Cooper River Bridge Run 10K

The Cooper River Bridge 10K is a race I have been looking forward to for a long time. Per Active.com it is one of the top 10K events in the United States. So back say, October of 2010 I signed up for it.

Now on to the race that went down on April 2, 2011. It all started with dropping my dog Rocco off at the kennel and then Stephanie and I hit the road on Friday. It took about 5 hours to get there. 95 is one exciting road! Anyway once we arrived in town the goal was to find parking and head over to the Race Expo.



The Expo was something new to me and I pretty much just wanted to get my packet and leave. Not so easy, my lady Stephanie was with me and there was way to much free stuff to be had. Once thru the crowd I got my bib 30189, wow that is a big number, they are usually in the hundreds. After bib pickup they funnel you off to the stage area in the building to get the packet. No XXL shirts left, oh well an XL it is, can only wear it once I guess, because it will shrink to toddler size soon. Now its Stephanie's show time, table to table, getting this and drinking that. Overall, it was plenty fun and I drank enough energy and protein drinks to get me thru the next days 10K.





Our Hotel, about 5 miles from race expo area:



Before race day though it was dinner time. Ended up at Outback under a freezer vent but dinner was good. Was going to try this pasta place (Frazoli's) but it was fast food pasta, drive thru and all, so went with the pre-race steak.

Race day here I come. I couldn't sleep for anything and was up at 12:45AM. I lay there till 4:00 AM and get up for good. Stephanie didn't like this. It was her vacation and this was way to early. I hit the road a little before 5 to find parking. Wow this is a breeze, the cops are not even in place and I parked in the same lot we did for the Expo, now time to get in line for my bus ride across the Copper River Bridge.

Me to early in the morning on race day:


The bus was easy enough. The loading spot was just outside the parking deck. I got in line and a local runner was quite chatty in line with me. He was a triathlete and had swam 2.4 miles under the bridge but never ran over the bridge in a race. Well this was my first time running over the bridge myself. Did I tell you this dude was chatty, he told me about every running event he has been in since birth in that 15 minute bus ride. Once on the Mt Pleasant's side of the bridge the bus dropped us off so we could walk the 3/4 miles to our start corral.

I found my corral some 2.5 hours before the race was to start and realized this was the beginning of a real long day. Anyway I hung out watching people, listening to people, and making a few trips to the many porto's while waiting for the race to start.



Its finally 8:00AM, let the race begin. Not so fast I'm in the H corral of a wave start. Each wave leaves every three minutes or so. As we work our way forward based on the walk and stop signs managed by our corral volunteers its finally our time to go. At this time close to 30 minutes have passed and the winners have crossed the finish line. Guess I will have to wait till next year to have a shot at victory lol. The announcer was trying to hype us up for a picture so we all had our hands in the air and screaming like we just don't care and we are off!



Finally down to the race. The first mile and 1/4 was flat and I was just weaving in and out of the really slow crowd and making as much time as I could before the bridge. Once on the bridge I realized this was not going to be easy, the bridge is a 4% uphill grade and it would stay that was until I passed the 3 mile marker. Well as you can guess I started to walk, but this killed my calves. So what to do, alternate between running and walking till I'm at the top. Since I was walking some I did take the time to snap a few pictures. Now at the 3 mile marker I see Beetle Juice with a bunch of skeletons chasing him. No this isn't a mirage, people wear costumes at this race. Well back to the race, I'm at the halfway point and now I get to go down hill, now this is fun but the 25mph wind is more prevalent now. I pick up the pace pretty good because I would like to be somewhat close to 1 hour finish time. A little after crossing mile 4 we are off the bridge.




Now off the bridge its just 2 more miles of flat running. The first section after the bridge was a water stand. To much traffic but managed to get a quick swig of liquid. I needed it to, had to run thru the hood, I had to step it up a bit. Eventually we hit mile 5 and another water hole, why? It caused a bottle neck as this was a switchback and narrower streets. This switchback took us from Meeting Street over to King Street. Running down King was pretty straight forward but I was tired as I have not been running 6 miles and I was hurting pretty good so I mixed in a few 30 second walks. The road narrowed even further and even walkers were getting in this slow pokes way as this was the last half mile and I was going to finish as strong as I could. Smile, quick picture, a little further and on a cut thru back to Meeting Street. Come on people you can run home from here. Finally rounded the corner onto meeting and I can see the finish. I try to kick it into high gear but not much left in the tank. Smile again for a finish picture and I'm done.

