The Wissahickon Trail Classic 10K

I know this is a bit late.  My posts are starting to back up on account of waiting for pics to be posted.  I don't always include pics with my posts but they do make the post more fun to read. There were folks taking photos at this race so I was waiting for them to post.  I was especially waiting for the one of me coming to the finish line because I was sprinting and I knew it would be a great shot.  Alas, the dude still hasn't posted the pic yet.  I guess I'll just have to go with the pics I have now.

This was the 4th year for this trail run and it was my favorite by far.  I think I liked this one because there was more running than climbing.  Don't get me wrong there is plenty of climbing in this race.  Some of the climbs are every bit tough as those in the Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon.  The difference was this wasn't just insane climb after insane climb, there was actual running too!  

The race starts on a groomed, wide and flat road.  The start is downhill which is such a dirty 

trick for a trail run as it gives newbies a false sense of security that will soon be dashed.   After crossing a main road it was a quick right and up the first trail.  Here is a pic from this trail.  You'll notice that it's still wide.  Most of the trails were at least 2 people wide.

The race then led to a narrow trail that was only one person wide.  This was mostly in a grassy field and the pace quickened to a decent run.  We reentered the forest for a quick downhill run and some zig-zagging thru the trees then it was back downhill to the main vehicle trail and the 2 mile mark.  

Just after the 2 Mile mark you cross a bridge that is over the creek running through the middle 

of the park.  From there it was back to climbing to the top of the ridge where there were some incredible views.  I wish I had brought my camera!  After reaching the top of the ridge it was back down again.  Here's a shot of me on my way back down.

This pattern of up a ridge and back down continued about two more times.  Again though, there were always with some very nice views and places to actually run!   

After running up and down the ridges it was back down and across the creek to the other side and on to the finish.  This time though we crossed a covered bridge.  This was my first time in a covered bridge and they are cool things to run through!  This is me exiting the bridge at about the 4.5 Mile mark.

From here the trail was a groomed wide path for another half mile.  Then it was back up a hill(and the worst hill of the whole race) for about a quarter mile before a long downhill to the finish.  Somewhere there is a really cool picture of me sprinting the last 200 meters but since the guy who took it hasn't posted it yet you'll just have to use your imagination.  

I want to put a shout out to Brooks and their incredible Cascadia trail shoes!  They are very comfortable but provided all the stability and traction I needed.  I passed several people that were sliding in the mud in their regular running shoes.  I don't know what they were thinking wearing "street" shoes to a trail run but it was very cool to blow by them when they couldn't get enough traction or had to take the downhills slowly for fear of falling.  Awesome!!!

At the finish there also was a very nice post race munch out provided.  While I loved the pizza(with out a doubt my favorite food) I also loved the chocolate covered pretzel sticks!  Every race in PA, at least this part of PA, has pretzels at the finish but to cover them in chocolate......YUM!!!!!

So there's my post.  Sorry it's late.  It really would have been a great pic of me sprinting.

....if I don't be there by morning....(Eric Clapton)

Inspiration

Hey Folks!  Just returned from the Wissahickon 10K Trail Classic.  It was a great run but that's not the subject of this post.  I'll give an update on this race at a later date.  This post is about an inspirational person....my wife, Susie.

Today at the Wissahickon Trail Classic my wife participated in her first 5K walk.  She has been training for this for about two months.  Why?  Because she wants to run up a hill.  Not just any hill.  This hill....

Don't recognize it?  It's the hill at the end of the Ugly Mudder 7.25 Mile Trail Run.  That's right. My Susie wants to be in shape to do a 7.25 mile trail run next February.  

As you know from reading this blog I ran in the Ugly Mudder this February.  It was my first trail race and I brought along my faithful photographer to record the event.  It was afterwards on our trip back home that Susie looked over and said, "I want to climb that hill next year!"  "What?"  The thought puzzled me as this was the same person who doesn't like to run up our stairs.  Not wanting to kill her enthusiasm but wanting to see how serious she was, I pointed out that while it's great she wants to attempt that hill next year there's the matter of the 7 miles leading up to that hill; and these are "trail miles".  Not the easiest miles you'll ever run. None the less, she was determined to complete this goal.

Shortly thereafter she started walking.  She started off walking to the end of our road and back. Then she progressed to a 2.2 mile loop.  Now she walks about 2 hours per day for a grand total of 5-6 miles.  She's walked in the cold, in the heat, in the wind and earlier this week she walked in the rain!!!

