Knocking Out the Cobwebs With a 10K Race

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Yes, I guess I did run like never before last weekend...my first 42 minute 10K, 11 seconds slower than the first 10K I ever ran back in July 1993, 2 months after starting running.

But I don't mind. I had been back to running less than a month after 5 1/2 weeks away from running and this was a good way to "work out the kinks." My hamstrings have been sore and stiff and the day after the 10K they seemed to have loosened up. While 42 minutes isn't blazing fast for me in a 10K, the 6:46 pace was much faster than the slowpoke training pace I've been running.

Now I've got a bit of a sore right outer knee, something new for me, but it doesn't seem to be impeding the running too much. My right hamstring has been sore too. Guess I gotta give it a day off or two as I've barely taken a day off since coming back to running.

In any case, my advice is, if you're looking to improve your speed and aren't motivated to run on the track, consider signing up for some local races as training runs. It costs a bit of $$ but usually it goes towards a good cause. Plus, it makes it more enjoyable to run fast when you're running with others.

Boston Marathon Organizers Indicate 2012 Race to Occur in "Red Zone" Not Safe for "Unfit and Novice Runners"

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Boston Marathon organizer issued another precautionary email today with a more direct recommendation that "anyone entered in the marathon who has not met the qualifying standards for their age and gender strongly consider not running, and that they strongly consider deferring until next year."

That is very strong wording. They are obviously taking this weather very seriously. As mentioned yesterday, I think a deferment of this magnitude is unprecedented. Of course they still will ask those not running this year's race to pay for next year's race, thus giving up the $150 they paid this year. But it gives these runners another chance to run should they decide to take a pass.

Here is today's email from Boston Marathon organizers:

Update to Entrants in Tomorrow's Boston Marathon®

Sunday, April 15, 2012 as of 4:30 p.m.

 

Running any marathon involves risks

  • The weather conditions that we will be seeing on Monday, April 16 will involve even more risk.  It will involve an increased element of risk to all participants due to the heat.  Only the fittest runners should consider participating.
  • We have put in place a broad array of services and support for our marathon participants, but the risks that will be presented on April 16 will be higher than
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2012 Boston Marathon Organizers Urging Caution on Monday Due to Extreme Heat

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If you've been reading this blog you would know I signed up for the Boston Marathon but due to an eye surgery lost 5 1/2 weeks of training and thus opted to skip the marathon. My surgery was 2/6 and I started running again on 3/18.

Today I received the following email (excerpted below) from Boston Marathon organizers. WOW! I've NEVER seen this before. Race organizers telling runners literally "YOU SHOULD NOT RUN." They are definitely urging caution due to projected heat going into the mid to high 80s with 50% humidity.

Glad I'm not going! I strongly dislike running in heat and doubly so adding in humidity. Sounds miserable! And the race doesn't start until 10 a.m. Uggh. Well good luck to all that ARE running! Stay cool and hydrated! Thanks Phill for picking up my Boston Marathon race shirt!

Organizers take what may be an unprecedented (I haven't

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Gaining Entry Into the New York City Marathon Can Be Quite a Challenge

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A friend of mine who recently finished his first marathon told me he entered into the lottery for an entry into this year's ING New York City Marathon. He asked me how I did in that race.

I've never run the NYC Marathon!

Timing simply never worked for me for New York and I enjoy the logistical simplicity of running local fall marathons like the Long Beach Marathon, Malibu Marathon and Santa Barbara Marathon.

But New York is one of the pre-eminent marathons around the world. With over 46,000 finishers last year, it is also one of the world's most popular marathons.

I've run Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago but not New York. So for grins I took a look.

Wow! $255 for non-New York Road Runners club members plus an $11 application fee! Ouch! That compares to $165 for this year's Los Angeles Marathon and $150 for Boston.

What really surprised me is that there are qualifying times for a guaranteed entry into the NYC Marathon. Having recently signed up for Boston, with a 3 1/2 hour qualifying time for my 45-49 age group, I was actually shocked to see that the qualifying time for my age group at NYC is 3 hours, 10 minutes, a full 20 minutes faster than the Boston Marathon!

Then I read and realized that the 2013 New York Marathon guaranteed entry qualifying times drop even more...to 2 hours, 58 minutes for my age group! Wow! Boston qualifying times are also dropping in 2013, but more slightly, to 3 hours, 25 minutes for my age group, a full 27 minutes, or over 1 minute per mile, slower than New York.

I better start training! Or maybe I should sign up for New York THIS year!

They don't let anyone off the hook beginning in 2013. NYC qualifying times for men up to age 39 will be 2:45 in 2013 while ages 70+ will be 3 hours, 46 minutes. That's MOVING! For women up to age 39, you will need to run a sub 3 hour marathon, while apparently 70+ year olds will need to run 4:50 to qualify (which is actually 15 minutes slower than current NYC Marathon qualifying times).

I see this as a challenge! Check out more at www.nycmarathon.org.

27th Great Race of Agoura on March 24th Race Results

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The Great Race of Agoura is easily the largest event of its kind in the area. The 27th event on March 24th continued in its tradition of bringing thousands of runners out. Here are the stats and some of the top placing runners in this year's event:

  • Deena Kastor 5K: 1,409 finishers (611 male, 796 female)
  • Old Agoura 10K: 1,639 finishers (624 male, 1,015 female)
  • Pacific Half Marathon: 549 finishers (246 male, 303 female)
  • Cheseboro Half Marathon: 1,034 finishers (512 male, 522 female)
  • Kids' One Mile: 443 finishers (232 male, 211 female)

Total finishers for all 5 races was 5,074 with a distinct skewing towards females, who were 56% of the total! Guys, take note!

I ran 5.5 miles that cool morning in my slow return back to running. The last time I ran one of these races was 2007, when I did a 1:26 in the hilly, half trail based Cheseboro Half Marathon.

Here are the top 5 finishers in each of the 5 races! (I'd love to post the top 5 finishers by age group for the various races but I discovered the way the results are laid out that that would take me several hours to do.  So check out all the results at greatraceofagoura.com/results/index.html.

5K Men:

  • RYAN ZELADA 16:30
  • COLIN ANDERSON 16:58
  • KRISTOFFER CHACON 17:00
  • TROY BARGER  17:27
  • JEFF WELLS 17:58

5K Women:

  • HUMA HUSAIN 20:24
  • TAYLOR GARRISON 21:01
  • KELSIE GARRISON  21:03
  • KATRINA CARL  21:09
  • NICOLLE JACOBS 21:18

10K Men (these are some amazing times for the invitational event this year!)

  • CHARLIE SERRANO 29:43.9 (Serrano, who lives locally apparently here in Newbury Park, finished 49th in the 2012 Men's Marathon Olympic Trials!, his first marathon. He previously won the Long Beach Half Marathon in 64 minutes, 5 seconds.)
  • SERGIO REYES 29:49.5 (25th in the 2012 Men's Marathon Olympic Trials! Personal best marathon time of 2:14:02!)
  • BEN BRUCE 30:02.6
  • COURTNEY WILLIAMS 30:22.2
  • AARON SHARP  30:51.1 (Oxnard resident an competitor in 2008 Men's Marathon Olympic Trials)

10K Women

  • ELIZABETH BLACKWELL 36:14.8
  • ERIKA AKLUFI  36:14.9
  • LILIANA HERNANDEZ 37:54.9
  • TANIA FISCHER 38:16.2
  • TIFFANIE MARLEY 38:59.7

Pacific Half Marathon Men

  • LARRY BLAYLOCK 1:20:47
  • JOE NORDIN 1:24:46
  • STEVE BERARDI 1:28:42
  • TYLER WELCH  1:30:27
  • SCOTT FITZGERALD 1:32:03

Pacific Half Marathon Women

  • ELIZABETH BOJANOWSKI 1:34:32
  • SARAH LABASS  1:37:43
  • GINA JOHNSON  1:37:50
  • RACHAEL PARENT 1:39:51
  • EMILIE BERTRAM  1:40:59

Cheseboro Half Marathon Men

  • ANDREW SALG  1:13:14
  • SKYLER MOSENTHAL 1:17:52
  • RYAN BUETZER 1:21:00
  • MIKE DAVIES 1:21:41
  • LUIS AGUILAR 1:22:46

Cheseboro Half Marathon Women

  • CINDY LYNCH  1:32:19
  • STACEY STERN   1:36:52
  • JOANNA NYGREN 1:37:58
  • SARAH MOORE 1:38:02
  • GLORIA RIOS 1:38:27

Kids' 1 Mile - Boys

  • FOREST POLSKY 6:00
  • MATTHEW NEVILLE 6:01
  • BILLY MORTON 6:32
  • JAKE IAZZETTA  6:37
  • MICHAEL HOLCOMB 6:38

Kids' 1 Mile - Girls

  • HANNAH RITZ 6:36
  • GRACE STAVICH  6:44
  • SIENNA GOLDEN  6:47
  • PEYTON MOREAU  7:09
  • SOPHIA RITZ  7:13