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The Barrie RoadRunners

Monday, March 28, 2011

Around the Bay Results

On a cold a blustery day in Hamilton it looks like we had quite a few PB's from Barrie RoadRunners and all around good times had by most.

Here are the results:

Barrie Runners

Orillia Runners

Innisfil Runners

Midhurst Runners

Sorry if I missed anyone.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Around the Bay

Yes its that time of year again, whether your using it t judge your training while gearing up for a spring marathon or going for your longest race to date, the Around the Bay Road race 30k is a favourite for many runners in Southern Ontario. It is also a regular stop for many Barrie RoadRunners and this year is no different as a bus load and then some all head down to race this weekend. Good luck to all!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Around the Bay

March 27th 2011 - Hamilton On

Hamilton's Around the Bay is the continent's oldest road race, it's older than Boston and it's OURS!! Well Canadian, and once again Barrie is sending a bus load of runners and supports on Sunday morning to participate in race.

If you don't have a spot - ask around someone might be looking to sell theirs, also there are charity spots available for all of the events. Why not try to some fundraising? It's going to a great cause.

Good luck to all the Barrie Runners! Keep an eye out for results Sunday afternoon.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Little Rock Marathon








I heard of the Little Rock Marathon a few years ago and finaly after seeing the giant medals at an expo, we decided to run this race. That was back in Nov 2010. Jim Tuttle thought it was a good one as well, and then Bill Lovett and Cathrine "Reno" Harding comitted to, it was set to be a good March getaway. We flew out on the Friday before the race and came back on the Monday after. Its always nice to enjoy the after race celebrations without rushing back home. We all stayed at the Host hotel, The Peabody, it was a nice place with the famous Peabody Ducks that actually stay in the lobby fountain during the day. The expo was well set up and organized, nice shirt, lots of vendors and race merchandise.The race was well done to with Bart Yasso on the mic at the start, and remember this is Arkansas, southern state, warm weather which meant shorts. The course was good, tough in spots like a big hill at 14 miles and then a couple more including a bit of a test at mile 25 for me to keep my pace going. Fortunately I have been training hard thanks to the Fast Old Guys and I had a great race and a PB. We all enjoyed Little Rocks fan support and of course the giant medal.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Boxing Day Run 2010 - A race to


Race: Boxing Day Run
Where : Hamilton
When: December 26th 2010 - ( Boxing Day)
Distance in reality: 10 Miles
Distance in my mind: 50 Miles
Companions: Theo Bosch & Oliver Owens

Okay so there is nothing better than a run the morning after Christmas. Seriously... well that's how Theo sold it to me at any rate.
Being plagued by a chronic injury for the last year, I had scaled back my races significantly. I figured hey why not, you've managed a few good runs, give it a whirl and Theo has a way with words... " You racing? Day of sign up" Who could say no to an invite like that?

With my daughter gone for the Holiday Season, I thought why the heck not, gets me out and about. Fine... so in the Bosch-mobile I clammered. Around the bend and down the lane to Olivers house & then our little trio was complete & off we trekked.
Destination: the YMCA on James St Hamilton.
We got there with time to spare - registration didn't open until 10am. So we sat in the Y's little "cafe" and had a nice cuppa.
And guess who we run into none other than Chris Battaglia.
Now there's a surprise. LOL.

