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Where's the red hat in Akron?
Don't worry, it's tucked away safely in my shorts.
The proof is below & the streak is intact.
My lucky hat has been with me every time.
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| Comments | Location | Results |
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Look at that fresh new hat!
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#1 - 20 Aug '05: Stavanger Rock 'n Run (Bib #39)
This was our last stop on a fantastic 2-week "50-cousin tour" of Norway. Stayed w/ Drs. Asgeir (3rd cousin) & Eva Haugedal in Kleppe near Stavanger. It was a cool day w/ a light rain. My biggest worry was getting lost as there were only a few dozen marathoners & I was almost dead last. The course was twice around a loop so I followed a German couple who were doing the half-marathon for about 12. I don't think I saw another runner until about 25 when I passed a guy who I guess was injured. Left knee was a big problem from maybe 18. The next day, we climbed a mountain to Mannefossen (sp)? It was just fine.
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| Stavanger,
Norway
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Time: 4:46:28
Pace per mile: 10:56
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 35 of 38
| 6 of 6
| 31 of 34
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#2 - 30 Oct '05: Marine Corps Marathon (Bib #22496)
I wore a throwaway shirt, but ended up wearing it the entire race as it was pretty cool. Here's where I learned the importance (for me) of carrying some grub. I was starving after 17 & sick of the sweet energy gels (I unwisely passed up cookies). The Annapolis Striders' had oranges in East Potomac Park (20-ish) & these were a relief. It was REALLY nice having Sharon to cheer. Saw her first time around 13 & almost cried -- broken down like you are, the emotions come to the surface more. We ended at the Marine Corps Memorial, but I didn't even realize it cuz things were so crowded (we virtually had to walk up the hill at the very end as the pathway narrowed).
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| Arlington,
Virginia
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Time: 4:26:55
Pace per mile: 10:11
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 6,709 of 18,848
| 4,797 of 11,161
| 586 of 1,401
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#3 - 21 Jan '06: Orlando Xtreme Marathon (Bib #156) Four [if memory serves] times around a lake/swamp (Orlando Wetlands Park or some such). We stood around at the starting line for about a half hour after the scheduled time. That was very bad as it got very hot & the sun was full on. Talked with "fiddy-two" Dane Rauschenberg (sp?) as a result of the delay which was nice (was a few 'thons into a 52-race in 52 weeks jag). There were only a few dozen marathoners & we had our own starting point away from the other distances. The water stop on the far side of the lake ran dry late in the race. Sharon did the 5-K & won her age group! It was nice having a cheering section 4 times around. After the heat set in I dropped my goals & started walking a lot including a, probably 5+ min jaunt w/ Sharon. One memorable little thing was that we had a flat tire on the rental car the next day. BTW, this one was kinda hard to find as it was remote & the turnoff was not well marked.
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| Christmas (near Orlando),
Florida
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Time: 4:39:20
Pace per mile: 10:39
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 20 of 41
| 2 of 2
| 14 of 27
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#4 - 21 May '06: Delaware Marathon (Bib #177)
Four [if memory serves] times around a loop -- almost completely flat. I met a very nice young funeral director who works in a northern suburb of D.C. at the start & ran w/ him thru about 20 after which he dropped back a bit. He was a big factor in this being a PR for me. Interesting t-shirt w/ full listing of the "Class of 2006" on the back.
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| Wilmington,
Delaware
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Time: 4:20:40
Pace per mile: 9:57
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 284 of 504
| ?? of ??
| ?? of ??
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#5 - 9 July '06: Virgina Mason Team Medicine Marathon & 5k at Seafair (Bib #633)
Hilly! Weather was nice at the start but it got hot. The sponges (a first) they gave out late in the race were welcome but it never occurred to me that I could've kept it. At around 20 I remembered about my "Succeed" tablet a few minutes after a water stop & very stupidly popped it in w/out water. I was on the side of the road heaving in short order.
During this trip I stayed w/ sister Evie for nearly a week & had a wonderful time while she convalesced w/ a new hip (Steve & Megan were out of town so my being there was a help to her). It was a short night at college pal Anoosh's house on raceday eve & I wasn't fully prepared the next day. I didn't take anything to drink during the few hours before gun time which I paid for dearly late in the race when the temperature started rising. Very nice short-sleeve tech t-shirt w/ "marathon" on the back -- the most important feature.
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| Belleview,
Washington
(near Seattle)
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Time: 4:26:50
Pace per mile: 10:11
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 299 of 572
| 25 of 52
| 219 of 366
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#6 - 11 Nov '06: Harrisburg Marathon (Bib #1096?)
