Rundown 11-28-05

Derek put out his probes to get a weekly rundown posted and I volunteered. What was I thinking?

Here goes nothing though.

The last rundown focused on the ING NYC marathon. Since then running bloggers have been busy with a few other big and not so big events. This rundown will focus on the Philly Marathon and Thanksgiving runs.

Philadelphia Marathon

November 20 the Philadelphia Marathon was held. You can check out this site for some of the major stats: Race Stats. There is a nice recap of the event and it goes through all the major stats you could wish to know as well as some of the background. "There's an interesting story about the female winner, Emily Kroshus, at philly.com. This Philadelphia resident had run two previous marathons (one of them was last year's New York City Marathon). In both of those races she had to bow out early. Everything came together Sunday, and Kroshus won the women's race with a time of 2:43:07. In the men's race, Joseph Nderitu of Kenya won with a time of 2:21:02."

As for some more personal stats Sean was able to finish his first marathon despite sever quad cramping "I continued the race walk until the crowd thickened and the cheers from the crowd became deafening. Many of the spectators lining the streets were urging me to run the last few hundred yards, thinking I was walking due to being tired, not understanding my physical injury. Finally, in the last 50 feet I picked it up to a jog and trotted across the finish line, finishing my first ever marathon in 4:41.15" His brother Scott had signed up to do his first marathon with Sean! They started together but ended up finishing apart. "A couple of minutes after I crossed the finish-line I saw Amy, Sara, Kyle, and Brett. I stumbled over to the fence and shared a moment with Amy. She kindly informed me that I literally had foam coming out of my mouth and sent me for water. I was proud of myself, but I truly felt empty. My primary concern was finding Sean…finishing the marathon would mean nothing if Sean didn’t cross that line as well. I was partially delirious and couldn’t make sense of what had happened. I knew that Sean was in better shape than me, and without really realizing how bad his cramps and spasms were, I wasn’t sure if he had passed me somewhere, been forced out of the race by the pain or what. Word then came from Sara that Sean had finished and THAT was truthfully the best moment of my day."

This picture is definitely better than any words. Ree announces "Well. I did it. I ran a marathon. A full one. A bug full marathon. Full of aches, pains, people handing out gummy bears and brownies, and beautiful Philadelphia sites."

Chad had many good things to say about the marathon: "I just fired off a letter to the organizers thanking them for a job well done. The event was well organized and from a user point of view went off almost flawlessly. The volunteers were great. The kids who worked the refreshments, baggage, and chip removal were polite, cheerful, and eager to help. Where do they get them? It makes me optimistic about the next generation.
The weather cooperated with almost perfect running weather. Cool not cold, light winds, lots of fall sunshine." He also learned a new trick "Tried to get my chip off and began to cramp when a young volunteer came to my aid. I asked her if she could retie my shoe which she cheerfully did using a method I had never seen before. After thanking her profusely I also thank her for showing me a new tie technique and how great it was to learn something new. I think she got a kick out of that."


Jay T finished the marathon in 4:13 and had these things to say about it:
"Marathon day came, I ran the race and now I ache.

The end.

Now that I've finished with the summary, I'll get into a little detail. Because I know you're just dying to hear the details." And added:
"Sunday arrived (FINALLY!) and everyone headed down to the Art Museum for the start. I'd like to give a really detailed description of the race, but that's not going to happen. Because A) there's not a lot to describe and B) most of the race is a blur. Here's what I do remember:
- Philly has a lot of really, really nice architecture and it impressed some of the out-of-towners I spoke to during the race.
- Nature started calling around mile 4. Nature started screaming at me and causing incredible pain around mile 10. Thank you, Fairmont Park and your many wooded areas.
- Running by yourself for 4+ hours gets kind of boring. It also causes you to over-focus on any aches and pains you're feeling so you think they're way worse than they really are.
- There are a number of people very lucky that I was more interested in finishing the race than smacking them upside the head for stopping right in front of me at various water stops. Move to the side and THEN stop,...

So, after 4 hours, 15 minutes and 27 seconds (4:13:29 chip time) of running and a little bit of walking, I finally crossed the finish line. I didn't even come close to breaking 4 hours, but I'm not going to complain...this time. I'll just have to make sure I do it next time. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the experience and bask in the glow of finishing a marathon. Well, as much as someone can bask when everything aches."

Will Run for Turkey

Last Week was also Thankgiving and lots of runners were getting in extra long workouts or heading out for their local Turkey Trot to make up for all the extra holiday food.

Our fellow blogger Rae set up a virtual Turkey Trot for those of you bloggers without a local Turkey Trot to attend. Results should be posted later today!

Shoreturtle was up bright and early for the first annual BRPTT:

"I ran the BRPTT 5K on Thanksgiving morning at 8:30am. Race temperature was in the low twenties. There was a coating of snow, but it did not affect the participant. I ran 5.5 loops around the Stroudsburg athletic fields and park. Yes, I even wore the official Poconos BRPTT bib with my race number, 2693, which is the highest elevation of the Pocono Mountains. I obviously wasn’t running at the peak, so it was more symbolic. There was a group of run/walkers that I passed twice at the start of my race. I would have stopped and explained why I was wearing a race bib, but I was racing! The first time I passed them I heard them talking about my turkey trot bib. The second time that I passed them; they told me that I must have cut the lap short because they hadn’t made much progress. I was relying on my footpod pedometer, so I wasn’t worried about being heckled. They left after my second lap. I was a little disappointed. I had wanted to explain who Brent, Rachel & Pippin were. I wanted them to know that I belong to the Running Blog Family and I was part of the 1st Annual BRPTT. Oh well. I ‘m sure that they thought that I was a little off or maybe I was a little lost. I battled through the wind, cold and sleepiness and finished with the wind at my back. Post race goodies (furnished by the Hampton Inn) included bagels, muffins, fruit, yogurt, cereal, sausage and eggs."

Carissa did her local 5K with her father. The course was a little long but it was a nice day for a run:

"Thanksgiving morning found my dad, Tim, and I all awake by 8am and in line to register for the Turkey Trot by 8:45am. The turnout was amazing. Lots more people than usual. Maybe the lack of snow and ice was a factor in this. It was a wonderful morning, weather wise, for a race. It was very cold, but not windy and not icy."

Meg counts the Chicago Turkey Trot as something she is grateful for this Thanksgiving:
"* Running the traditional 5k Turkey Trot with my brother. This is only a catalyst for gratitude because:
a) it ends. After only 30 minutes of burning your lungs with frigid air in the early am and trying not to run over walkers who, devoid of appropriate race protocal, start the race in front of you (what, did they think they were going to walk a 9 minute mile?) you can stop - and that feels good.
b) the guilt-free pleasure of saying, "why yes, I'd love a second piece of pie."
c) doing something with my brother, even if he always smokes me in the run, we share in the early wake up call and the post-race victory posturing and gloating to the rest of the family."

And that is all I've got time for today kids! Hope this was at least a semi useful/interesting rundown. I am completely new to the whole search and post thing but I definitely enjoyed reading about everyone's races.