Wednesday, August 29, 2012

2012 Parker's Marathon & Timmy Quigley 5k

August 26, 2012 6:30 AM
North Bend State Park, WV

Time Pace Division Division
Place
Gender
Place
Overall
Place
Bib #
Owen (Marathon) 3:38:20 8:20 M33-40 2/18 11/90 13/121 48
Michael (5k) 20:24 6:34 M1-12 1/1 2/6 2/15 402

Written by Owen:

Parker's Marathon is marathon #7, West Virginia is state #7, all in nine months!

This was a really fun trip that ended with a really fun race.  Friday after work, we loaded up the car and headed North to West Virginia. We met Grandma and Gramps there.

Friday night we had yummy Chinese food.
Saturday morning I woke up pretty early because the hotel didn't have window coverings and it was bright before 7 am.  Michael and I drove to the marathon start/finish line for our two-mile warm up run.

Saturday morning, during my two mile run, we saw a ton of deer.
The rest of the day Saturday was spent just hanging out around Harrisville, WV.

Saturday we just hung out, the kids love their grandparents.
Sunday morning arrived and we all went back to North Bend State Park, which is where the start/finish line was.  It was still somewhat dark at the 6:30am start, so the 'Marathon Maniacs' photo wasn't the best.  This is my first marathon since joining.  I didn't have my shirt yet, I got it in the mail the day after the marathon, so I'll have it for Chicago.

Marathon Maniacs picture: I'm in the back row.
I like for my family to write, via sharpie, on my arms before each race.  While running I really enjoy looking down occasionally and reading what they wrote.

The kids writing their messages that I read while I ran


The race started and I felt great.  The air was cool, but humid.  Almost the entire route was under the shade of trees, which was awesome.  About 25.5 of the 26.2 miles was on a crushed limestone path.  I prefer running on streets, but it wasn't terrible.  It was a simple route, 13.1 miles West on the trail, then turn around and come back.  That was nice, not having to negotiate turns.

The gun goes off for the marathon
After my race started, Michael's 5k started.  He did great, taking 2nd place overall with a time of 20:24.  There were only 15 people that ran the 5k, which surprised me.

Michael's 5k gun goes off

Michael finishes strong.

Me finishing the marathon.

My mom was able to snap the picture with my exact finishing time displaying.
I felt pretty strong the first 22 miles or so, then started to really feel it.  I'm still really happy with my time, it's my second fastest marathon ever.

Sunday after the marathon we all went to Dairy Queen for some excellent food and dessert.  Then we headed home.  At a gas station in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia, we saw this.  Click on the picture below and look really close.  There is a small baby in a car seat, while the rest of the family was inside getting treats!


Here are the video highlights, and below that my Garmin data from the marathon:



Saturday, August 18, 2012

2012 Yiasou Greek Festival 5k

August 18, 2012 7:30 AM
Charlotte, NC

Time Pace Division Division
Place
Gender
Place
Overall
Place
Bib #
Michael 19:43 6:21 M11-13 1/9 52/301 58/554 196

Written by Owen:

This race was only two weeks after Michael's last 5k, where he left a little disappointed because he missed his PR by one second, and missed the family PR by five seconds.  Going in to the race today, he knew the weather was cooler, the course was flatter, and I told him to start up front. Last race he was held up by some slower runners that insist on starting at the front.  All of that, combined with his increased training, made for one amazing race.

I am continually amazed by Michael's progress.  He beat his PR by 51 seconds.  For a 5k that is a huge improvement. Here are some pictures we took, along with a video at the bottom:




Malissa took this picture, I'm in the background taking video.

Michael is accumulating a lot of 1st place awards.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

2012 Blue 5k

August 4, 2012 7:30 AM
Charlotte, NC



Time Pace Division Division
Place
Gender
Place
Overall
Place
Bib #
Michael 20:35 6:38 M1-14 1/33 52/384 58/697 246

Written by Owen:

This was a really fun race.  It was hosted by the Carolina Panthers and it started (and finished) right in front of their stadium in uptown Charlotte.

Michael was pretty confident that he was going to beat the family PR of 20:30, currently held by me.  Michael's PR was 20:34, so I thought this was a perfect goal for him, and really hoped he would do it.

Michael before the race.

Alicia with the Carolina Panthers cheerleaders.

Alicia with the Panthers' mascot.
The temperature was in the mid 70's and the humidity was 97%.  So the conditions were far from ideal.  That makes a huge difference when you're trying to PR.  Michael gave it his all and came up 1 second short of a PR and 5 seconds short of the family record.  I wouldn't be surprised if my record only lasts another two weeks when Michael has another 5k.

A couple of side notes about this race:

  • It is the largest age division Michael has taken 1st place in.  There were 33 runners 14 & Under, and he beat them all at eleven years old!
  • There was a 79 year old that had a finishing time of 23:20, which is a pace of 7:31!


Michael right before the finish.

Thought this was pretty cool, he ended up taking 2nd place (Michael took 1st)

Michael accepts his award and gets his picture taken.
Here is a quick video of the race highlights: