Madeleine Said ran the Rock & Roll half marathon in Washington DC coming across the finish line in the time of 2:10:57 which was a PR by 9 minutes.
Although I’ve been a runner for many years, I’ve only been racing for a year now. So I’m still learning a lot about how to pace myself out there. This was my second HM – the first one I think I held back a bit so this time I wanted to leave it all out there. It was cold and raining before and during the race – pretty miserable weather – but once the race started I was already as wet and cold as I was going to get so I just ran! I was still a bit slow the first few miles but got into a groove despite some nasty hills and just kept going. Those last few miles were tough but I remembered my training – running on tired legs – I knew I had done it before and it kept me going. I finished a challenging course (and bad weather day) with a 9 minute PR! I’m very happy with my finish and now I’m on to breaking that 2 hour barrier! And as always, thanks to Coach Jamie Dodge and the rest of the RC coaching team for a great system!
Ying Ford ran the Rock & Roll half marathon in Washington DC finishing this race distance in the time of 1:55:05 which was a PR of 3 minutes.
My sore throat was better on Tuesday. Wednesday I decided to use sauna to get rid of the last bit of sickness. But a day after sauna I started to feel heavy breathing, cough, painful throat. I had to take NyQuil. With NyQuil I slept good, and woke up feeling OK. The weather at DC was 48F degree wth rain. It was cold! I threw away the trash bag I used right before the starting line. I tried to relax take it easy in the first 3 miles. But because it was so cold and wet and I didn’t warrm up before the start I couldn’t relax and run easy. But I tried. My split is 8:50, 9, 8:48. I warmed up after mile three. I tried to run with more effort from 3 to 12. My split is 8:54, 908, 8:42, 9:21, 8:45, 8:31, 8:28, 8:42, 8:50. When I reached mile 12 I know I need to run as fast as I can the last 1.1 mile was 8:02.
My mantra today: relax, calm, I can do this.
My positive thinking:
I’m lucky that I can run
I’m lucky that I can run outside without worry about pollution
Because of this race Im having a chance to experience running in cold winter rain.
I planned to hit 1:53, but missed by two minutes. But I’m happy that I did my best. Thanks RC coaches and runners for all of your support. I will continue to follow RC coaches’ directions, and earn my BQ in May.
Guy Chalk ran the Rock & Roll half marathon in Washington DC finishing in this race in the time of 1:35:21.
The race went pretty well considering soreness in my legs the days before the race. The weather could have been better. It was cold and raining the whole time. My legs were really tight in the last few miles and really had to fight to go faster. I actually tied my PR time 1:35:21 (from Oct. of 2013). What are the chances of finishing with the exact same time, to the second, after running 13.1 miles? In mile 7 there was 111 feet of climbing and that one mile stopped me from having an excellent race. For that mile I was a full minute over my goal average pace. I did however bounce back and ran some fast miles. The 13th mile was my fastest of the day. At least now I know that I need to do more hill work for Boston.
Aaron Wagner ran the L.A. Marathon in Los Angeles, CA finishing this race in the time of 2:57:46 which was a PR of 5 minutes.
I had been trying to break 3 hours in the marathon for a couple years now. It was an amazing feeling to make that happen today. I cannot thank runners connect enough (especially coach Jamie) for helping to make this possible. It was a very warm day to be out trying to set personal records. High 60’s at the start and right at 80 when I finished. Also if anyone has run the L.A. Marathon you know it can be deceivingly hilly at times. I would not have been able to run sub 3 in that heat or on that course if not for the help of runners connect.
Tom Benoit ran the New Bedford Half Marathon in New Bedford, MA finishing this race distance in the time of 2:04:16 which is a PR by 25 seconds.
The 25 second PR is actually better than it sounds because my prior HM was on a 100% flat course, and this course has several significant hills, including a steady uphill rose from mile 12.0 to about 12.8. Terrible place for a hill, if you ask me. Ran the first 4 uphill-ish miles at 9:35, then the next 4 miles of gently but consistently downhill roads at 9:08, then the next 4 flat miles at 9:29. The last mile was 75% uphill-ish again, but I was pleased to clock in at 9:57, actually picking up the pace as I went up the hill. And just for kicks I ran the last 0.2 miles (all quite downhill) at a 7:34 pace. Sweet! I was very pleased with my pace consistency, adjusting for up and down hill parts of the course.
