Presque Isle Marathon - Last Long Run ...

Ben, Karen (1st Place Masters in the Half-marathon) and me at the end of the Race

I'm in the home-stretch.  Only a few more weeks until the North Coast 24-hour race.  I needed one more long run before then and picked the Presque Isle Marathon in Erie, PA.  The race was last Sunday at 7:00 a.m.  I had run this race last year and then it was a hot and miserable experience.  I was hoping for a better effort this year.

Right before the race, the temperature was in the mid-50s.  I was trying to decide what to do - a hard effort or an easy pace?  Before I made up my mind, the gun sounded and we were OFF!  The half-marathoners started with the marathoners - the race was 2 loops around Presque Isle for the marathon, only 1 loop for the half.  The field was quite crowded in the first mile.  There were about 600 marathoners and 700 half-marathoners.  My first mile was about 8:30 pace.  That seemed ok.  But as I kept checking my mile splits, the next several were all under 8:00 minute pace.  I kept thinking I should slow down but I was feeling good.  At the half I was still hitting 8:00 minute pace and so thought I would see how long I could maintain that pace.

The couse is pretty flat and then weather continued to be fairly cool.  The sun only poked out sporadically, the race had water stops every mile (with HEED - YES!) and even a shower to run through around mile 25.  I slowly kept picking off women runners until there were only 3 women ahead of me....

In the last mile, I could not muster any more energy and came through the finish with a 3:30:10 and 4th place woman (1st place masters).  I was somewhat in shock over this time as it is a PR for me by 4 minutes, not just an age group PR but a PR for my entire running career.  My chip time put me at 3:29:50. 

I am now in serious taper mode.  Since I've had good luck on Lake Erie, I'm hoping my luck holds out for the "other" Lake Erie race, the North Coast 24-hour.  Stay tuned.

Charity Two for One

Now, I am not much of a trail runner, but I was lured into running the Twilight Race last Thursday night, a fundraiser for the Rape Crisis Center.  I would also be able to use this race as part of the Epilepsy Association fundraiser that I'm helping out with called the Virtual Runner so I was able to participate in a reace for two good causes at one time.  What a deal!

Laurel, me, and Kristen modeling our "Virtual Runner" t-shirts

The Twilight Race was held at the North chagrin Reservation, part of the "Emerald Necklace," a chain of parks surrounding the Cleveland area.  Since the race would take place on a bridle path and over 200 people had signed up to run, the runners were started in waves, with the oldest runners starting first.  Needless to say, I got to start way before my 30-year-old friends started.  My goal was to not get passed by them during the race.  I wasn't exactly running at lightening speed but I did manage to finish ahead of them and had cold beers waiting for them at the finish.  Not a bad way to end a race!  I, however, had to watch my intake as I was scheduled to get up at 4:15 a.m. the next day for a 20-miler before work.  Oh well!

Drake Well Marathon Report

No one can control the weather and it was a warm and very humid day in Titusville, PA for the inaugural Drake Well marathon on Sunday, August 9th.  The day before was downright cool in Cleveland, but overnight with thunderstorms rolling in, the humidity index was in the 90s in PA for the 7:00 a.m. start of the marathon. 

My friend, Karen, and I before the start of the Race.

As disclosed on the race website, the bulk of the elevation gain was over the first five miles of the course.  After the first half mile, we started running on a gravel/dirt road.  There, we encountered the first climb for the next mile of about 300 feet.  This was pretty steep, especially at the beginning of the race.  I decided to take it easy and walked!  After topping out, the road dropped dramatically for the next mile before another brutal climb over the next two miles.  The bulk of that elevation gain occurred over a half-mile with about 200 feet elevation gain, followed by a more gentle climb of another 150 feet over the next 1 1/2 miles.  I again opted for the wimpy route, walking the steeper part and trying to conserve energy for the bulk of the race.  Over the entire race, the elevation gain was about 1800 feet.

Once we finished running the "mountains," we turned off of the gravel road and did a  tour through the town of Titusville.  It looked like a very pretty town and it was nice to get in some sight-seeing.  After about mile 10, we hit the bike path, which is where the half-marathoners had started.  The bike path was heavily shaded and somewhat cool given the conditions.  We continued on the bike path to the 17 1/2 mile mark before turning around.  The path had a slight downhill to it going out which became tough on the return.

