2018 Broadway Ultra Society 4 Hour Run & Awards Lunch

This morning was the B.U.S. 4 Hour Run followed by the Annual Awards Presentation (Lunch), where the 2017 Grand Prix awards were presented to the winners!  This year, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Broadway Ultra Society, the run was extended 1 hour (from its typical 3 hours)!  The run and post-run celebration are high points on the B.U.S. calendar!


The last time I was at this venue (the 2015 edition), I managed to squeak in just over 20 miles in 3 hours - of some serious sub-zero wind chills!  This time around the 1.453 mile loop I managed 20 miles in just over 3 hours (14 loops) and ran a full 16 loops for 23.248 miles.  I stopped with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.  Given that I ran the Savin Rock Marathon in West Haven yesterday, I was more than pleased with that outcome!


After the running came the food (something very close to my heart)!  There was plenty of pizza and salad - among other things.  And, what anniversary would be complete without cake?!


The next B.U.S. event (2nd on the 2018 Grand Prix schedule) is the reconfigured Sybil Lundington 50K in Carmel in April.  For the first time in its long history the Sybil course will consist of two 25k loops instead of the one 50K loop set-up.  It will also feature a new start/finish location. 


I'll add link to the 4 Hour Race results once they've been posted.

2018 Savin Rock Marathon: Race Photos & Results

Great - if somewhat windy - day to run a Marathon!  The Shoreline Shark's Savin Rock Marathon was a double loop course right on the Long Island Sound.  The bulk of the 500+ participants were doing the Half Marathon (first loop).  About a 130+ kept going past the start/finish and tackled the second loop, for a full marathon!


It was sunny, and solidly above freezing, weather wise.  It would have been great running weather if not for the seemingly endless wind.  The course was challenging (e.g. hilly) but had some great shoreline views.


As for the race itself, I missed my 4:00 hour target my a solid 5 minutes (4:05:14).  My half marathon split (roughly 1:56) was also way off my 1:50 target.  Still, at 1:56, I had a projected 4:02 finish if I could keep it together.  But it took almost 2 hours for me to complete the second loop (no negative splits this time).  There was a great finisher's medal, with the shark logo(!) waiting as we crossed the finish line (and space blankets).  Another great perk was the print out (receipt) for runners that listed their race stats!


Despite not coming in under 4 hours, I enjoyed myself.  It was a well put together event from start to finish.


Here are the official race results (for both Half and Full) from Trimon Timing Company.

Happy Spring Equinox 2018!

Happy Spring Equinox!

No, it is not April Fools Day!  Spring officially arrives here in the northeast at 12:15 PM this afternoon - but the 4th Nor'easter of the month(!) arrives tonight and runs well into tomorrow, bringing yet another blast of March snow...

As the image above shows, that poor bird is flying toward the snow (and away from the sunny spring weather).  How appropriate for this particular season opener!

In any event, snow or otherwise - Happy Spring!!

2018 Taconic RR St. Patricks Day Races: Race Photos & Results

It was another cold weekend - and FDR park was (cue up broken record) - cold and windy!  But that didn't detract from the Taconic Road Runner's St. Patrick's Day 2 Mile and 10K races!  Post-race, runners had the option to warm up with a roaring fire going in the fireplace, hot chocolate, coffee or tea, and - Captain Lawrence beer!


I ran the 2 miler - and (amazing to me) managed to sneak in just under 14 minutes!  Running at a 6:59 pace for 2 miles (and it may have been a couple of seconds faster if I hadn't slowed down on the infamous hill at the end of the loop) - was reward enough for me!  But it was also good enough for second AG :D  Afterwards, I ran the 10k unofficially (50:40).


But when the running was done, had some COLD Captain Lawrence IPA - and warmed up in front of the fire.  I had already drunk a cup of coffee between the races :O


Here are the official 2 mile race results from Taconic RR.
Here are the official 10K race results from Taconic RR.


and here are some great race photos posted by Taconic RR. Thanks for taking them Ted!

2018 Celebrate Life Half Marathon: Race Photos & Results

It turned out to be a great day to run the Celebrate Life Half Marathon - plenty of sun (a commodity that's been scare these last few weeks)!  And, except for the occasional wind gusts, it wasn't that cold (notwithstanding the snow covered course) :D

I haven't run this race in a while because for the last couple of years I managed to get into the NYC Half.  But Celebrate Life is definitely worth the drive up to Rock Hill - not just for the challenging course, but for the post-race Outback Steakhouse... Steak!  Yes, this is the only event (ultras included) where you can have an honest to goodness steak (chicken for those red-meat adverse) as part of your post-race meal!

As for the race itself, I had a sub-1:50 time goal (given that my legs were still a bit worn out from the Caumsett 50K last weekend).  That may have been something of a soft target because I ran a pretty solid 1:47:42, 8:14 pace, without any speed to speak of, over those miles.  In fact, it was a significant improvement over my last CL finish (1:51:59 back in 2013)!  So I was doubly pleased :D

The best part, however, was the post-race socializing!

Here are the official race results from Active.com.

2018 Caumsett Park 50K: Race Photos & Results

It's been a few years since I last ran the Caumsett Park 50K (maybe back in 2011, or earlier).  One this that hasn't changed is the wind!  But this was the first time the I ran the loop counter clockwise.  By comparison, I think this direction made for a slightly less challenging trek - although the added distance to the dog leg portion was a mental challenge (so close, yet so far from the end/beginning of each new loop - and, of course, the finish)!


