2019 Taconic RR Freezer 5 Miler: Race Photos & Results

Normally I'd begin a race post with the race itself - but today, a small rant is in order.  This was third weekend in a row my IPhone died right after a race/run (going back to the 20K in Fairfield, 2 miler in Van Cortlant Park, Trail Run in Rockies, and - of course - this morning's 5 miler in FDR park!).  Some of those were pretty cold; but today, for example, the temperature never dipped below freezing (despite the name of the race - haha).  I am not a happy Apple camper :(

Okay, rant over - back to running.  This was a rare back to back race weekend - with the Stratford 3 Miler yesterday.  My legs lacked anything approaching a second gear for this one.  I only ran another six+ miles to bring my mileage up to 10 yesterday - and those were easy miles.  But I did manage to come in under 40 minutes (my soft target).

My 38:33 finish (7:42 pace) was good enough for 4th in my AG (3rd in the 5 year AG).  It was a tough course, and I wound up walking a bit of "the" hill on the second loop.  Had I skipped the extra mileage yesterday I may have squeezed in under 38 minutes - but more than happy with both days!  In fact, the best part was the lack of any meaningful rain!  It was raining when I left the house - drizzling at FDR, pre-race - and relatively perfect for the 5 miles!

Post-race we had plenty of food.  And awesome fire going in the fireplace to dry off/warm up.  But the key to rehydration was the Captain Lawrence IPA that Gary brought :D

I managed to bring my IPhone back to life after charging it in the car to get these couple of shots!

Here are the official results from Taconice RR.

I'll add a link to the Taconic photos once they're up.

2019 Last Chance for Romance: Race Photos & Results

If it's February, then a trip up to Stratford for the Last Chance for Romance 3 Miler (formerly 4 Miles) is definitely in the cards.  Similar to last year, all the award were edible (as in Valentine's day candy).  That was in addition to all the great post-race food (tacos, chili, soup, bagels, muffins, and donuts - plus all that candy)!  It is indeed a greater challenge (than the race itself) to limit "calories in" to those consumed over the 3 miles - haha :D

As for the race itself - and its one (huge) hill in the last mile - acquitted myself with a 22:14, 7:25 pace (which, amazingly, included a bit of walking up that one hill).  It was actually 4 seconds faster than last year's performance.  That time was good enough for 2nd AG (a move up from last year's 3d AG).

As for the team races - we took first overall (a major improvement from 1st AG last year)!


Here are the official results from RunSignUp.

2019 Boston Buildup 20K: Race Photos & Results

It may have been a small miracle, but I somehow managed to run the Boston Buildup 20K this morning.  Given that I had no voice to speak of when I woke up (from all the coughing I had done through the night), I was inclined to skip it.  But since I hadn't run either of the first 2 races in the series during January - and, more importantly, I would probably have gone running later in the day - just got in the car and drove to Fairfield.

I was glad I did!  Despite the cold (I wore my jacket over my running clothes), finished in a sliver under 1:42 (1:42:59 - to be precise), an 8:12 pace.  Then my Iphone immediately died after I turned off Strava - so no pictures (the starting line photo is thanks to Tony!).

Here is the link to the official results at Athlinks.  One very cool thing I hadn't realized was that a finisher's certificate was available.  So there is mine - haha :D

2019 Taconic RR Freezer 5K: Race Photos & Results

It was actually balmy at FDR Park this morning!  And with the temperature at 33 degrees for the start, it was practically a heat wave give the sub-zero wind chills of last week!  The Freezer 5K was my first race since December - plenty of running, just haven't gotten myself over to a start line for a race (of any distance) until today.


I was pleasantly surprised w/my 22:30 (22:32 official), 7:15 pace.  Amazingly, for little if no speed work this season, it was about 6 seconds faster than my 2018 Freezer 5K!  Last year that was good enough for 2nd AG - but this year I dropped 3 places to 5th in my AG - so much for shaving off those few seconds - ha!


Anyway, regardless of time - it was great to be out there running (dare I say... fast) for a change!

Hiroshi and I hamming it up after we finished :D


I'll add a link to the official results once they've been posted.

2018 New Canaan Santa Run

It was a windy morning to run - but the 6th annual Santa Run went off without a hitch... except for a slight left (instead of a slight right) that lead to most of the field running the course backwards!  It made for an interesting experience, since I remembered that layout from last year!  Instead of a loop around the school - and heading down the right side of Waveny Park, with a return up the left side of Waveny ... we ran the other way (and encountered most of the course signage facing the "wrong" way)! 

But all's well that ends well - it was FUN and we were no worse for the wear!

