2008 - A Look Back

Well, with this morning's run complete, I can total up the mileage totals for 2008. This year I ran 718.6 miles in all. Given that I had to take some time off in the summer when I broke my hand and I had to battle some running burnout, it was a good year. That mileage is down from the previous two years, but there's no reason it can't go right back up in 2009.

I set new PRs in both the 10-mile and marathon distances; ran some great new races, both locally and around the state and country; and had some really good stretches where I was really enjoying running. I took on some new responsibilities with the NCRC and met lots of new running folks there, at Carolina Godiva, and at the nOg Run Club.

I ran in 36 races, from a mile to a marathon, and had a great time volunteering at other races. That means I raced 248.8 miles -- roughly one of every three miles I ran this year was in a race.

2 marathons - Umstead and City of Oaks
5 half-marathons - Myrtle Beach, Knoxville, Indianapolis, Marine Corps (Fredricksburg), US Air Force
1 20k - Coach Bubba
2 10-milers - Tarheel Ten-Miler, Army Ten-Miler
6 10ks - Cooper River Bridge Run, Cary, Capital City Classic, Fords Colony, Walk for Hope, Old Reliable
1 5-miler - Lake Lure Best Dam Five-Miler
1 8k - Chattanooga Turkey Trot
1 4-miler - Krispy Kreme Challenge
16 5ks - Resolution Run, Run for Young, Franklin 5k, Run for the Oaks, SkirtChaser 5k, Race of Grace, Young Life 5k at Lowes Motor Speedway, Edenton Peanut Run, Autism Ribbon Run, Second Empire 5k Classic, Run for the Mariners 5k, Veteran's Day 5k, Reindeer Romp 5k, St. Michaels Jolly Elf 5k, Lincoln County YMCA Jingle Bell Run, Mount Mourne VFD Elf Run
1 mile - Raleigh Magnificent Mile

Volunteered - Race for the Cure 5k, Great Raleigh Road Race 5-miler, Women's Distance Festival 5k, American Tobacco Trail 10-miler

So here's to a great running year in 2008. I hope everyone had a great year, and best wishes for meeting some new goals in 2009!

Old Reliable Run

One of the mainstays of running in Raleigh over the last quarter-century has been the Old Reliable Run through downtown. Now in its twenty-fifth year, the ORR was originally developed as a marketing vehicle of the local newspaper (Raleigh News & Observer -- "The Old Reliable") but in recent years has been connected to the local United Way.

In its earlier years, N&O editorial cartoonist Dan Powell contributed the race logos that were used on the t-shirts. When PDAs first started popping up, Powell contributed a cartoon of runners jogging while trying to use their laptops and cell phones. Other years showed a race participant driving a running-shoe shaped car along with the runners, or runners using the "2" in "2000" as a treadmill. My favorite Powell shirt, though, was the stars-and-stripes running shoe with wings that graced the shirts in 2001. After the N&O backed off on the race support, though, the shirts became less special; the "Andy Warhol" shirt from one year just showed a runner's leg in four different colors.

Great Sunday weather brought out a lot of race-day entries and there was a great crowd for the 5k run (490 competitive finishers) and the 10k main event (950 competitive finishers). Even though the winds were kind of strong and cool, there was enough sunshine to have me looking for shady spots along Hillsborough Street. The new course was a boon for spectators, because they got to see the runners come back through the start/finish area only a mile into the course before heading out to the Hillsborough Street out-and-back. That stretch also allowed us to marvel at the gap the leader had opened up on the rest of the field (almost four minutes at the finish). The ORR also has the best "baby jogger" race in the area, with a separate start and nice awards for that division.

A lot of local runners and friends were out for the Old Reliable this year, including many folks from the running club and my buddy Chad, who was celebrating his birthday. The local running events are so much fun when you see so many fellow runners that you know and greet during the festivities. I wish my performance had been up to the day, though; my legs felt great but my stomach was not willing to go after a new PR, so I had a nice, relaxing run and finished in an average 64:22. When I looked at my splits afterwards, I was pleased with how consistent my pace was: my per-mile pace never ranged outside the 10:22-10:28 range. If I can't be fast, at least I can be consistent. :-)

Veteran's Day 5k

I have developed a great appreciation for the military the last few years, and taking part in some of the military running events has helped foster that appreciation. It was with that appreciation in mind that I traveled to Chapel Hill in the early hours of a cold Tuesday morning to run a cross-country Veteran's Day 5k sponsored by the Carolina Veterans Organization (CVO).

