A Day at the Races

I had registered well in advance to run the inaugural Pacers Freedom Four, and then we found out that the Grant-Pierce Indoor Marathon was to be held the same day (6/29/14). This was surprising, because last year the GPIM was in mid-July when Scot ran it and I volunteered. So, I was going to do another "two in one day" race events, like I did back in March. However, this time I would be running one event and then volunteering at the next.

First up, the Freedom Four was a 4th of July themed race, even though it took place the weekend before the holiday. This race evolved from a 5K that used to be held in Fairfax VA on July 4th. The new race was held in Arlington VA, but I don't think Pacers was able to get a permit to close the roads on the holiday. The course was the same as the St. Patrick's Day themed Four Courts Four Miler, and in fact, the concept was exactly the same. We started outside Irelands Four Courts, ran a mile downhill, a mile of flat with some minor hills, and then turned around to run the reverse. This meant that the entire last mile was uphill, and it was steep!

With Sapna before the Freedom Four

I ran with Sapna and we did 10 minute miles for the first three miles, then a 14+ minute mile up the hill, which we walked part of. I didn't feel bad about walking at all. It was a hot day with full sun. After a cool-down period, Sapna left me at Irelands Four Courts. She was planning to test her new trail shoes at Roosevelt Island. I found Gary and hung out with him and a couple of his running buddies as we drank our post-race brew. Our choices were Samuel Adams Boston Lager or Summer Ale. The Summer Ale was a great option for the hot day.

Enjoying a post race Summer Ale with Gary after the Freedom Four - check out my Betsy Ross Sparkle Skirt

After finishing my beer, I headed next door for a bagel with cream cheese, then drove the short distance to the Thomas Jefferson Community Center where the Grant-Pierce Indoor Marathon was already in progress. I offered to be a volunteer lap counter as I had done last year, but they wouldn't need me for over an hour when some of the current lap counters had to leave. I hung out with Jenn, who was there supporting fellow Marathon Maniac Chuck Engle, who ended up winning the marathon and setting a new 40+ indoor marathon record. Congrats, Chuck!


Scot (yellow shirt) paced Chuck (no shirt) off and on during the race

Scot and Letty were not quite halfway through their 211 laps when I arrived. Also running was joggler Barry, whom we had just seen in Minnesota, and several other Maniacs, but I didn't know any of them well. It must be dizzying to run 211 laps (or 250 laps for those doing the 50K) on an indoor track. No change of scenery, no varying terrain, very few spectators... Kudos to those who did it, because I don't think I would want to.

Barry the joggler

Magenta the Road Trip Flamingo checks out the start/finish line and the table of lap counters

Volunteering for GPIM was so much easier this year. Last year, I had to count laps for 8 runners; this year only 4. Also, this year they made each runner wear a color swatch that coordinated with his or her lap counter. This simple device made it so much easier to spot the people I had to count as they crossed the arch every few minutes. The energy level was high as the music didn't stop and the emcee announced the runners' progress...even if he frequently got their names or their number of laps wrong. That must have been another tough job!

Finishers Scot and Letty with their belt buckles

So, the accomplishments of that last racing day of June 2014: I ran the inaugural Freedom Four; Chuck Engle won the Grant-Pierce Indoor Marathon; Letty finished her first barefoot marathon, and her 50th 26.2; Scot finished his second GPIM and had just enough time for a shower and a bite to eat before going to work to stand on his feet all night!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2019 Hong Kong Marathon Race Report

Image
I registered for the Hong Kong Marathon  on a whim. I was already going to Asia to attend my friend Christine’s wedding in Thailand and then run the Tokyo Marathon the following weekend. My friend Dave posted on Facebook about the Hong Kong Marathon, which was a week before the wedding. I entered the lottery not expecting to be selected, but I was. It was going to be a two-country-marathon adventure.  It’s the year of the pig (or boar) and we got this medallion in our race packet.  I was woefully under-prepared for the Hong Kong Marathon. My training suffered through the winter, but knowing I had a 6-hour time limit for the marathon, I wasn’t terribly worried - until I got sick. At the end of January I caught a severe cold that I’m still not fully over, three weeks later. I was weak, slept little, and worked out zero times in all of February. But the Asia trip was coming anyway, and being a realist, I gave myself permission to DNS (did not start) or DNF (did n...
Read more

2017 Hefei International Marathon Race Report

Image
Most of my regular followers will know that I was selected as part of a team of five to represent Columbus, Ohio at the marathon of our sister city Hefei, China. I blogged about the announcement here and here , and about my team's fundraiser here . On November 8, 2017, we set off to the Far East, arriving in Hefei, China late evening on November 9th. We spent five days in Hefei, after which everyone went separate directions. My travels took me to Bangkok, Thailand, and then back to China to spend time in and around Beijing. But this post is about Hefei and the marathon I ran there. Post marathon with Courtney, Bernard, me, Echo and Lily in back The Hefei International Marathon is a large event, with tens of thousands of participants across all race distances (marathon, half marathon, 5K and 10K). The marathon had the smallest race field of all events, but included some very competitive elite runners. The Lead-Up Through the sister city marathon exchange, our team o...
Read more

2018 Running Recap

Image
I haven't blogged all year. In fact, I didn't even finish my 2017 race reports. What happened? I still ran. In fact, I ran several races, and did meet some of my annual running goals. But I also focused on other areas of my life that needed attention. I dropped the ball on some things, and I missed some of my other running goals. Right now I'm not going to write new running goals, because I'm not ready. I will, however, state one broad goal, and that is this: I will post a running-related story once per month in 2019. So, here's the 2018 recap: My 2018 Goals I will lead the 11:00 pace group for CWRC. CWRC is the Columbus Westside Running Club , which I joined after moving to Columbus, and this goal was about the winter/spring training program leading up to spring races. I started this, but I didn't finish. Very early on it became clear to me that I was not in the game mentally and not prepared to lead others on a weekly basis. A January training run ...
Read more