Where is the water:



Me sometime after the race:





Now they shuttle us down to the park and I'm wanting to get some water and find Stephanie. I had been texting her my mile location so maybe she could see me finish. She missed me but she tried. The crowd was insane, way to many people in the city block sized park. I finally, about 10 minutes after I finished, got a few bottles of water and began wondering around looking for Stephanie.

Some post race pictures, post race party I guess:





Eventually, probably 20 minutes after my finish I found her. We walked and talked and ate and watched the trophy presentation. The local cat (Bobby Mack) from The Raleigh Athlete's Foot that sold me my shoes that I was wearing finished 6th overall with a time of 29.18. He was 1st US citizen. Sorta cool eh?

My time details:
Bib FName LName City State Country Div Age SEX
30189 BILLY KIDD RALEIGH NC NC USA MALES 40-44 41 M
ChipTime ClockTime Overall SexPl DivPl Pace 1:11:20 1:40:48 19330 9949 1181 11:29

Well for the race that was it, the rest of the time Stephanie and I did the vacation thing till Sunday afternoon. Overall, this is a very well run event and I look forward to doing it again.

One of the tourist pics:



One more quick tidbit. Trying to find a paper at 3PM the day after the Cooper River Bridge Run is not an easy task. My suggestion is get one at your hotel early the next morning.

WooHoo my name was in that paper, that's me 9832 in the mens division:

St. Patty's Run Green 8K

The St. Patty's Run Green 8K in Raleigh, NC went down on March 5th, 2011 and I was in the middle of it all.

To start, running 5 miles is further than I usually go but I have run 10 miles before so I wasn't scared. Early Saturday my girlfriend Stephanie called and said she was out, she hurt her back really bad. Not a good way to start but she wished me well and I headed off to the race.

I arrived around 1 hour before the start and just basically hung out till the 3PM start. Once the gun sounded I slowly made it to the line, it took almost 45 seconds. Well I guess a win is out the door, no worries, I'm a slow poke anyway. Today I was feeling okay but I kept it on the slow side and I'm glad I did, this was a hilly course. Luckily none the hills were real long except for around mile 4 and I ran up most of them, which is good for me. I save my occasional walking to the flats. Other than the hills, this race was uneventful for me, except for almost getting run over by a speedster coming the other way at the first water table. Eventually, I made it to the home stretch and ran that 1/3 mile at a good clip and finished in 55 minutes. I was pretty happy with myself and finished close to my planned time.

The interesting part about this race was the people. For sure most wore green, many wore kilts, some even had beer cans hanging out in front of them. I guess they needed something to chase. No worries there, if you were of age there was a free beer waiting for you at the finish provided by Tir Na Nog. The best costume was the person dressed a leprechaun and another person as the pot of gold with a rainbow between them, they somehow ran the race that way. Yes, I beat them by 30 minutes or so lol. Back to that beer for a second, it sure had more effect than I thought, guess it was the exhaustion.

Overall, this was fun race and I'll see you at this race next year.


http://www.rungreen8k.com/


Here is a picture of me (852) in the final stretch, I think I'm the only person that sweats.



Next up is the Cooper River Bridge Run.

NHL All-Star Weekend

First off, I signed up for the NHL All-Star 5K back in December. Since then a few surprises came up. The race day of January 29, 2011 began to fill up with other activities.

Those activities included an awards banquet for the Second Empire Fall 2010 Grand Prix Series, were I entered enough races to get a free lunch. Second Stephanie's daughter school cheer team got an invite to cheer at the Raleigh Wide Open event to celebrate the NHL All-Star Weekend. The race and these two other events was going to make for a busy day.

On to the day at hand. We arrived at 8:30 to the RBC Center and picked up my timing chip, Stephanie took a few pictures and I attached my timer to my shoe. Where is the starting line? Oh yeah, almost forgot I picked picked up my packet the day before that had a cool medal, here is that medal.


Here I'm tie wrapping the timer onto my Newton's. It was 30 degrees and I'm in shorts!



Well back to the race. I was lined up and they were rattling off some names and bib numbers for prizes and stuff, not mine so lets move on. Well the race started and right away I wasn't feeling to hot. On a good note though, the first mile was flat to downhill, that didn't hold for the second mile. We turned up into the parking lot on the side of Carter Finley Stadium and the hill began and didn't end till another mile had clicked by. On this hill I began to walk some, I know what a wuss. Well I am 250lb, not ideal for a runner but I give it solid go. On this hill a coworker passed me, I can't have that, so I picked it back up and maintained till the end. I beat the coworker by a minute and set my fastest 5K at 30:11. On a side note, my GPS had me at 29:57. I'm on my way to being respectable. Stephanie and I took a few pictures and visited the gift shop to get few things, and now, off to the next event. Here is a picture of me coming down the home stretch.


Well, before the next event it's shower and change time. The Second Empire is a nice Restaurant and it does include an awards presentation after all. We arrive, check in and find a table. Stephanie immediately likes this place and suggests we come there more often. That's okay as I like it too. We are seated with the old timers that are all in their 60's and still run 6 to 7 minute miles all day long. They were very nice people and gave me some good running tips that should help me obtain a little more speed and endurance. We all had a very nice dinner, grilled chicken with a light sauce, steamed broccoli and couscous, all very good. Now off to the awards.

I was pretty much a spectator here but it was cool to see. Our table mates were all winners. I did go home with a cool skull cap with the series logo on it. Kim Reynolds, Second Empire, all the race sponsors put on a very good running series. I look forward to doing it again. Off to event number three.

Luckily for us, all these events were spaced far enough apart that we could get to them all. After the banquet went to the car and changed clothes where all the world could see. No car wrecks caused no foul lol. Now to see Stephanie's daughter cheer. Sorta cool that there school got to cheer at such a big event for Raleigh, NC. Anyway their cheer was very good.

Well, except for a few other details I won't tell you about, that was the day. It was a busy day but a very fun day.

My dog Rocco and I

New Balance MT101 Review

Well this is my first product review and it will be pretty short.

I got into running January 2010 and pretty early on I became interested in minimalist running shoes. Soon after, I got a pair of Vibrams. I really like them, but wanted something a little more protective for the trail and longer distances. Well, I eventually found a shoe I dig. The New Balance MT101.

I have had my pair of New Balance MT101's for 3 months. I use them for trail runs over at Umstead Park the most, but I have raced in them a few times on the road and trail. Overall, these shoes feel great, they don't feel like lead weights as they are very light at 7.8 ounces, they are stable, they offer good support, and decent traction in a wide variety of conditions.

As for the negatives, the sole does wear fast if doing a lot of running on pavement.

If your interested in a great minimalist trail running shoe check out the New Balance MT101's.

Here is a picture:

The Krispy Kreme Challenge

Well Feb. 5, 2011 was the Krispy Kreme Challenge. If you don't already know this race, it is 4.77 miles of running with a stop in the middle to eat a dozen glazed doughnuts with a goal time of less than 1 hour.

Stephanie and I arrived at the race around 7:45am. I was dressed in my Steeler poncho, shorts and my New Balance 101's. Stephanie was spectating and dressed warm. It was raining and 35 degrees for the race, fun, fun, fun. There were 7500 people signed up but a few less showed up due to the weather. Anyway the race started at 8:30am, it took me 3 minutes just to make it to the start line. Once in the open I settled into a pretty good sub 10 minute pace that would keep me in the 20/20/20 plan. Well as I got within sight of Krispy Kreme the leaders were done eating and heading home, dang they eat fast. Once I made it to Krispy Kreme My problems started.

