Weekend Bling Report

145791018

Replies

  • silverfiend
    silverfiend Posts: 329 Member
    driven over those many times, going to have to check out this run for next year!
  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
    driven over those many times, going to have to check out this run for next year!

    You must! Very well organized and proceeds go to a good local charity.
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
    edited November 2016
    @MobyCarp - You can buy you own bling with that. :)

    @silverfiend - Congrats!
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    Don Curran Memorial 5K, a.k.a. Freezeroo #1 this morning.

    Freezeroo is a low-budget series; with the Black Friday discount, I get 6 races for $50. There is a modest series gift to all series participants. This year, it's a neck gaiter/buff that's one size fits all. It might be too loose for me to use it running, but I'll test it when the weather gets colder.

    Freezeroo #1 is flat. Total elevation gain per my Garmin was 13 feet. The certification map says 12 feet. Even at 5K race pace, I didn't really notice what inclines there were. There was wintry mix in the air when I left home this morning. That had changed to drizzle when I ran my pre-race warmup, and had let up by gun time. Temperature was 37° F (3° C), the wind was supposed to be 13 mph NW, but it didn't feel that strong. The weather didn't live up to the Freezeroo name.

    This is the first race I set out to run as fast as I could since getting out of PT for Achilles tendonitis. I've lost a step or two from being injured. Had my right shoe come untied during the first mile, and made the executive decision that I'd lose less time running with an untied shoe than stopping to tie it. Other than that, the race was uneventful. Many people passed me at the gun, I passed more than passed me later. Ended up finishing in 20:06, 59 seconds slower than my 5K PR but good enough for 13th overall out of 176, and 1st of 9 (?) in the M 60-65 age group. No age group bling, because it's low-budget.

    Came home and looked up series scoring. The fast young guys didn't show up, so the overall winner was a 56 year old who ran 18:36. Points are based on the percentage of your time that the race leader (by gender) ran, so I get 92 points for this one. I don't know whether winning the age group for the series is good for anything but bragging rights, but I'd like to get those bragging rights.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Sunday was the Bovington Marathon and Half Marathon, a bit of an experiment as it was an attempt to use Ministry of Defence training area for the races. So 360 runners in the marathon and 550 in the half. A considerable amount of effort had gone in over the year to make this work, and whilst the MoD do work to make the training areas accessible to the public, there are some areas where that's hard work. This was a good example of that, with Bovington being the Armour Centre, where we train phase 2 and 3 soldiers either in the Cavalry or the Royal Tank Regiment, and the various supporting arms. That makes it normally closed to the public. There is always a risk of last minute cancellation with MoD land, but that's mitigated by this being a school, so the training use is better forecast.

    The camp is the home of the tank, having been established in the 19th Century as an Infantry garrison, during the First World War it was identified as the garrison of the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps, essentially the force element responsible for operating the earliest tanks. It's been the garrison ever since.

    Personally I'd entered the Half, as when places came open on 1 Jan I wasn't entirely convinced I'd want to do a fourth marathon this year. In practice that was probably best, after the Clarendon Marathon in October I've generally been a bit run down, so this was never going to be pretty.

    The key point from the race briefing was not to pick up anything metallic, in case it blew up.

    A foggy start as we dropped into heathland to the south of the garrison camps, on a nice forest track, broken with a few knee deep, cold puddles. That lead to a long, slow climb to the West of the camps, rising through woodland. These areas are used to train wheeled vehicles or light recce vehicles. Breaking through the treeline the terrain changed significantly, the area used for the heavy armour, with bigger roads, deep mud and much clearer skies. This area was hard going, it had been heavy rain for several days before the race, meaning that the ground was saturated.

    The route then led back down into the tree line, and whilst it was a long descent, there were a fair number of quite steep climbs in there as well. Getting back into the forestry meant firmer going, but a number of very deep streams to get through.

    We finished under the barrel of a Challenger Mk1.

    Personally I found it pretty tough, as my training hadn't been on form since Clarendon. That said, it was a good race. Great to get onto an area normally closed to the public, and as ever with White Start Running events some very friendly runners. Few people are chasing times, and most see these races as an opportunity for a bit of fun.

    I used my Inov-8 Mud Claw 300s for this one, which I found was the right choice. The terrain was very soft, and the traction really helped.

    Anyway, the bling... It's massive!

    fihw1zsi79q8.jpg
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
    @MobyCarp Awesome trophy. :)
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    No bling for the low-budget Freezeroo series, but it's fun. Today was Freezeroo #2, a.k.a. Resolution Run, 7.5 miles of rolling hills. Counted heads early, and saw only 10 people ahead of me. After that I counted how many passed me and how many I passed; I thought I was finishing 14th overall. Results got posted, and they showed me 12th overall. Best guess is that two of the runners who were ahead of me slowed down enough that I thought I was passing early start runners when I went past them.

    Official time showed as 50:44.830. The overall winner ran 45:48.437, so I should get 90+ Freezeroo points for this one. I was first M 60-64, so I will be leading my age group for the series.