Seeing Susie work so hard for this goal is to say the least inspiring.  We've gone to the local running store to get her properly fit for shoes as she was initially doing her walks in dock-siders.  Last week we went back to get her better clothing to wear than the cotton tees she was used to stealing(she would say borrowing) from me.  She's even reading my Runner's World magazine and quoting some of the articles!  

While all of this is inspiring to watch the best part is her commitment.  Susie is not the type of person to go into something "willy-nilly".  She needs to be thoroughly convinced of something before she'll buy into it.  Once she's convinced, there's no shaking her loose.  This is of special importance to me as I am not always that resolute.  Seeing my wife strive for her goal makes me question my own resolve and re-double my efforts if need be.  To have such a person to share my life with makes me, as Lou Gerig once said, "the luckiest man on the face of the earth."  I love you Susie.

Ok, now for the fun stuff....pictures!!!!

This is Susie with her first race bib....

This is Susie with her first race shirt(which by the way she was already bitchin' was a cotton shirt and not a technical shirt)  I think I've created a monster :-)

That's all for now.  Gotta run.

....you are the sunshine of my life...(Stevie Wonder)

The Mason-Dixon Line

One of the really cool things about running is that you get the opportunity to do some interesting things.  Case in point, my run today.  I set out on the Heritage Rail Trail (my home turf) and ran south to where it connects to the NCR Trail.  The point were the two trails connect is at the Mason-Dixon Line and the border between PA and MD.  Interestingly, Mason and Dixon where the surveyors who surveyed the boundary between the two states in order to settle a disagreement between William Penn and Lord Baltimore.  Neat, huh?

Anyway, I ran an 11 mile course that took me 4 miles into Maryland.  It's odd that they are separated by such a famous line as the change is obvious from one state to the next.  The PA side is just shy of two car lengths wide with a groomed crushed stone surface.  The MD side is a packed clay and holds true to it's name....trail.  The part of the trail that I was one was barely a car length wide and in parts I'd say more like a golf cart wide.  The scenery though was great!  Much of the NCR Trail looked like it had been cut right through the middle of the forest.  Lots of shady spots with fern covered cliffs.  I'm surprised this part has never made Runner's World's rave run picture.  In case anyone from Runner's World is reading this, yes, that was a hint!

How many times do you actually get the chance to run from one state to another?  It's a pretty run and a great one to zone out on.  Not to mention the fact that when you finish you feel a little like Forrest Gump.    I highly recommend this if you are in the area.

...running on....(Jackson Browne)

The Charlie Horse Half Marathon Trail Run

After completing a marathon only a week ago, I was wondering what is one of the craziest things I could do this weekend?  How about running about a half marathon?  No, people at Disney do that in a weekend.  Hmmm....how about running a trail half marathon?  What kind of a trail half marathon?  How about one with 600 foot ascents (several 600 foot ascents), 3 stream crossings (one that requires a rope to hold on to as you cross), mud, bugs, and 7 miles of the Horseshoe Trail?  Yeah, that the ticket!

This race is put on by The Pagoda Pacers, a Reading PA running club.  The purpose of the race, other than to make you wish you were dead, is to benefit The Special Olympics.  Some of the athletes from The Special Olympics were on hand as volunteers.  I got to shake the hand of one guy and thanked him for his time volunteering.

The race started at 10 AM.....ok....10 AM-ish.  Unlike road races, trail runs NEVER start on time.  As I blogged for the Ugly Mudder in February, trail runners are a different breed than your standard road racer.  It's not hard to find a very Type A personality in a road race.  The competition alone tends to bring them in droves.  Trails runners tend to be a bit more laid back with a great sense of humor but with a hint of insanity!  But I digress.  

So the horn sounds and off we go!  About 100 yards into the race is a stream crossing.  The stream is 15-20 feet wide and two feet deep!  The water (which was cold) was up to my knees.  Honestly, I thought the water felt good.  I did see a person who lost her footing and took and early bath!  

Speaking of footing, for this race I was wearing my new Cascadia trail shoes by Brooks.  The picture above is my shoes after the race.  After finishing the Ugly Mudder I vowed not to try another trail run until I had proper shoes.  These shoes definitely saved my ankles, not to mention the rest of me, from certain doom on a loose rock, 5 inch think mud, or slippery footing in a stream.  They were very comfortable but stable.  I highly recommend them to anyone looking for trail shoes.  Back to the race.

