done 6 marathons since March 2016 and it is time to start focusing on other distances. It was wonderful to meet all the RCers here! ??.
Natalie Tur ran the Hot Chocolate Run 5k, finishing this distance in the time of 25:34.
Went out with my husband for dinner last night, and did not follow my usual pre race health consciousness in terms of eating. It rained consistently throughout the race and before, making this the third race I’ve run in the pouring rain.
I’ve never been a fan of the 5k distance. As the day has progressed I realized I’m well on my way to a cold which probably explains my average performance. Only 2 seconds slower than my 5k PR of 25:32, but still feels like a crushing defeat, although overall not terrible considering feeling unwell and poor nutrition the night before.
Joshua Ross ran the Las Vegas Marathon (10k) and finished this race in the time of 0:50:58.
I missed my PB pace by one second!
Jennifer Girard ran the California Invitational Marathon with a finishing time of 3:46:58.
Felt awesome until mile 22. Then everything started to hurt. Slowed down the last 3 miles. Got blisters during run which I’ve never had before. All in all, happy with my time. Hopefully BQ’d as I needed to be just under 3:55! Thanks RC!
Juan Hilario Lopez Merino ran the Estaciones Invierno 10k and finished with a time of 45:09:00. This was a new personal record by 2:43.
It was a hard race, and a big PR for me. I wanted to break 45 minutes, but I was really close. During this training cycle I traveled a lot for work and couldn’t complete all the workouts, neither all the strenght training. This was my goal for 2018!
Hitomi Murokami ran the California International Marathon and finished this race event in the time of 4:25:18. This was a PR by 12 minutes!
I kept my pace reasonably well and despite of feeling uncomfortable in stomach and cramping calf, I still was able to finish strong. This was my 3rd full marathon and ran better than I expected, considering the fact that I only had 1- 18 mile on a treadmill as my prep. before due to the smoky condition in N.Cal.
Minh Bui ran a 5 mile race and finished this distance in the time of 36:14:00, which was a PR by 15 seconds!
Annual Escalade run in Geneva. Always a pleasure to run through the big cheering crowd in the Old City. It is a 3-loop run, which I have done this race quite a few times. Once again, started a bit too fast, as I was in the middle of a faster pack. Second lap was hard and slowest, but I managed to recover a bit to finish strong.
Rodrigo Jara ran the 5k por una navidad sin violencia and finished this race in the time of 18:42.
5th overall and course PR, a great way to finish the year!
Ann Kask ran the California International Marathon and finished with a time of 5:22:35.
I feel like I raced “smart”. I planned a lot, right down to racing clothes for different temperatures. I mapped out my fuel strategy and when I couldn’t continue to stomach one fuel I had a backup and it worked. I chose a pace and stuck with it. I think I was more mentally prepared to tough it out when it got hard.