    After the race, a friend asked me if this was a PR. I dunno, I haven't kept track of 7.5 mile races. But this is the only 7.5 mile race I've run, and the weather was awful the last two years, so it should be a PR, right? Right! Previous best 7.5 mile race, 53:07; best/only 12K race (about 7.45 miles), 51:24.
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
    Thanks to DayQuil and Halls cough drops, I finished 24th out of 357 for the New Year 5K today. It was good for 4th in my age group. Had I run the same speed as my Thanksgiving Day 5k, I would have won my age group. Oh well, at least I didn't cough up a lung.

    Time 24:13

    Award Placement Ages 45-49 Males 4 of 19
    Overall Place 24 of 357
    Overall Males 20 of 142
    Ages 45-49 Males 4 of 19
    Males 47 1 of 5
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    Winter Warrior Half Marathon on Saturday. 21º F (-6º C) and 10 mph W wind for my warmup at 3 PM. 19º F (-7º C) and 11 mph W wind at gun time, with the temperature and wind trending like that while I ran 4 equal loops. Went out too fast, and ran the 3rd and 4th loops to survive rather than to finish strong, but still had a decent result. 1:32:40 was good enough for 20th of 767 overall and 1st of 19 in the M 60-64 age group. Race hat and finisher's medal:

    9dvxfbg4asf3.jpg

    The heater for the heated tent stopped working, so I didn't hang around to see what I won for finishing first in the age group. I'll check on that later.
  • silverfiend
    silverfiend Posts: 329 Member
    Good for you Moby, 1st in your group is a great result. Cold and windy runs suck, so congrats for getting out there and doing it! Love the hat and bling, they look great.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    @Wendy98- Wow...first in AG at a race the size of Disney is pretty spectacular. Especially with photo ops! And I love your headband!
  • Wendy98
    Wendy98 Posts: 72 Member
    lporter229 wrote: »
    @Wendy98- Wow...first in AG at a race the size of Disney is pretty spectacular. Especially with photo ops! And I love your headband!

    Thanks! I enjoyed the experience. I am trying to decide if I am finished with the WDW Marathon or if I have more to do. I think I want to go back and compete hard. I hate to say it, but I got passed by two women in the last .25 mile. At the time I didn't care, but now it is bugging me to no end!
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    Pineway Ponds 5 mile, a.k.a. Freezeroo #3, was today. Ran it in 33:41.577, for 19th of 153 overall and 1st of 11 in the M 60-64 age group. Would have been 18th, except the 1st Under 19 M was able to blow past me like I was standing still in the last 200 m. This is not a PR, but is a respectable 5 mile race result for me. We had good weather for January, but 23º F (-5º C) is cold enough to merit the Freezeroo name.

    No bling for the low budget race, but this makes 3 age group wins in the first 3 races of the Freezeroo series. Series results are based on best 4 races of the 6-race series, with a complex point system. I'm in good shape to win the age group for the series, which might not get me anything but bragging rights.

    That is what it is about, right? Unless you're making l a living out of it.

    Very well done, Sir!!!
  • jenring3
    jenring3 Posts: 53 Member
    Rock n' Roll AZ full marathon happened for me on Sunday! It was overall a good race. Beat my previous time in this race, not by much and had some rough spots that I wish I could get a do-over for knowing my time could have been better, but really I finished feeling strong physically and mentally. And it didn't make me want to quit running like my first marathon did :) So, success in my book!
  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
    Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday. My first marathon. Hot conditions for January....mid to high 60's with 100% humidity, plus rain and gusting winds. Finished in 5:32. Haven't seen full stats to know my standing and all. I under-trained for this and with the humid conditions, I was just happy to finish my first one.

    Also ran the ABB 5K the day before in 31:38, which was just a warm-up. Double medal award for that.xcr0h9458ysi.jpg
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    Freezeroo #4, the Hearnish 5 mile, was today. 30º F (-1º C) with 10 mph W wind and a light snow shower, but good running surface. This race is traditionally an inexact distance. My watch reported 4.88 miles, and other runners got a similar distance. With the imprecise distance, I was amused to see official times to the thousandth of a second; my official time was 32:49.797. That was good for 16th of 134 overall, and 1st of 10 in the M 60-64 age group. Low budget, so no bling; but when the series to date results came out, it appears I've clinched the age group for the series. Still don't know if the series age group win is good for anything but bragging rights, but I'm going to enjoy those bragging rights.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    Ran my first official 10K this weekend. Chip time was 44:56, which earned me 2nd in my age group, 10th female, 32 of 537 overall and a PR. Sadly, there was no bling, only bragging rights. There was also some concern about the course measuring short according to Garmin. In all likelihood, the course was accurate and the Garmin discrepancy is due to the majority of the first mile being through a tunnel, but it's still always a little bothersome when your Garmin data doesn't support your race PR :(
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    Awesome job this weekend @MobyCarp. That race sounds like a beast.
This discussion has been closed.