After leaving the stream and a brief run on a fairly flat trail it was up the first of many 600 ft ascents.  For me, this is what makes trail running so challenging.  While I'm used to running up hills as all the roads around me are hilly I must confess that I hate running up hills.  While this is only the second trail race for me, I always amazed how these guys seem to always create a trail with a lot more uphill than downhill.  Since I was not out here for a time goal (and since I did just run a PR marathon last week) I had already made my strategy to walk the uphill sections.  It was a good thing as the heat index was in the upper 80's.  More on the heat later.

One of the interesting things with trail running is that you see and hear things that you'll never hear at a road race.  At the start of this race one of the directors was giving helpful tips and mentioned that at the start not to venture too far into the nearby quarry section or forest off the main trail to relieve yourself as this general area is the Pennsylvania capital for copperheads.  When was the last time a road race warned you about snakes?  Another interesting thing was about halfway when we passed a home that was raising turkeys.  There was about 1-2 minutes of the distinctive gobble-gobble making it's was through the trees.  Again, when was the last time you heard turkeys at a road race?

Now about the heat.  It was a warm day here for May.  Temps in the 80's with high humidity. With the race not starting until 10-ish there was no real chance to miss the heat.  Thankfully most of this race is in the woods which provided about 5-10 degrees cooler temps to run in. The only problem with the forest...bugs.  I think I had the same fly dog me for 6 miles.  Even though the trees provided some relief from the heat they couldn't mask the humidity.  At the start of the race I overheard some other runners say how the race directors had made this year's race harder than in the past.  That and the heat cemented my decision to walk the inclines.  It was a good decision.  They weren't easy even at a walk.

After traversing over hill and dale for 11 miles it was now down to the last 2 miles.  This started with a nice downhill on a wide dirt trail.  After 11 miles I knew that the race directors wouldn't allow the conditions of "downhill" and "wide trail" to coexist for long.  True to form, there was an immediate turn to the right and an incline up a narrow trail.  At this point I had had it with inclines and was now at the stage where each one brought forth the exclamation " you fuckers!" My legs were rubber from all the hills and I was paying more attention to the terrain as if I lost my balance I knew I was more likely to go "ass over tea-kettle" now.   At the top of the rise I was greeted by a very friendly man (all the volunteers for this race were wonderful) who shouted out with a wide grin, "Welcome to the boulders!"  There in front of me was a 100 yard boulder field.  Some of these bad boys were 10 feet tall!  There was a pre-marked blue line indicating the "safest" route to take while traversing the field.  I'm sure what he said next was for my safety but when he shouted "take your time" and "I don't want to see you running through here" I had to laugh.  

After the boulders came more narrow trails but finally predominately downhill.  It was while I starting to enjoy the downhill that the next interesting obstacle appeared.  This was a stream crossing.  Not just any stream crossing but a stream that was about 4 feet deep and had a rope across it to hold on to as you cross.  I came up to the stream and the guys there stated "get ready this one's deep".  I hopped in and was immediately up to my belly-button in water as I grabbed the rope at the same time.  The cold water felt good on my legs and they felt a bit more stable and less like rubber afterwards.  There was another stream crossing shortly after but this one was only up to my ankles.  I would run the rest of this race with the sloshing feeling in my shoes.

The last obstacle was mud.  There were a few pits along the race but the one at the end was the worst.  It was about 20 feet wide and 5 inches deep of sloshy, sticky, careful it doesn't pull your shoe off mud!  It hadn't rained here in the past week.  This was definitely a man-made obstacle.  

After making my way through the mud and thoroughly christening my new trail shoes it was a quarter mile run to the finish.  I finished in 3 hr 7 min and change.  I was muddy from my waist down, I was tired but I was done.  The picture above, in addition to showing my shoes after the race, also displays the glass I received for finishing.  It proudly proclaims that I am a 2009 Charlie Horse Half Marathon Trail Run Finisher.  I also received a very nice tech shirt with my entrance fee.

I'd like to end with a catchy phrase but it's late and I'm tired.  I know...boring.

....over the hills and through the woods....(English Christmas Carol)

Bowerman And The Men Of Oregon

Well we are heading into the unofficial start to the summer season this weekend and you may be looking for a book or two to read over the long weekend whilst lounging in your hammock with a cold one.  I do I have a suggestion. The book is Bowerman And The Men Of Oregon by Kenny Moore.( just in case the title of the blog and the picture weren't enough of a clue for you)  For those of you who don't know the author, Kenny Moore was an Olympic Marathoner in 1972 and wrote for Sports Illustrated.

The book takes you through the life of Bill Bowerman, the coach of the Oregon Mens Track Team and co-founder of Nike. Needless to say there is enough to keep a runner interested. It's 400+ pages so unless you are like my sister who can tear through a book like a saw-blade through balsa wood, you'll have some reading for at least a few days.

If you are an avid runner or over the age of 40, you are likely to recognize many of the names of the runners Bill had the opportunity to coach at Oregon and for the Olympics. Otis Davis, Kenny Moore, Frank Shorter, Steve Prefontaine, Jeff Galloway, Jack Bacheler, and Jim Ryun are just a few the runners you'll read about.

Then there is the birth of Nike. From it's fledgling days as Blue Ribbon Sports selling Japanese-made Tiger shoes to the behemoth organization it is today, you'll learn of it's brilliance and it's missteps.  If you are an avid runner and over 40, you'll probably remember what a revolution the waffle soled shoe was.  This was a Bill Bowerman creation.  I still can remember Dave Letterman, when he had a daytime show, spoofing this and running through Central Park in sneakers with waffles glued to the bottom.

So if you are looking for a book to read this summer, I highly recommend Bowerman And The Men Of Oregon. The first 100 pages are more about Bill's relatives and how they got to Oregon, which for me was only mildly interesting, but the next 300+ pages has enough red meat to make you push back from the table and unbutton your pants!  It's truly a fun read!

Enjoy!

....in the crannies and the nooks there are books to read...(Tears For Fears)

Delaware Redux

I've had a chance to sleep on my thoughts about this marathon and am revising my score up to a 6 out of 10.  Here's why...

I wrote the race director about my concerns and received a very nice and prompt(the same day) response.  He stated he was a was aware were a few kinks that needed to be worked out.  First of these was that 7 police who were supposed to provide traffic control no-showed.  That answers my traffic control concern.  I'm still annoyed at running through part of a city and having to be my own traffic control but what can a race director do when people don't show up on race day?  Second was that possibly( he was still working on this at the time on his email) his own volunteers may have scarfed down some of the advertised food thus not leaving enough for runners who came later.  Again, he wasn't sure what exactly happened with the food.  It may have been they just underestimated how much they needed and ran out early.  Just like with the traffic control, I'm still annoyed.  I get that mistakes happen and that sometimes people don't always do what you expect.  It just would have been nice if every piece of literature put out on the marathon from the brochure to the pre-race program didn't advertise that it was going to be provided.  I think I'm more annoyed that it was advertised and then not provided then I am that it simply wasn't provided.  Ditto for the course entertainment.

I've also had a chance to read others comments on this marathon and am finding that many people are reporting running better than expected times.  Case in point is Cowboy Hazel.  This runner ran a BQ and won a very nice bobble head trophy as well.  I encourage anyone considering Delaware in 2010 to read this blog as well.  It's a bit of a different perspective and she does a nice job in her blog.  

I guess my point in all of this is that it's obvious that the organizers tried to put on a top rate marathon so I was a bit too critical by questioning their motivation for this event.  From the nice tech shirt and glass giveaway, to the cannon start, to the scenic course that apparently a lot of people ran faster than expected times on, to a very nice and varied choice of post race food and beverages there was a lot to like in this marathon.  

....No, on second thought...(Lee Roy Parnell)

The Delaware Marathon

Well another marathon is in the bag!  There's a lot to say about Delaware so let me start with the most important point first.  I set a new PR of 4:44:27!  I know...I know...I still have yet to catch Oprah but I'm definitely headed in the right direction.  My strategy this time was to take 1 minute walk breaks every mile(I started at Mile 2) up through Mile 24.  I was tired at the finish but my thighs held up and feel pretty good right now.  My calves are another story.  