It started with a road block, well most seemed to be my pace and arrived at the doughnut stand at the same time. It seemed like it took 5 minutes to get past this bottle neck and get my doughnuts. I choose to eat 2 at a time till I made it thru the first 6. At this point the glaze was getting to me and I grabbed a cup of water. Now I'm down to 1 doughnut at a time, and having difficulty even taking a bite. I was not going to eat 12. Anyway some more water and I had 9 down. I thought to myself that there is no way for me to eat 3 single doughnuts so I smushed them together and nibbled my way thru. At this point I looked around and very few of us were still there. I went over to the challenger timer to get my split 54 minutes, it took me 30 minutes to eat the doughnuts but I ate them all. Knowing that the hour goal was out I took my time back, walking up one big hill, although most of the return trip to the Bell Tower on NC State campus was up hill. Surprisingly I had energy, guess a sugar high. Eventually I was done in 1 hour and 17 minutes.


Overall, it was a fun time and I look forward to next year and getting that doughnut eating time down to 5 or 10 minutes like the top finishers.

http://krispykremechallenge.com/

Pictures of the event can be found here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/05/970446/first-look-krispy-kreme-challenge.html

My Recent Umstead Runs

First off, running isn't easy but I get out there every other day and run/walk 2 to 5 miles, sometimes more. One of my preferred places to run is William B Umstead Park. Its close by, challenging for me and its scenic. I run many loops, Sycamore Loop (3/4 miles based on where I start), a Graylyn to Reedy Creek to Turkey Creek back to Graylyn (8mi), Sals Branch (2.7mi) and a few others. All fun and all present different challenges.

A map:



My runs the last 3 weekends were quite fun. First was my post Christmas run in the snow. I have only been running a year and have not had many chances for snow running. Anyway, I got to try out my YakTrax, they worked great.

Here are a few pix:





Back to the run its self, it was great, the snow was blowing off the trees, there were 2 others on the trail, and the YakTrax kept my feet planted well. My running buddy liked it too, here is a pic of him while waiting on me to get ready. This run ended up being short and fun, 2mi.



On to the New Year, I went on a run around the Sycamore Loop. This loop is pretty easy but does have many roots and rocks to watch out for in a few sections. Being that my normal parking location was blocked off due to weather I parked at the Church on Ebeneezer Rd. Not supposed to, but I did anyway. This run started very flat on Graylyn, but soon I took a right onto the Sycamore Loop. Down a hill I go and my dog (Rocco) picking his own path in front of me. This presents challenges when Rocco takes the other side of the tree...brakes!!! A few switchbacks and a little hill and I'm down by the creek (1mi). Along the creek it is quite flat for the most part and its about a mile until you cross Graylyn (2mi). Time for another pic, taken from a ridge above the creek.



Once across Graylyn it continues for another mile along the creek, crossing it several times. The bridges still had ice from the previous weeks snow. As I come around toward a cut out to N. Turkey Creek I see some runners flying by. I decide to stay on my loop which at this point is all uphill for about 3/4 of a mile till back on Graylyn. Feeling Pretty good and back on a flat open muddy dirt road I pick the pace up and cross the 4mi on my GPS (Nike + GPS App). The run ended up being 4.29mi and I finished with my fastest pace of 9'02". I went slower too as I get tired and walk, also, my dog had a few nature calls and a play time in the creek.

Run number 3 at Umstead was today 1-8-11. It was 39 degrees, shorts weather for sure. I didn't feel that good but still managed 3 miles on an abbreviated Sycamore Loop run. The run started at the Sycamore Loop parking area and then followed the same downhill and run next to the creek and to Graylyn. This time I didn't cross Graylyn, I took a left and went up the Graylyn hill. Being I didn't feel all that hot I walked half of this. Once to the top I brought it home, running the last 3/4 mile back to the truck, done!!! This was the first time this winter I saw more than a runner or 2 on the trail. You would of thought 39 degrees was a beautiful spring day as I saw 10 runners, 8 or 9 walkers and a few cyclist.

Well thats it for this post, I hope to post several times a month this year and actually gain a few followers lol.