Monday, March 06, 2006
Sunday, 3-5-06. NAPA VALLEY MARATHON
Different experiences for our runners!
Also JOHN FRANK MEMORIAL 10M in Redding.
Well, our merry band of runners found themselves in for a rather grim day for marathoning as the weather turned out to be wet, windy and cold. Not only that, but the point-to-point course from Calistoga to Napa Valley's Vintage High School was straight into the wind.
I figured I had some time to ride my bike in the reverse direction along the course and cheer some of you on before dashing off to work.
After putting on my full rain gear I was set for any weather- and I needed it. First runner I came across was ALEX TILSON, the eventual winner (2:32:17)and U.S. record holder for 50K. (see article in www.theschedule.com)..He was well ahead of 2nd place and in for a tough solo tempo run for the last 10K.
First one of our group I could make out by his unmistakable quick turnover style, was JOHN LUNDY.
As I cruised with him he told me he had already modified his pace goal and simply wanted to get under 3 hours-which he did for 24th place in 2:58:03, 6th in 40-44 bracket.
After hours of running in the cold and generating heat from keeping those muscles working, energy sources deplete and soon there's no calories to keep the core warm. A number of runners were taken away to emergency for hypothermia.
I was just amazed at how many runners were running in short sleeve and long sleeve cotton shirts, even in the top 30 runners! With all the high tech materials available today to ward off the elements why would anyone wear cotton which the mountaineers call the "death shirt:" get soggy, cold, and chaffing- guaranteed to have you freezing in short order. In any case it will certainly compromise your marathon efforts.
...enough of that. Next runner, also easy to pick out with his form was BRAD O'BRIEN who was running not far behind John. It was particularily wet and cold as I cycled alongside Brad. He was definitely in the mode of bearing down to get the work done for the last 8 miles. Here are some of his thoughts: "So much to discuss about the race,
Somehow, somewhere, I recaptured about 20 seconds per mile...all the way
in to the finish.....triumphantly shaking off my frozen legs, stiff
hamstrings, absolutely inflexible calves,...shifting my turnover to
concentrate just on the core, the stronger part of the leg...as you
instructed.....it worked!
Miraculously, my turnover increased, I was able to relax and even pace
it in to that coveted sub 3 hour finish."
...You can bet all of you were dealing with the elements that morning. Congrats to all of you for toughing it out...
Shortly after leaving Brad I saw BRIAN PURCELL running by-he had a plastic bag over his torso to ward off the cold rain and seemed to be doing fine. Brian is one tough competitor who has probably suffered through many conditions during ultras and other marathons. He just missed breaking 3 hours with a 3:00:28 , but got 2nd in the 45-49 division.
Next I saw KARL HOAGLAND, who seemed to be doing well in spite of the conditions. He managed to stay less than a half minute ahead of the first woman finisher with a 3:04:35 for 43rd overall...next I saw KIM BAUMANN, our runner of the group from Petaluma area. She was doing fine, had a good jacket on for protection and kept that steady rythymn going for a 3:21:43 time, 108th overall,10th woman and 5th in the 35-39 division. Give her a normal weather day and it's a sub 3:20:00 for sure! LINDA LINDSAY I saw in a pack of runners during a very wet weather stint. She said she'd gone out to fast and had modified her plans to get through the race. She did so with a 3:43:45 for 6th in the 40-44 div. This marathon was a good practice for her upcoming Couer d'Alene Ironman triathlon in June, which I'm sure will be under better conditions.
JOHN FRANK MEMORIAL DAY 10M was held on Saturday in Redding. MIKE HOLLAND made his goal of breaking 66:00 with a 65:39 while TOM GUERIN ran 1:15:15. Not sure what happened there, because Tom is much faster than that time...we'll find out...
By then I ran out of time and could not say hi to others in the group, but did talk to them. VICKI DEMENNO didn't quite meet her goal of breaking 4 hours (she did a 4:06:49 - which she would have done under normal weather condiditons, I'm sure. She did put on a competitive burst during the last half mile of the marathon in order to get by two gals "in the green bra tops". They had been leapfrogging by Vickci after stopping at each aid station: enough to drive you crazy. She had to pass them at the end-and did so. ...
KEVIN PORTER his marathon here as just the marathon and not after biking 112 miles before the run. This gave him a PR by over 1.5 hours with a time of 4:41:10. The bizarre routine he observed were to guys in their 40's who periodically stopped at certain intervals, dropped to the ground and did 20 pushups. He watched them do this some 6X during the marathon and finally couldn't stand it and had to pass them before the finish also. Last in our group was JOANNE KAMBUR who made her goal of breaking 5 hours and qualifying for Boston with a 4:45:45! A solid PR for her on a miserable day. Way to go Joanne!