Now onto the journey to Delaware.  I arrived in Wilmington without incident but finding the expo was a bit of a challenge.  Those of you with GPS devices in your car just skip to the next paragraph as this won't apply to you.  Delaware "signage" is very similar Massachusetts'.  The sign for the exit is right on top of the exit so that you go flying by the exit before you brain gets a chance to process the message off the sign you just read.  Needless to say I spent a lot of time driving around Wilmington before I actually found the expo.

The expo was very small.  One tent to get your bib number and one tent for vendors.  These were not large tents either.  Probably the size you'd rent for a party seating 50 people.  I only saw one vendor in the tent that sold running gear.  

After making my way to my motel, I headed back into Wilmington to go to church. There is a church called St Anthony's that is on the marathon route so I thought it would be neat to go there.  For those readers who are not Catholic, St Anthony is known as the patron saint of lost items.  I never found St Anthony's.  I drove all over the area it was supposed to be in and never saw it.  Patron saint of lost items and I can't find the church that bears his name....ironic, yes?

After a not so restful night sleep(just way too keyed up to sleep) it was marathon day.  Saturday had been sunny and 75-80 degrees and humid.  Sunday was drastically different.  At the start of the marathon it was 60 and very cloudy.  About 6 steps into the marathon the rain came.  It wasn't a hard rain but it was enough to soak your feet by the second mile.  It rained for about an hour then stopped.  Then the winds picked up a bit and the temperature dropped another 2 degrees.  Except for the rain, I couldn't have asked for better weather!  I was comfortable the whole race and never felt like I was sweating.  Just Wonderful!!!!  Normal this time of year is what I saw on Saturday...hot and humid.  

This year was a new course.  It was basically two loops of the 1/2 marathon course.  In previous years it was 4 loops of a 6 1/2 mile course.  I'm glad I missed that because I'd have been bored halfway through.  The new course is as scenic as a marathon in a city can be.  There is about 5 miles by the waterfront, 4 miles in a park that borders the zoo, and another 6 miles that is in a heavily wooded residential area.  So 16 of the 26 miles are pretty, the remaining 10 miles are city miles.  The course has some hills.  The two worst are Miles 6-7(repeated as Miles 19-20) and Mile 12(repeated as Mile 25).  If you run in an area that has hills( or better yet mountains) these won't pose a problem.  If you are from Nebraska, Kansas, Texas or Florida....well, you'll be happy when they are over.  The one good thing about the hills is the downhill.  Except for a 1/3 mile incline near the start of Mile 25, all the hills after Mile 23 are downhill!!!!  

This is only the 6th year for the Delaware Marathon and it's first year with the new course so I don't want to be too critical.  I do have a few concerns about this year's race.  First is traffic control.  Most of the streets are NOT closed during the race.  The residential streets were better than the city streets but you still had to keep an eye out for that driver who just couldn't wait to get his Sunday morning Starbuck's.  There were also a few intersections that had no traffic control at all except for a few traffic cones.  It was worse on the second loop as some of the volunteer traffic controllers left after the end of the 1/2 marathon.  In fact I didn't see any of them after Mile 23.  

My next concern was fan support.  Granted the weather played a part in this but most of the course was largely deserted.  In fact, parts of the city looked like a bad 80's movie where they've dropped the neutron bomb and the people are all gone.  

My last complaint, and this is a big one, no freaking food on the course!  I did get some Jelly Bellys from a little girl standing outside her house with her friends after Mile 21 but nothing, nada, zilch, zippo that was provided by the race itself!  Lame...very, very lame!  I tanked up on something called Vitolyte that was provided at every water stop but that was it. No bananas, orange slices, GU, Shot Bloks...nothing.  On a side note, the Vitolyte was good.

If I had to rate this marathon on a scale of 1-10 I'd give it a 5.  It could easily be a 7 or better with minor improvements and I hope the race director will make those changes.  In reading the history of this marathon in the race program it was interesting to learn that the Delaware Marathon initially began because Delaware was the only state without a marathon.  Since Delaware didn't want the distinction of being the state that prevented all the 50 States Club runners from their quest they put something together.  Sadly, I did come away with the feeling that part of the motivation for this marathon is still political rather than from a groundswell of Delaware runners who want a marathon they and the City of Wilmington can be proud of.  This race has tons of potential, but it's still a work in progress.  Then again, what the hell do I care...I just set a new PR!

...I can see clearly now the rain is gone...(Johnny Nash)