Sandy Runs

I'm so relieved that Columbus Marathon is over and that I did not re-injure my leg. If you've been following me, then you know that I originally pulled something in my calf in June, healed it (or so I thought), and then hurt it again at Mile 10 of Air Force Half Marathon . I had to miss a couple races and work on rehabbing it again. Unfortunately, my calf's good day was a bad day for my big toes. I developed bad blood blisters under the nails, had to see a doctor, and missed Marine Corps Marathon. The good news is that I should be healthy for my marathon in China. Without further ado, here's my Columbus race report. Earned the hard way I knew I would run Columbus again after moving back in January. It was a good race for me the first time I ran in 2006, and now it was my local marathon. Then in June I was selected as a Columbus Marathon ambassador to our sister city of Hefei, China. This underscored the importance of running this event. I was registered months ...

The Run & Ride King's Island Half Marathon was my first pacing gig for Beast Pacing . Beast has a lot of races, and I've been trying to get on their calendar for a while. I was supposed to pace another race with Beast the week before King's Island, but had to cancel that due to my calf injury at Air Force Half Marathon . For the King's Island race, I was mostly recovered and pretty sure that I would be just fine pacing. And I was...but that doesn't mean it was an easy day.  The Beast Pacing team for Run & Ride King's Island - with my injury history, there was NO WAY I was going to jump! The Run & Ride race series puts on running events at several amusement parks across the country. Runners get to run through and around the parks, and then be guests at the park after the race. Sounded like a fun day to me, and King's Island is not far from home, so I expressed interest in this race as soon as the call for pacers went out. I got the 3:00 ...

I grew up in the flight path of the Ohio State University Airport aka Don Scott Field. There were always small planes flying over the backyard. But I never had a reason to visit the airport myself - until now. The Don Scott Trot 5K on the Runway was the perfect opportunity. With Shelly before the start; of course I wore Buckeye colors at the Ohio State University airport! My friend Shelly had just run her first 5K at the Dublin Irish Festival 5K  in August, and this little airport run caught her eye as a candidate for her second. This was a small race which sold out with 300 participants. Parking was easy and so was packet pick-up the morning of the race in the airport's Hangar 7. Hangar 7 packet pick-up Small planes outside the hangar Sun is almost up at the airport It was a chilly morning and I wore long sleeves. I probably could have done fine with short sleeves, but I appreciated the extra warmth before we got going. While Shelly and I were waiting ...