Only about 40+ runners gathered at the UNC cross-country course where one Army gentleman was organizing the race. There was one platoon of Army guys in matching Army running outfits, a group of Army soldiers in fatigues and packs that were going to monitor the course, and a few Army-looking guys that were hardy enough to run in shorts and t-shirts -- and enjoy it -- on a 38-degree morning.

It was a very informal run around UNC's Ranson-Hamrick Cross-Country Course, which I had not run before. It's a nice course, constructed, I believe, from parts of the old UNC golf course and near the current course. The ACC cross-country championships were held there just a couple of weeks ago. All the mile markers and even the big hill were endowed and named after someone. There were plenty of opportunities to see other runners on the multiple-loop course, and fortunately I didn't get lapped. The race organizer was calling out finish times, but missed me; however, when the runner behind me finished, he called out the time, "26:05". If that's right, it would put me under 26 minutes, which doesn't seem possible unless the course was a little bit short. (And given the posted 5k directions, and that we ran a different combination of the loops, it's possible we were short of the full 5k distance.) Instead of having t-shirts made up for the run, each participant received a gift certificate to either the Carolina Brewery or the Top of the Hill Grill.

At any rate, it was a great morning to be out for a run, and having servicemen and servicewomen there as part of the event made it more of a moving event. All the proceeds from the race went into a developing fund that will eventually endow scholarships at UNC for the sons and daughters of our military veterans. Hopefully some more organizations, both at Carolina and elsewhere, will get behind the idea of this Veteran's Day 5k and really help it develop into something big in the area. Congrats to the race organizer and all the runners, and a Happy Veteran's Day to all those who have served our country.

Run for the Mariners 5k

Although there were some more local races on Saturday, I opted to collect another county by heading over to the Run for the Mariners 5k north of Pittsboro. Read the full race report here.

New course for the Old Reliable Run

Just learned today that the Old Reliable Run will have a brand-new course when the 25th annual running takes place on Sunday, November 16. Downtown construction always has an impact on the ORR course, but I was hoping that '08 would be the year it returned to the '06 course, where we started and finished on Raleigh's new main drag, Fayetteville Street. Unfortunately, it looks like the '08 course won't even include the loop past Krispy Kreme, the Mordecai neighborhood and the Governor's Mansion, course elements that have been included on every ORR that I have run in.

The new course does a mile-and-a-half loop around downtown, going back down the starting line on McDowell Street -- good for spectators -- and then just does an out-and-back along Hillsborough Street, forgoing the traditional loop around the NCSU Bell Tower and using a loop on the north side of Hillsborough Street instead (Dixie Trail (hill), Clark Avenue and Shepherd Street). That's a big departure from what has been a very familiar course.

Again, I hope that it's just temporary construction that required major revisions to the ORR course. I'm the last to say things should never change, but I will miss the old parts of the course. I remember using the Bell Tower as a landmark for looking for running friends to cheer them on, and runners carrying cash to get boxes of "Hot Donuts Now" when we passed Krispy Kreme. Hopefully in '09 we'll return to those parts of town.

Krispy Kreme Challenge joins with Setup Events

The Krispy Kreme Challenge, a fun run-and-eat wintertime 4-miler at NC State, has signed up with Setup Events to provide race management. The KKC grew from just a few to thousands in only three years, so it was probably just a matter of time before additional help would be needed to keep the race manageable. In 2009 the Challenge will move to the first Saturday in February and Setup Events will bring Champion Chip technology to the race. Those taking the full run-and-eat "challenge" will get a split for their first 2-mile run from NC State to Krispy Kreme, a split for how long it takes to eat their dozen donuts, and a split for the 2-mile run back to the Bell Tower. From the websites, it looks like the KKC will return to its '07 course, which was more through the neighborhoods north of NC State.