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Cold, wet & VERY windy! Straight into the wind along the Susquehanna River. Some gusts nearly
stopped me in my tracks. I almost made the huge mistake of checking in my gloves at the start. As we were waiting out of the wind it seemed like a wouldn't need them. I had actually already checked them before I realized my mistake & it was very fortunate that the guy was able to dig them out of the van. We finished on an island in the river & it was a very cold walk back to the hotel (not short) w/ completely inadequate clothing. I utilized the dressing area to change duds which I had a hard time doing w/ my stiff creaky fingers. Amusingly, I couldn't have cared less when a young lady gingerly stepped in while I was struggling w/ my shorts, my shriveled wanger still exposed. [late entry 9/28/08: Can't recall why, but for some reason had to take my shoe off after a run thru the woods (prob'ly a stone). Was extremely difficult to untie & retie the laces due to frigid fingers.] Got a fair number of pictures for
dcMemorials.com before & after the race (but very overcast & dark so pretty lousy pics). This was the 1st time it occurred to me to use these trips for that purpose & start developing the 'Beyond DC' part of the site.
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| Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania
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Time: 4:23:11
Pace per mile: 10:02
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 289 of 472
| 43 of 60
| 231 of 339
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#7 - 13 Oct '07: Baltimore Marathon (Bib #2609) - Perfect weather! Mile 15-20 uphill then pretty much down all the way home.
12+ minutes better than my previous best time! And I felt G-R-E-A-T. Training right makes all the difference.
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Ran with Keith Harvey. -- a HUGE help. I would have run much more conservatively otherwise. [late entry 9/28/08: Also, this was the first time I used knee bands -- absolutely life changing. Today I can't imagine continuing the run marathons with the kind of knee pain starting at 18-ish]. If alone, I would've run unnecessarily conservatively. This was Keith's JFK 50-miler training 'thon (& it was only about a month before that race) so he slowed in the early 20's & finished around 4:15. For the 1st time, I started thinking about running another marathon late in the race. Sharon greeted us at about the half-way point w/ a bottle of Gatorade -- she had done the 5-K. Fantastic long-sleeve tech t-shirt w/ a gi-normous "26.2" on the back. Under Armour was the chief sponsor.
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Humorous note; at packet pickup with Keith my 'losing the forest for the trees' tendancy emerged. We walked into Raven's stadium w/ more activity all 'round than I'd ever seen for an expo. I looked all around for an indication of where we needed to go for registration. Keith amusedly pointed out the gigantic arrow 30 feet in front of me.
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BTW, it was somewhere in this timeframe when I switched from New Balance 880's to Mizuno Wave Nirvana's.
| Baltimore,
Maryland
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Time: 4:08:14
Pace per mile: 9:28
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 1,059 of 2,527
| 110 of 213
| 826 of 1,707
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#8 - 11 Nov '07: Outer Banks Marathon (Bib #1105) Nice & cool. Mostly flat & a good bit of wind at our backs until about 22. Sub 4:00 -- Yea Baby! This is a point to point, starting in Kitty Hawk, thru Kill Devil Hills & Nags Head, finish in Manteo. Our hotel (Dave Mueller did the half) was at the finish line so they shuttled us to the start. That ride put the distance into perspective -- the bus kept going ... & going ... & going. As with Balto, I felt good the entire race &, again, started thinking about doing another 'thon after the finish. Here I learned that gummy bears are surprisingly refreshing. This race was the most well-provisioned ever & the folks along the way were extremely nice & even thanked us for being there! A beach town in the winter enjoys visitors. Lesson: Leave the stopwatch alone at the finish line -- the finish photo makes me look like I'm clutching my belly!
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| Outer Banks,
North Carolina
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Time: 3:59:07
Pace per mile: 9:07
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 282 of 963
| 28 of 83
| 216 of 587
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#9 - 8 Dec '07: Rocket City Marathon (Bib #398) Near 90% humidity & temp near 70
at the finish. Not too hilly but far from flat. For the 1st time ever I didn't feel really good at any point. No surprise after 3 'thons in 3 months, fever on Tues & almost no running for 2 weeks after an ankle twist running thru the woods on thick leaves. I awoke w/ plantar fascitis on the left which messed w/ my head a bit. Shorter of breath from the start than usual (3 vice 4-count intake). Nonetheless I started out w/ 9 min miles (dumb) but slowed to a 2:03 half. Serious left knee pain at 14 led to several hamstring-stretch-breaks & a few 2 min walk breaks. I love having kids along the side w/ outstretched hands to swipe ("side-5's") -- gave me a needed charge several times.