It was a small race, with about 120 marathoners.  I plodded along for most of the race.  The temps only hit about 75 degrees but the humidity was in the 90-plus range.  The trees were actually dripping with water it was so humid.  For parts of the bike path, it was kind of neat because it was foggy and very beautiful since we were running right next to the Oil Creek.  It though was kind of lonely as there were not too many runners that you encountered. 

Despite my slow pace, I apparently overtook the 3rd place woman (a young 21-year-old) at the 23 mile marker.  I managed to hang on to that spot and came in as the 3rd place woman.  This was a bit of a surprise but for my slow 3:56 (!!) time, I got a certificate for a runningskirts.com skirt.  I'm mailing it in today so that's a pretty good prize (much better than a trophy!!)

After the race, unfortunately, there were no places open in Titusville for beers so my friends and I drove back to Erie for a celebratory drink before I headed home to Cleveland.

This was a well-organized inaugural race and has a lot of potential.  There are not too many August races in this area of the country so it's good to have this one as an option.  Even though the day was cloudy and we didn't need the shade, on a sunny day the bike path would definitely provide a cool cover for racers.

24-Hour Training - Getting in Gear

The summer is flying by and I need to get focused on training for the U.S. National 24-Hour Championships on October 3-4. Since the FANS 24-hour race in June, I've just been doing "regular" running. I don't think I've run more than 15 miles for a long run.


With two and one-half months to go, I've decided to run a few marathons to get in shape. Marathons are much more interesting than running around my neighborhood for 4 or more hours. As luck would have it, I was able to locate 2 marathons that are within driving distance of Cleveland, both in Pennsylvania.


The first one is August 9th in Titusville, PA. It is called the Drake Well Marathon, named after the 1st oil well in the world. It may be a hot run so I will have to play it by ear as to whether I try to run a fast pace or just run a leisurely run. The other marathon is September 13th in Erie, PA, in Presque Isle. I ran this one last year and it was incredibly hot.


Other than those 2 races, I'll try to get out for a 5-6 hour run one of these weekends (probably Labor Day weekend). If past experience is any guide, this should be enough for a solid effort in October.

Badwater Race Begins

Can't wait to see how the Badwater races ends up. It starts today. I have to be in Court most of the day so I'll have to wait until tonight to see how things are progressing.

Here's a link on my favorite Badwater Champion, Jamie Donaldson from The Denver Post:

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_12818524

As an update, Jamie takes 1st place woman, 5th overall. Great job!!

July 4th On Ice

It's almost July 4th weekend and I'll be spending it on ICE. Yes, we'll be competing at the Tropicurl. Stay tuned for more details.....

FREE T-SHIRT

Okay, now that I got your attention, yes there is a way you can get a free high-quality technical t-shirt and feel good about yourself in the process.

I am involved in a fundraiser for the Epilepsy Association called the Virtual Runner. I signed on to help with this event because of the little girl in the photo below:

Lucy, my friend and running partner’s daughter, was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was two-years-old. Lucy and her family struggled for over a year, with Lucy averaging 70 seizures in a single day. Today, through a combination of medication and diet, Lucy has been seizure-free for the last year.

After experiencing epilepsy first-hand, my friend and I are helping kick off a new running event called the “Virtual Runner.” All monies raised go to the Epilepsy Association to provide needed services to affected individuals and their families.

Anyone reading this Blog can sign up online NOW as a Virtual Runner. Then, beginning August 1st through November 8th, Virtual Runners log their race miles online. Races can be any distance and can be run anywhere in the world. At the end of the period, prizes will be awarded to the Virtual Runner with the highest mileage logged and with the highest dollar amount raised.

It is absolutely FREE to sign up as a Virtual Runner. And, by raising a mere $100 in donations, every Virtual Runner will receive a high quality technical t-shirt with the Virtual Runner logo on it.

This is a very easy thing to do with minimal effort. So, don't delay! Sign up online now, solicit donations, and start racing to help the Epilepsy Association turn your miles into money. To sign up as a Virtual Runner or for more information, click on http://www.epilepsyinfo.org/VirtualRunner.htm