More rock, less talk

The folks behind the Rock-n-Roll marathons have now taken over the old Chicago Distance Classic half-marathon, dubbing it the new Rock-n-Roll Chicago Half-Marathon. I love Chicago, so this half in August might be too fun to resist, especially if it coincides with a Chicago Cubs home stand. Supposedly there is going to be a new course for the new race that does more than out-and-back along Lake Michigan (although that ain't bad).

The Rock-n-Roll folks (Elite Racing) earlier this year announced a new Rock-n-Roll Marathon in Seattle.

See Raleigh Sweat

The City of Oaks Marathon committee did another great job with today's second annual City of Oaks Marathon (and half-marathon). Pretty much all the changes -- course, medals, expo setup -- went over really well and were definitely improvements from last year. Last year the expo was in the wind-swept Holshouser building at the fairgrounds, but this year it was indoors at the McKimmon Center, which provided a nice environment both for the runners and for us volunteers who worked there all day. Next year, the new convention center, right? :-)

Moving the start/finish area to the Centennial Campus was a good move, I thought, because of the extra access and parking that should be available close by. I didn't have any trouble when I got there about 6:15 a.m. -- large parts of my parking garage were still empty at race time -- but I heard some stories from folks who had to walk more than a half-mile to get in from their parking location. No problems getting out, either.

There was a big hill leaving the Campus, but that meant we got to come down the hill at the finish. I liked the course changes; it meant we went through downtown earlier in the race, and we got the benefit of the early downhills on Ebenezer Church Road. The hills in Umstead were brutal, of course, and it was also tough running along the greenway past the horse farms on Reedy Creek Road (uphill directly into the sun). There were knots of great supporters downtown, in Glenwood South, and especially in Cameron Village and at the Hillsborough Street / Blue Ridge Road intersection, where the half-marathoners turned around. Spectator support was much lower on the marathon course, but we did have some out-of-the-way places to run. Thankfully, there were a few spectators left on the way home, including the great folks from the Raleigh Galloway Group, who staffed the aid stations on Hillsborough Street. The overall downhill grade coming back through NC State and the big downhill after the bell tower helped tremendously.

This year's medals were a big improvement on the inaugural ones, which were nice but didn't have a lot of personality to them. This year they used the race logo with the big oak leaf, and the marathoners got medals that were a slight bit larger than the half-marathon medals. The post-race party was pretty much partied out when I arrived, but that's to be expected when the half-marathon is so much bigger than the marathon and you're near the end of the pack anyway.

Congrats to my friends Lee, Laura, Kim, Kenny, Andy, Mike and Jason, who all finished their first half-marathon, and to Chris for knocking out his first marathon! And to Maxine, Chris B and Caitlin, plus the NCRC crowd, for their usual great performances. I saw lots of friends cheering us all over the course, too, which was much appreciated. Overall numbers from 2007 may not have increased a lot this year, but I think Raleigh's still got a good marathon on its hands that can grow more over the next few years if they take care of it.

I ran much better than I ever anticipated and knocked seventeen minutes off my marathon PR, down to 5:22. It was just one of those days where you feel good and enjoy the run. I was suffering at times on the hills, but overall I had a really great day.

The Dalmatian Dash Returns -- Sort Of

One of my favorite races in the area used to be the 8k Dalmatian Dash around the Brier Creek Golf Club. (Anytime you can mix running and golf, I'm interested.) The Dalmatian Dash was a lot of fun because they always had cute t-shirts, it benefited a great cause (the Fallen Firefighters Fund, hence the Dalmatian) and there was usually good turnout both of runners and spectators -- plus, I enjoyed running on the cart path on holes 13 through 17 (well, except for that hill on 17).

Unfortunately, the Dalmatian Dash ceased after the 2006 running -- probably because Brier Creek was filling out and didn't need the publicity anymore. However, next month we'll be returning to the Dalmatian course, this time for the new Law Enforcement Shootout 8k Challenge. They have added a team competition for law enforcement organizations and the military. In connection with Veterans' Day weekend, the race will now benefit the USO. No word yet on how the t-shirts will measure up to previous years, but it should be fun returning to run around and through the golf course.