At 10am on the dot I was lead to the Gymnasium and duly handed over my $60.00 / registration form and in return I got a my bib and nifty Snowman gloves. It was the 90th running of the Boxing Day Run & what celebrations there were. Okay it was rather low key, but the clothing that you could buy was pretty darn great. However; since I have more closet space dedicated to running gear than civvies I thought it best to resist the temptation adding to my running gear.
The Expos was ... erhm... one table.. no wait... two. One with running stuff the other with running information.
I'm thinking they may want to expand on the expos just a tad.
At any rate - around 11:30 we headed off to the starting line on John Street where we were greeted by a very blustery wind. bbbrrrrr... so Oliver and I huddled up by the only source of heat - a running car. LOL. We got our picture taken for the Hamilton Spectator. Poor Theo ... bio break means missing out on celebraty.
The horn went and so did we all 1096 of us.
And once again I went like ... sno.. erhmm to fast. First km in 5:03, okay seriously, it's nice to know that my body can do it, but I have 9.4 miles left. Second km 5:15 and by the third km I figured it was time to walk since I hadn't run into an aid station yet. This, thought I, would slow me down for sure...
And as we turned into the marina's THERE was the aid station.. bugger... oh well. Keep going, as we exited the marina we hit the waterfront trail where I had done the Slainte Grey Cup 8k the year before & placed 3rd in my age group. I LOVE this part of the race & I was burning up the trail. I hit the 5 mile split at 47:52. PB LOOK OUT HERE I COME. My best time in a 10 miler was 2009 Acura 10 miler with a 1:39 time. I was on my way ... yahhoo.
Then as I started mile 6 ... I could feel the incline start & with that my leg pain increase - see I can ignore it very well on a flat course, but once the hills start, not so much.
We were running the edge of Chedoke Golf Course. Ack... this was not good.
Mile 7 - was the beginning of a mile climb up to the Club House & it was the begining of the end for me. My leg was not about to co-operate with me at all & let me know that there was NO WAY I was going to make a PB in fact, I was hard pressed to come close to my Angus Glen 10 miler time.
I was heartbroken.
I walked up the hill.
Then we hit a gravel rail trail - it was flat - but even that wouldn't help.
I walked some more.
Mile 9 started with a lovely down hill, so I trotted down hill... for about 500 meters. I was beside myself - Theo & Oliver were hopefully in the Y, changed and keeping warm. I tried as hard as I could not to look at my Garmin.
As I turned on to Jackson Street and headed towards the finish I figured I better run as best as I can in case Theo & Oliver were out, plus the finishing picture needs to be done running. I heard Theo .. then saw him.. It egged me on to at least keep running. Theo joined me for a hundred meters or so dangling the bling in front of me, as if that would help. I just didn't want to cry in front of the guys. I have an image to up hold. Sorta... okay not really but one must keep a modicum of ones pride intact.

So I crossed the finish line in 1:51:00
Chris Battaglia
Theo Bosch 1:31:13
Oliver Owens 1:11:52

All injuries aside - I think this is something I would do again. I did enjoy it. Hamilton is a great race town.

Friday, March 11, 2011

It Was a Rainy Day

Yes it was a very rainy day and certainly not hot in Cleveland for the Green Jewel 50k on Saturday March 5th. The previous week had seen some serious flooding in the Clevelnad area and we were a little concerned about the race actually being run. But apperently things had got a little better and the flood waters had receded, unfortunately a new wave of nasty weather was threatening to make the waters rise again. Theo Bosch and myself drove down on friday morning not knowing what to expect and by the time we got to Ohio the rain had started, at least the temperature wasn't too bad (up to 9C). We settled in to our hotel room and went for dinner and drove out to see where to catch the bus in the morning. Looks like a very nice area, Brecksville (where the finish is)is a beautiful small town and is surrounded by more of the the same. I think there's a bit of money in these parts. After finding the finsih/bus stop area we drove to see "the hill" but turned around before we got there, thinking that maybe it would be better not to see it before the race.
The next morning we were up at 4:30 and out the door by shortly after 5 to be at the bus pick up area before 5:30. To our surprise a nice comfy coach showed up to pick us up. After picking up our race bibs we got on the bus and waited for everyone else before setting off for Rocky River For the start. The course runs around the outskirts of Cleveland from Rocky River in the west to the south along the Rocky River on mainly paved bike paths (except for a 8 kilometre stretch of road) to Brecksville and the Oak Grve Picnic area.
The rain never let up much and we started on time at 7 am. The early going seemed rather easy as we kept up a nice sub 5 min/km pace. There were lots of puddles to greet us and in some places we had no option but to wade through ankle deep ice cold water. Evidence of the prevu=ious weeks floods were everywhere, with mud on the path and debris in the woods. Regardless it was a very nice looking area and would have been even better under better conditions. We maintained our pace and kept to our plan of walking through the aid stations and when we neeeded a gel (about every hour). After passing the half way mark things started to seize up a little for me, as was expected, but i kept on not wanting Theo to be disappointed in his first 50K, he may need some help in the later stages. I might wnat to point ut that the course is almost entirely a gradual uphill climb, at least unitl about 35k when the "real" hills start at this point both of us were hurting and we agreed that walking the hills would be good stratgey.
We had been slowing down at this point and it was a matter of just getting it done now. We managed to get our self through the hills and got our selves to the last major road crossing at Brecksville Rd. 3k from the end. It was down hill from here, but we weren't ready for downhills, our quads were in pain. We soldiered on and thankfully finished in a time of 4:48:50, a PB for Theo :).

Overall a great small event, only 87 finishers. Tough course which would have been great on a nice day. Heavy rain and strong head winds didn't deter us though. Thanks to Joe Jurczyk, the race director.

 
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