As for the event itself, it was excellent!  GLIRC and all the volunteers were great - especially the volunteers out on the course!  Post race, there was a ton of food (to get ahead of myself, I ate 2 slices from the hero sandwiches, a huge cranberry muffin, and - for good measure - a small Danish.  Wolfed down probably a more apt description since I ate all that minutes(!) after crossing the finish - before I changed out of my soaked running clothes).


My only mishap during the day involved missing the start of the 50K proper (despite having arrived more than a half hour before the start)!  The 50K went off at 8:30 - the 25K went off at 8:35 - and I somehow missed than announcement starting the 50K (not too hard with the 25k runners milling around the same place waiting for that race to go off)!  So my official (gun) time is overstated by five minutes from my actual (net) time - which, hopefully, will eventually be corrected (fingers crossed).


Either way, I was more than pleased with my 4:58:27 (official) finish (4:53:27 net)!  Even the official came in under my target of 5 hours for the race.  My marathon split (4:07 official/4:02 net) was a little disappointing because I had wanted to slip under 4 hours.  But either way, was more than happy with the entire day!  By way of comparison, it was almost an entire hour faster than my last 50K back in December (5:51:33 at the B.U.S. Trail Mix Up) :D


Next up is first training run for the 2018 edition of the TGNY - next Sunday.  Not sure I'll be up for the entire 35 miles (50K is my target), but I'll see a few runners from today's race there :D


Here are the official race results from JMS Racing.


Here are their race photos (of which my mid-race photo is taken!).

March 2018 Race Schedule

March is here!  While I'm not sorry to see February recede into history, it may have been one of the warmest Februarys in recent history (albeit a very wet one).  As I write this post (Friday morning), the rain is coming down in buckets, with a chance it switches over to snow(!), as it washes over the Northeast!  A somewhat fickle start to the month :D


As for races, despite today's weather, this weekend should be dry (and maybe a little sun) for the Caumsett Park 50K on Sunday.  I haven't run this one in a while (maybe 8 years?!) and when I looked at the course map it seems as if the direction of the loop has been reversed.  Maybe that's just my imagination - haha. One reason I haven't run it lately, it conflicts with the Boston Buildup 25K - perhaps my favorite of the 4 race series.  This year I'll miss it in exchange for the longer distance.


Keeping with the longer distance motif, the following weekend is the first training run for The Great New York Running Exposition (TGNY) 100 miler this June.  I thought it would be 20-25 miles - but turns out it's 35!  A bit of an eye opener for me (to put it mildly).  I'm planning for the entire distance, yet 50K of it will make me happy :D


Mid-month will be something of a breather, with Taconic's St. Patrick's Day races.  I'm not sure if about running or volunteering for this one.  I'm leaning toward volunteering.


The following weekend is the Broadway Ultra Society 4 Hour Run - to precede the Annual Awards Brunch.  Saturday, the day before, is Savin Rock Marathon in New Haven.  I'm tempted to run that because it would be a new race for me.  Looking at the course map (a double loop), it seems to include a good portion of the New Haven 20K route.  Maybe it's time to squeeze in a weekend double?


But the real open question for March is the last day.  I'm very tempted (aside from what comes to pass the weekend before), to sign up for the Naked Prussian 50 Miler.  I haven't run a stand alone 50 Mile race in a while, so this is under serious consideration.  Will decide mid-month (probably right after the TGNY training run).


Here's how it looks so far:


3/4 - Caumsett Park 50K
3/11 - TGNY Training Run #1, 35M
3/18 - Taconic St. Patrick Day Races (volunteer?)
3/24 - Savin Rock Marathon?
3/25 - B.U.S. 4 Hour Run
3/25 - B.U.S. Awards Brunch
3/31 - Naked Prussian 50M?


As always, if you're at any of these great events, say Hello!

10th Anniversary of Rundangerously 2008-2018!

I find it somewhat astonishing that my Rundangerously Blog has been up and running (pun intended) for 10 years!  When it began - way, way back on March 1, 2008 - I had no idea that it would last this long.  In fact, I had envisioned it as a way to record my training and racing (with race photos and reports the main component).  It actually grew to include much more stuff, if you will - but it primarily focused on the running side of my life.  Over the last decade it's recorded the my running and races - but included family (especially Katie's various milestones: she was in middle school when this blog began, she just graduated from College last year!), travels, radio, and reviews of various things that caught my attention over the years - to mention a few of the things that come to mind. I was also happy (and honored) to include many guest posts - mostly from other runners who shared their race reports and experiences!

I find the longevity even more surprising given my (apparently) belated discovery of Facebook the following year (and Twitter a few years after that).  All the competing venues to post pictures and updates (so to speak) certainly diluted the power of blogging (in general) - to the point it basically seems quaint after all these years.  Almost like trying to explain why bother listening to CDs - or even more shocking LPs (if this generation can dig up a working turntable) - in this IPOD, streaming age of music.  But I will confess to not missing (and never will miss) video cassettes, of any format - haha

So as I enter the second decade of this blog (did I really write second decade), I wonder how much longer it can keep going (and, a bit more practically, how much longer can I keep running and racing).  That first post mentioned that Caumsett Park 50K was the upcoming race - and I'd post a race report....  Now, 10 years later, I find it fitting to point out that Caumsett Park 50K is again on deck for the weekend!  A comforting coincidence (and what's old is new again) :D

Thanks to everyone who has visited over the years - and to those who commented as well.  Here's hoping that you'll continue to visit going forward!

Cheers!