..I'm sure I missed some folks, but congrats to all of you for sticking it out! ¶ 6:15 PM
Different experiences for our runners!
Also JOHN FRANK MEMORIAL 10M in Redding.
Well, our merry band of runners found themselves in for a rather grim day for marathoning as the weather turned out to be wet, windy and cold. Not only that, but the point-to-point course from Calistoga to Napa Valley's Vintage High School was straight into the wind.
I figured I had some time to ride my bike in the reverse direction along the course and cheer some of you on before dashing off to work.
After putting on my full rain gear I was set for any weather- and I needed it. First runner I came across was ALEX TILSON, the eventual winner (2:32:17)and U.S. record holder for 50K. (see article in www.theschedule.com)..He was well ahead of 2nd place and in for a tough solo tempo run for the last 10K.
First one of our group I could make out by his unmistakable quick turnover style, was JOHN LUNDY.
As I cruised with him he told me he had already modified his pace goal and simply wanted to get under 3 hours-which he did for 24th place in 2:58:03, 6th in 40-44 bracket.
After hours of running in the cold and generating heat from keeping those muscles working, energy sources deplete and soon there's no calories to keep the core warm. A number of runners were taken away to emergency for hypothermia.
I was just amazed at how many runners were running in short sleeve and long sleeve cotton shirts, even in the top 30 runners! With all the high tech materials available today to ward off the elements why would anyone wear cotton which the mountaineers call the "death shirt:" get soggy, cold, and chaffing- guaranteed to have you freezing in short order. In any case it will certainly compromise your marathon efforts.
...enough of that. Next runner, also easy to pick out with his form was BRAD O'BRIEN who was running not far behind John. It was particularily wet and cold as I cycled alongside Brad. He was definitely in the mode of bearing down to get the work done for the last 8 miles. Here are some of his thoughts: "So much to discuss about the race,
Somehow, somewhere, I recaptured about 20 seconds per mile...all the way
in to the finish.....triumphantly shaking off my frozen legs, stiff
hamstrings, absolutely inflexible calves,...shifting my turnover to
concentrate just on the core, the stronger part of the leg...as you
instructed.....it worked!
Miraculously, my turnover increased, I was able to relax and even pace
it in to that coveted sub 3 hour finish."
...You can bet all of you were dealing with the elements that morning. Congrats to all of you for toughing it out...
Shortly after leaving Brad I saw BRIAN PURCELL running by-he had a plastic bag over his torso to ward off the cold rain and seemed to be doing fine. Brian is one tough competitor who has probably suffered through many conditions during ultras and other marathons. He just missed breaking 3 hours with a 3:00:28 , but got 2nd in the 45-49 division.
Next I saw KARL HOAGLAND, who seemed to be doing well in spite of the conditions. He managed to stay less than a half minute ahead of the first woman finisher with a 3:04:35 for 43rd overall...next I saw KIM BAUMANN, our runner of the group from Petaluma area. She was doing fine, had a good jacket on for protection and kept that steady rythymn going for a 3:21:43 time, 108th overall,10th woman and 5th in the 35-39 division. Give her a normal weather day and it's a sub 3:20:00 for sure! LINDA LINDSAY I saw in a pack of runners during a very wet weather stint. She said she'd gone out to fast and had modified her plans to get through the race. She did so with a 3:43:45 for 6th in the 40-44 div. This marathon was a good practice for her upcoming Couer d'Alene Ironman triathlon in June, which I'm sure will be under better conditions.
JOHN FRANK MEMORIAL DAY 10M was held on Saturday in Redding. MIKE HOLLAND made his goal of breaking 66:00 with a 65:39 while TOM GUERIN ran 1:15:15. Not sure what happened there, because Tom is much faster than that time...we'll find out...
By then I ran out of time and could not say hi to others in the group, but did talk to them. VICKI DEMENNO didn't quite meet her goal of breaking 4 hours (she did a 4:06:49 - which she would have done under normal weather condiditons, I'm sure. She did put on a competitive burst during the last half mile of the marathon in order to get by two gals "in the green bra tops". They had been leapfrogging by Vickci after stopping at each aid station: enough to drive you crazy. She had to pass them at the end-and did so. ...
KEVIN PORTER his marathon here as just the marathon and not after biking 112 miles before the run. This gave him a PR by over 1.5 hours with a time of 4:41:10. The bizarre routine he observed were to guys in their 40's who periodically stopped at certain intervals, dropped to the ground and did 20 pushups. He watched them do this some 6X during the marathon and finally couldn't stand it and had to pass them before the finish also. Last in our group was JOANNE KAMBUR who made her goal of breaking 5 hours and qualifying for Boston with a 4:45:45! A solid PR for her on a miserable day. Way to go Joanne!
..I'm sure I missed some folks, but congrats to all of you for sticking it out! ¶ 6:15 PM