Raleigh's Magnificent Mile

Don't have the time, patience or ability to train (or spectate) for a 5k? Then the Raleigh Magnificent Mile might be the race for you! Today's race was also the RRCA North Carolina State Championship for the mile distance, so that extra prize money helped bring out a top-notch field for the race. As somebody mentioned last year, it is pretty humbling and exciting to be standing the starting chute while the elites just a few steps away are introduced to the crowd. (Of course, I wouldn't be that close to them for the rest of the race!)

I joked that you know you're a runner when you wear one of those fancy timing watches in a mile-long race -- so you can hit all your walk breaks, right? :-) But there was no kidding about the speed in today's race. The men's winner burned up the course around the Capitol and back and forth on Hillsborough Street in a fast 4 minutes and 13 seconds (a new course record), and the women's winner ran a 5:15. They treated a sizeable crowd of spectators to close, fast races and were rewarded with decent prize money.

For those of us who weren't competing for cash, it was still a lot of fun. I knocked about eight seconds off last year's time and finished with a decent 8:46. The race was again a great success, with more than 500 people taking part and more than $42,000 being raised for the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation.

Fords Colony 10k

A lot of folks might not guess that walking when you play golf can be pretty good endurance exercise; a lot of golf course layouts are well over 4 miles in length and when you throw landscaping and home lots into the layout, it can be much higher. And since I'm a big fan of both running and golf, a chance to run a 10k around a golf course layout was a natural. That's why I was in Rocky Mount, NC today for the Ford's Colony 10k race.

This inaugural event was put on by the Rocky Mount Endurance Club and I hope it will become an annual race. If it's true that this was the RMEC's first time organizing a race, congrats to them for getting so many things right on the first try! 113 folks finished the 10k and 131 completed the 5k. Because of the number of runners and the narrow sections of the golf cart path, the runners were staggered into three separate starting groups -- faster 10k folks, slower 10k folks (me) and 5k folks. The 5k leaders caught up with me about seven minutes into the race, as we neared the green of hole #2. The competition was really good; the first 4 finishers in the 10k were all within about ten seconds, so it must have been something to see them battle it out over the last half-mile or so.

As much as I enjoyed running along the golf course, it turned out to be a really humid day and I was wishing they had an earlier starting time. It was very nice out when we were running through the shady sections of the course, but when we hit the sunny, shade-free sections, it got hot very, very quickly. I enjoyed the golf course immensely; it's in immaculate condition, it looks like it would be fun to play, and they obviously dropped some large coin on all the landscaping, bridges and layout (which doesn't return to the clubhouse inbetween the nines). On the back nine, we crossed another one of those nice bridges and got a very pretty view of a lake on the property. (They had offered discounted greens fees to the runners that I had intended to take advantage of, but the doctor wants me to take a few more weeks off from golf to let my hand finish healing.)

I got around the course OK, but with the heat and just not feeling my best, I really suffered on the last couple of miles and stumbled home with a disappointing 73-minute finish. Hopefully, though, the race will come around again in '09 and I will be better prepared for it. But the RMEC did a fantastic job with the race, and they've got a great foundation to build this race on.

Weather Impacts to Weekend Runs

Unfortunately, the passing winds and rain this weekend resulted in a lot of changes to the running schedule, the most notable of which was the postponment of the 5k Run for Healthier Babies from Saturday morning to Sunday morning. That will impact some runners in the Second Empire Grand Prix Series like me, who couldn't make the new Sunday morning time. Hopefully not too many others were knocked out of SEGP contention.

Lake Lure "Best Dam" 5-Mile Run

Yep, it seems pretty strange to start off a blog about Raleigh's running scene with a post about a run on the other side of the state, but that's how the schedule worked out. You can read how my buddy Chad and I collected another county by viewing our race report here.

Why are we "collecting counties" by running races all over the state? Good question.

Welcome...

Yep, it's another blog about running. I'll try not to bore you with a lot of personal statistics and numbers; my interest is the overall local running scene in Raleigh, hopefully with some humorous anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories. Raleigh's been ranked in the top 20 running cities by Runners World, so hopefully that will improve each year!