From the Back of the Pack
I might always be in the back of the running pack, but I'm addicted to it! When I miss more than a day it affects my energy, attitude, and the rest of life in general! I have had a lot of "character" building runs in the deep snow, extreme nose hair freezing cold, ankle high rain, and gale force winds over the past twenty five years and find some of those days to be the most peaceful rewarding outings of all! I'm one of those runners who is slow and steady, but goes forever and ever without ever getting tired.
October 21, 2009: Recent Pictures
October 16, 2009: Nancy English Memorial 5k Run/Walk and 1/2 mile kids fun run
Registrations are again pouring in for the Nancy English Memorial 5k run/walk!
I wanted to let people know that shirts have to be ordered October 19th, so to guarantee your shirt size, you need to sign up before that date.
Until November 1st the entry is only $20, after that it goes up to $30...I will have forms with me at the last three trail races, Wild Duluth, and the Halloween run on the 31st for anyone who wants to sign up then.
We are also in need of volunteers for pre race pick up of items, packet stuffing, and other little things! If you are able to help with any of this please fill out the volunteer form on the website and send it in soon! All volunteers get a long sleeved tshirt too!
Door prizes are awesome! Entries to many races, running shoes and clothing, DSSO tickets, and much more!
Check out www.nancyenglishmemorial5k.com for more information!
October 11, 2009: WHISTLESTOP
Duluth trail runners accomplished quite a bit at Whistlestop this year!! I enjoyed the weather even though it was cold...at least we were dry..the breathing was a bit tough for me after mile 9 and if anyone saw how I solved that ...it looked kinda funny! I'd like to see a picture of just how odd it looked!! The trail was beautiful, the other runners in this event are some of the friendliest I've been around.
Eric Hartmark won the half marathon...by at least 4 minutes and I believe broke his age group record...1:09 jogging at marathon pace...2 minutes faster and he would have had both the full and half record...he's too nice to be that greedy though!
Katie Koski (of Grand Portage for some reason none of us have figured out) won the full marathon for women... by at least 4 minutes... and I believe broke the age group record...2:54
Jonas Ryttie won the 10k in his new racing flats by 5 minutes...36:42
Jarrow Wahman was the first male Duluthian to finish in the full marathon ...he was 5 minutes ahead of the next person in his age group...and was the first master's...2:50...
Tonya Thompson was 4th in her age group in the marathon!
Shelly Thompson made it to Boston with time to spare!!
Keith Thompson made it to Boston with time to spare!!
Dave Hyopponen was 1st in his age group in the half marathon...and pr'd by like 5 minutes with a 1:18!!
Liz Albright-Olson finished her first marathon ever looking marvelous!!
Rick Bothwell...finished another marathon...he just keeps on running long distance races ...like the energizer bunny almost every weekend!
Brent Smith won the master's category in the half marathon with a 1:18 after an interesting start!
Jess Koski finished 1st in his age group in the half marathon!
Amanda Lepisto took 1st in her age group in the half marathon!
Jody Zeleznikar was 2nd in her age group in the half!
Michelle Flanagan-Haag was 2nd in her age group in the half!
Malcolm Macaulay won his age group in the 10k!
Rick Agar was 4th in his age group in the 10k!
Tim Krohn won his age group in the 10k!!
Dave Schunemann took 1st in his age group in the 5k with 18:03!
I think all of these finished are impressive!!
If I missed anyone I apologize and please let me know!
There were tons of others who finished the races too!! Sam and Shane did the full marathon...with great times looking strong at the finish...! I did the half... 15 minutes faster than I had planned...nothing special...had to stretch at the aide stations because the tear is still healing up...
There were some "interesting" things this year at least with the half....rumor has it with other events too...things that really should not happen in an established event like this ...
As we sat inside nice and warm, someone announced that the half would be starting 10 minutes late....we all stayed awhile then slowly wandered to the start line. On our way there, some volunteers in a car began honking at all of us to get out of the way so they could get through...with a thousand people on the road all trying to get to the start...was that really safe, or necessary??
While walking to the start line, I ran into Brent Smith and Darrin...who were frantically putting things into bags and getting to the start line...they told me that in fact the clock did start on time, not ten minutes late as all of us were told. This does take the pressure off of some people and spread things out, however, it also created situations that just should not happen in a race like this.
Runners, many of them elite, had been running over the starting mat and had activated their chips prior to taking off sweats...which added time to their results...some were fixed...
Finding people we planned to run with was impossible since everyone was starting at different times...
Walkers were in the way instead of starting in the back...and this event had quite a few walkers...so we had to run in the "mushier" part of the trail to pass often...
Those who were "racing" this had no idea when others started...it was like the birkie except there the bibs indicate what wave people started in....the top runners had no one to push them along once they were out in front.
Other interesting things with the half...
The road was icy, they knew it was snowing...the whole city is involved...lots of people wondered why they didn't get something on it...I hope no one fell! I stayed on the gravel but getting around others involved going onto the icy road.
A bus came through near the time when I had started and was about 1/2 mile in or so....it was honking for the almost thousand plus runners on the icy road to get out of it's way...we kinda thought that was a bit dangerous!
The first aide station and one further out had two people frantically pouring and maybe one cup ready...the rest of the stations were outstanding!!
Did anyone else think the half and full shirt looked a bit like a little boy's pajama top? I'm going to see if I can find the yellow waffle long underwear bottoms to go with it!
Why did the 10k and 5k get the nice HOT soup and we got only cold sugary stuff?
There seemed to be a few timing issues at the event ...the 10k results were delayed an hour, the half and full 1/2 hour....
We all finished though...I think...with smiles...and upright ...and soooo many with amazing accomplishments! Boston, age group placements, race winners, master's winners, first timers...and anyone who finished is a winner because they were out there instead of sitting inside eating bon bons and watching tv!
October 3, 2009: Grand Traverse
Today I had a great time doing the "little" Traverse of just 10 or 11 miles..it was very beautiful scenery at the pace I went and luckily we only got rained on the last couple of miles.
If you missed this event again this year, it's really a nice one! You can choose between 27, 21, 17 or 10 miles and it's just an event, not a race. Midnight Sun does a great job of shuttling people to the start, feeding them with some of the best tasting aid stations I've ever seen and then awesome door prizes later on.
The small section we did crosses flowing rivers and other various natural scenery that is attractive. The leaves were changed enough for a nice contrast too. The rocks on the trail were a wee bit wet as were the wooden walkways so we opted to stay upright and walked or at least slowed down on both. This was my third time doing this and the first time I did not get lost at all! Laambeaux seemed to remember where to turn each time...I swore she could see the blue swatches yet the person I ran it with thought she was just smelling the scent of others ahead of us!
If you missed it this year, make sure you catch it next year!