Finished the last 3 miles pretty hard -- left it all on the course. Marvelous 30-mins of lying on the grass at the finish & a so-so post-thon nap.
No more 'thons 'til the spring -- the body is speaking. My only regret -- 5 secs faster & I'd have been able to say that 2007 was entirely faster than all previous 'thons.
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| Huntsville,
Alabama
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Time: 4:20:44
Pace per mile: 9:57
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 684 of 1,318
| 114 of 162
| ?? of ??
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#10 - 14 Jun '08: Hatfield Mccoy Marathon (Bib #220)
Most memorable -- all in a positive way -- are the water stops (twice as many as usual), the race director (chatting us up before the start,
praying before the gun), the "gun" & the shotgun-toting, bearded hillbillies Hatfield & McCoy at start & finish. Oh yes, and the H - I - L - L - S. This is definitely Kentucky / West Virginia.
The MapMyRun elevation isn't very accurate (e.g. the 1st 2 miles are mostly downhill), but you get the idea. Don't fixate on
Blackberry Mountain which peaks a bit beyond 7 miles. It's tough, but it's early & the 1st few miles are a nice pre-hill
warmup. It's the "bumps" from about 16 and on that are the killers. The one just past 23 looked like a mountain in my
near-delirious state. My mistake was keeping up with Keith for 18 miles, in fact I was kinda pushing the pace just a mile or two before hand (lesson learned: WAIT til 20-22 & see how you feel]. We did 9 minutes for the 1st 2 miles & 10:38 for the
worst part of Blackberry Mtn. I had Baltimore in mind where my having kept up with him such a boon -- I forgot about the part
where that was a JFK50 training run for him. We lucked out with the weather considering it was mid-June. Mid-70's at the finish & humidity in the 90's thru-out. Steady rain for the last 6-8 miles. I decided to NOT "leave it all on the course" this time. I wanted the thought of my next marathon to be pleasant later in the day. That was a good choice. I walked a good bit after about 20 & finished steady. My only thought was to beat 4:30 because Keith had said repeatedly that we'd finish closer to 5:00 than to 4:00. ;o)
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BTW, driving "hurry-up-ish," the Prius got 48 mpg Friday. Keeping to the speed limit on Sunday, it got 54 mpg. Go figger.
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Start:
Goody,
Kentucky
Finish:
Williamson,
West Virginia
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Time: 4:28:18
Pace per mile: 10:14
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 82 of 210
| 11 of 26
| ?? of 139
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#11 - 3 Aug '08: San Francisco Marathon (Bib #6553)
The weather could not have been better for running -- in the 50's & overcast. A really nice course including a segment over & back across the Golden Gate bridge. A lot of miles inside Golden Gate Park as well. I wouldn't call it overly hilly, but there were definitely some significant hills & a good bit of up & down. One down stretch was very steep & overall these sections might explain the monster blood blister that formed on my 2nd left toe (as usual, by just leaving it alone, it subsided nicely). I hit the wall at about 23 so slowed down a good bit but didn't walk this time. Sadly, Sharon & Erika didn't catch up with anywhere in the race or afterwards. This is a downside of not running two 'thons in the same place as you don't know the place.
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And San Fran is a particular hard place for out-of-town spectators as there's no parking & the course never goes past an earlier leg.
As with Hatfield-McCoy I chose the 'I wanna cross the finishing line wanting to do another one in a few weeks' approach rather than trying to beat 4 hours. It worked -- Akron here I come.
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| San Francisco,
California
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Time: 4:11:51
Pace per mile: 9:37
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 1,661 of 4,445
| 152 of 319
| 1,342 of 2,931
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#12 - 27 Sep '08: Akron Marathon (Bib #713)
I'm pleased with an under 10 min/mile finish but it's taken most of 24 hours to get to the point where I'm tempted to do another one this year. This one was tough; probably as much as Hatfield/McCoy. "I began to feel a little weary" around 15 -- not bad -- but then at about 17 it was essentially uphill (much steeper overall than the similar stretch at Balto) for 6 miles. I forget when it was that I started having walk breaks -- maybe 18 -- but nothing excessive (none during the last 2). The other bit of adversity; the Sunday before the race I got a monster sinus headache -- enough to stay home from work Mon. Went to work Tue & came home after 3 hours -- too much coughing. Worked at home Wed-Thur & did a lot of coughing. It was pretty much cleared up by race day, but a bit of coughing day after. Positives: Nearby hotel, easy to find the start, well provisioned, good weather (50's at start, a tad humid, overcast all the way), great crowd -- lots who called out my name; good music, TWO post-race naps (1 good, 1 great). No lines of kids for side-5's, but a few singletons; very nice shirt (but no 'MARATHON' on the back but there is one on the left sleeve -- a first); muscle cream afterwards & wasn't really stiff after nap #1 nor wobbly.