Here are the result from ClubCt,

Merry Christmas!

not only race shirt - but Santa hats too!

2018 NYC Marathon: Race Photos & Results

 

Just a quick update (I'll post a short race report in a couple of days) - my 16th consecutive NYC Marathon is officially in the books!  It was an incredibly beautiful day to be out running the streets of New York City.  Unfortunately for me, the great weather didn't make my 26.2 miles any easier.   At 4:25, this was my slowest NYC Marathon (significantly slower than my 4:15 last year).  But I'm still so happy to have gotten it done - and survived to tell the tale :D

Congratulations to everyone else who traveled those 26.2 miles today!

Here is link to the official NYC Marathon results page.

2018 Paine to Pain Trail Half Marathon: Race Photos & Results

My 4th consecutive Paine to Pain is in the books!  It was Nick's 11th(!!) - Eric recognized him, and the other runner, at the start as having lined up for all 11 editions of the race!  Weather-wise, the 100% humidity made for some tough going.  On the bright side, last year we had the same 100% humidity, but on and off rain as well!  But the weather didn't take away from another great day on the trails!  As always, this is a fantastic event.

One of my favorite moments was coming off the trail and heading uphill on the small road portion that connects the course to the next trail head - and hearing Green Day's "Know your Enemy" cranked out by the roadside band.  That was pretty great.

As for the race, I did not get off course in Saxon Woods like I did at the course preview 2 weeks ago.  But even with no bonus miles, I still missed a sub-2 hour finish (2:02:50).  I'll blame that, conveniently, on the brutal humid conditions - haha!  The 10 miler I ran yesterday may have also contributed my less than fresh legs.  Although that run did include parts of the course - and I took a few pre-race pictures (you might say).  I especially like the one in front of the row of empty porta-johns (echoing Eric's similar shot when they were delivered to the site last week).

I include a couple of the memorials to Thomas Paine, which most runners don't have the opportunity to see (as they are located up the road, on North Avenue).  A descendent of Thomas Paine was ran the race as well.  He began a hour before the official start.  Very, very cool - and a gave him a shout out when I caught up to him.

Here are the preliminary race results from the race website.
I'll add a link to the photos as well, when they're posted.

2018 Sri Chinmoy (formerly Self-Transcendence) Marathon

This morning I ran my 4th Sri Chinmony Marathon - which is held during the week instead of the weekend!  It's a great location, at Rockland Lake.  The course is 9 loops around the lake (with the last loop shorter than the first 8).

It didn't start off auspicious because as I drove over the Tappan Zee Bridge, it began to drizzle.  That drizzle grew into full blown rain by the time I reached the parking lot.  But amazingly, just like that it ended.  Except for some puddles on the course (and marshy patches of grass at the staging area), it hardly left an impact.


As for the my race, I ran the first 20 miles at an 8:50 pace, and struggled a bit over the last 10k.  I slowed down enough over the last to loops to miss a sub 4 by just over a minute (4:01:53).  But it was still a good day!  This finish was about 5 minutes slower than my 2017 result.


here are the official results from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

2018 Westport Summer Series 8.4M: Race Photos & Results

It was a soggy morning to run a race, much less run a hilly one!  The Westport Summer Series 8.4 Miler is one of my favorite courses.  It's a challenging course (roller coaster like may be an apt description).  But toss in 98% humidity at the start and it becomes more of a survival challenge - ha!

As for the race itself, I went out too fast - realizing by mile 3 that holding an 8 minute pace was wishful thinking!  My 1:10:38 (unofficial), 8:16 pace, was actually about 30 seconds slower than my 2017 finish!  There were a few stray drops of rain during miles 7 and 8.  Having felt like we were running under water most of the course, it was hardly noticeable!

Here are the race results from Westport Road Runners.

2018 Masters Challenge 5K at FDR State Park

Last night was the annual Masters Challenge 5K.  Since it was Taconics year to host the event, we ran it at FDR State Park (next year it's Westchester Track Club's year, so we'll probably run it over at Rockies).  The weather (or should I just say HUMIDITY) was stifling!  It was equal to, or worse than, what we ran in Saturday morning at the NYRR Team Championships.

Be that as it may, it wasn't so much about the race (even though we had 40+ finishers) - as it was about the post-race socializing (with plenty of food and (adult) beverages)!

As for my performance, despite some still aching quads from Escarpment, I chugged out a 23:46, 7:39 pace!  Not sure if I scored for the Taconic team, but the we did win (by just one point) the Men's 50 division :D

I'll add a link to the results once they've been posted.