Emily Pilotte ran the New Bedford Half Marathon in New Bedford, MA coming across the finish line in the time of 1:39:22.
This was a great race because I met 2 other RCers- Cherisse and Tom. The race really flew by for me, though I had a lot of trouble in the wind during the final miles. Just couldn’t run well in it. Still really enjoyed the run and day!
Cherisse Haakonsen ran the New Bedford Half Marathon in New Bedford, MA completing this race in the time of 1:45:02 which a PR by 49 seconds.
Personal Record on this race course. I have never been so well prepared for a half. This is my third time doing this race and what made this special for me was that for the first time I felt prepared and ready to race. It may not seem like a big deal but it was to me.
Gertrude Jewell ran the Tobacco Road Trail marathon in Cary, NC finishing this marathon in the time of 4:22:04 which was a PR of 3 minutes and 12 seconds.
Anxious to build on my October Marine Corps PR, I decided to run a Spring marathon. While my finishing time is modestly improved from October, running a primarily trail race is valuable to my overall training process. I worked on the mental aspect of the race, pushing through the fatigue during the last 10k to finish strong.
Sascha Fennel ran the Monaco Run / Riviera Classic 23.8K in Ventimiglia, Italy – Monaco finishing in the time of 1:59:04 which is a PR of 2 minutes 57 seconds.
This 23.8km race has been my longest run since the New York City Marathon. I went into the race with the confidence of having PRed my last three races. At the start I met a runner that I had exchanged with before a half marathon six weeks ago. He ran it 7 minutes faster than me. I joked around with him saying “if you see me during this race, it will be bad news for you”. As me he started as one of the last. I went a bit faster thru the initial crowd at the first climb than him. At km 3 he ran up to me and said “let’s run this together!”. I said “with pleasure” fearing that if I do I will explode in the second half. To my surprise I did not. We ran a good rhythm around 4:45 min/km except for the inclines. Sometimes he was stronger and I had to fight to stay with him. Sometimes I was the one helping him. We ran together until km 22. By this time I knew that I had crushed my PR for half marathon (1:45:44 against before 1:48:41).My 23rd km was a bit slower as I had to fight to maintain a good pace but I did not explode. I came in 10 seconds behind him. Altogether I am extremely happy. It is ama zing to see all these improvements in such a short time. And I am already highly motivated to run and race again soon.
Kim Rankin ran the First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon in Sarasota , Florida finishing this race in the time of 2:59:33.
Beautiful course, extremely well run event. This was the 10 year anniversary of the race. Besides a race shirt we also received jackets! Nice ones , too. Medals are huge and really pretty featuring 2 jumping Dolphins . The post race food was really good too, since sponsored by a restaurant .
Steve Troxel ran the Andrew Jackson Half Marathon in Jackson, TN finishing this event in the time of 1:40:44 which was a PR by 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
Andrew Jackson Half Marathon – 60 degrees with light rain. This is a 3:45 PR. I ran exactly as planned: slower first three miles, settle into a 7:45 pace for seven miles, finish strong. Time was good enough for 2nd in age group – a great morning. This race was significant to me because I’ve been feeling very sluggish this week. I may have been suffering from a little overtraining. This caused me to have doubts on my ability to run at faster than marathon pace for 13 miles. Today was a good confidence boost and lets me know to keep trusting the training plan. Thanks RC!
Lisa Thomas ran the Gate River Run 15K in Jacksonville, FL coming across the finish line with a time of 1:11:22.
This is a favorite race of mine as it is the biggest and most popular race that the company I work for (1st Place Sports Running) put on since 1978. We had 20,000 participants and a large elite field. The American record for the 15K has not been broken in 20 years and it was set by one of our own local runners, Todd Williams. This is my 11th time doing this race and it doesn’t get any easier. Because of the hot temps I didn’t make my goal time but I did run the whole race including the giant bridge in the last mile, and received my top 10% finisher hat.
Gary York ran the Perseverance 5K in Homewood, AL finishing in the time of 24:41.
Raced immediately after a 15 mile long run. Won my AG. I raced because the scheduled called for a fast finish to my long run. I thought a race would give me the best chance to hit the goal paces for the last 4 miles.
Kenn Walker ran the Dirty Spokes North Geogria College 5.3 trail race in Gainesville, GA finishing in the time of 41:04.
Finished 3rd in my age category; my best finish so far in this 8 race series. This was race number 3 of the series, and I’m in 3rd place in age category points so far