Less positive: It was crowded all the way (5, 4, & 2-man relays plus a half), but not like we were falling over each other, tho' I did get stumbled from the rear early on. There's an upside to that too; there's some degree of satisfaction passing someone who's running a 5-mile race & there were plenty. (But I sincerely salute anyone who runs any distance.) Lessons: took my hat off around 7 & that kept me cooler; The 'I wanna wanna do another in a few weeks' strategy didn't work as wel -- the thought was repulsive at around 20. But as I sit here in LaGuardia I'm eager to get home to browse thru MarathonGuide.com. I already know that Atlantic City is the one, but always get enjoyment from this 'window shopping.'
BTW, travel day was interesting, flight delay resulted in getting to packet pickup just 1-1/2 before closing. At one point in DCA they were sounding like I'd get to Cleveland at 8:45 (Akron is about 1 hour south). This was a freebie, so no switching to a different airline. I bit of stress; but things went smoothly after takeoff. On the return I stop in LaGuardia AND Raleigh, ugh
Atlantic City, here I come (maybe (9/27 7:30am), I think (10:40am), Definitely (10/8).
Akron,
Ohio
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Time: 4:20:13
Pace per mile: 9:56
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 822 / 1582
| 618 / 1039
| 70 / 135
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The upraised
fingers signify
state # 11
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#13 - 19 Oct '08: Atlantic City Marathon (Bib #418)
The guy who won the race didn't pass me until mile 15!
It was mile 22 for him
Registration the day before was a bit disorganized at the start, so we volunteered at the last minute -- following the lead of one "Shawna," a very friendly young lady who ended up having serious knee problems mid-race the next day. We spent several hours registering folks, stuffing bags & folding t-shirts, then the next morn, I had 2.5 miles of walking before the race (hotel to start & back -- oops, forgot our bibs -- hotel to start & back, hotel to start), so my legs may have been affected somewhat.
Mid-forties w/ 15-20 mph winds made this a bit on the chilly side but not bad. Running into that wind was the challenge. Completely flat, pothole-free, mostly knee-friendly surface. The short races, including Sharon's 5K, started at the same point, but in the opposite direction so it was cool seeing Sharon on her way. It was WONDERFUL having her to cheer me on thru-out the race.
Here's a new bit of wisdom -- every one of these races is different. Given that I'm only doing 'em once, it's a new PR every time (for that course, w/ those hills & that weather). That sounds kinda cheesy. It seemed profound after 20 miles ;o)
Check out the babe in peach!
Oh, number 2417, I'd like to take you home with me!
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| Atlantic City,
New Jersey
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Time: 4:19:47
Pace per mile: 9:55
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Place
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| Overall
| Men
45-49
| Men
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| 130 / 251
| 26 / 46
| ?? / ???
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Pet peeve -- come on runners, hold your damn cups until the next garbage can! The boardwalk had plenty of cans, yet runners perpetuated the unnecessary tradition of tossing 'em on the ground (& therefore in the dunes eventually).
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"Short Races"
5 Sep '04 to 10 Aug '05:
I started running in mid-August of 2004 while on vacation in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Upon our return, I ran my very first race -- the little 3K 'fun run' associated with the Larry Noel 15K. In the next 11 months, I did 27 races ranging in distance from a mile to 25 K (15.5 miles).
| Miles
| 1
| 1.9
| 3.1
| 4
| 4.97
| 5
| 6.2
| 9.3
| 10
| 13.1
| 15.5
| 16.3
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| Kilometers
| .
| 3
| 5
| .
| 8
| .
| 10
| 15
| .
| .
| 25
| 26.2
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| Pre-'thon "short" races
| 1
| 3
| 8
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 5
| 1
| 4
| 1
| 1
| .
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| Post-'thon "short" races
| .
| .
| 4
| .
| .
| .
| 2
| .
| 2
| .
| .
| 2
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Cruel irony: When I returned, victoriously, from Norway with finisher's medal in had, I went immediately (the next week) to the Larry Noel event -- the scene of my racing debut the prior year. But this time to do the full 15K, not the wimpy 3K. That was the only time I've ever been a "DNF" (did not finish). I twisted my ankle after about 2 miles & had to do the "walk of shame" back toward the finish.
| Maryland (22)
DC (3)
Virginia (1)
Oslo (1)
| Slow & steady
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Spreadsheet with all results
Average pace: 9:56 U.S. (10:02 all)
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© 2006-2007 M. Solberg, all rights reserved
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