OK so this post is a little late, because I feel a little shame for falling off the wagon. I ran 10 hard miles on Friday morning and even went to see “Man of Steel” with the wife and kids until 9:30 pm. I was all set to run with the 621 ninjas the next morning when the addiction struck at 10 pm and I was back on the computer, looking for any race I could find. I scoured my usual sources and came up empty until I checked out the last bookmark I’ve added, Carolina Running Company. And there it was…the Lickety Split. Its in Hartsville, which just barely makes my one hour drive limit, but is actually a race Ive done before in 2011. This is in the dark period of the Blue Shoes, a 6 month era after my 2010 Richmond Marathon implosion that was the veritable Middle Ages for my blog. They had race day registration – so I was in.

This is actually a really well done race. Its put on by the YMCA there and features a well marked, if challenging, course with timely awards and nice facilities (the Y itself). Its also OG country, and I swear everybody in Lee county knows Robbie. A local celebrity. Masters beast Paul Reardon also calls Hartsville home.

Hartsville is surprisingly cool. Its at least 20 minutes from 1-20 and pretty far from both Florence and Columbia, but its about the hippest rural town I’ve ever come across. There’s a quirky coffee shop, thai food and a spa in just the small area I went through. They also have Coker College and the  Gov School for the Arts. Pretty interesting place.

This course is tough though. Somehow theyve found every hill or incline in Lee County. You essentially run past Coker, down a long decline, followed by some rolling hills. This culminates in a brutal climb back up right at the 2 mile mark, with an essentially flat finish. Did I mention its in mid June in South Carolina? Its not going to be cold, either.

I meant to show up an hour early but the trip took longer than I thought. You have to go through Bishopville and metropolises like Lydia and Cypress, and I am always fearful of  small town police.

I did a couple miles to warm up before the race. Legs didnt like it one bit after the hilly 7:30ish pace 10 miler from Friday. Guess I was going to see what I had on tired legs. Didnt know hardly anybody there except for Paul, Nicole and the OG. Jay Nester was MIA. Erin Roof and her daughter were actually there for a pageant, but were on hand to watch from the aforementioned funky coffee shop (http://www.midnightrooster.com/).

With the start, I was surprised how many people were kicking my ass right off the bat. With only 2 known players in this game, I was at a loss whether any of these guys was for real. Mile 1 started off flat, then plunged down a hill, followed by some surprisingly tough little inclines as you weave on the side of the mountain. I hit mile 1 at 6:07 by the marker but my Garmin didnt beep back until 6:21. Legs were not loving it. The good thing was the heat wasnt too bad (about 70) , though you could definitely feel it with the high morning humidity we have in SC. I lost touch with Paul and another shirtless older guy by this time, so I didnt knwo where I stood in the race. I had a glimmer of hope at a trophy hunt for an overall placement before the race, but I think I had already resigned this hope by then. I was trying to stay with the OG but he was really getting it. I kind of latched on to him. I figured I was at least 8-9 people back at almost 2 miles in, but then we hit the beast of hill on Wood something rd. People started dropping like flies as the OG powered up the mountain with a large blue-footed monkey on his back. I didnt look at my mile 2 split. By the time we reached the flat last half mile or so, I was hurting pretty bad. Legs had no spring and every time I surged Robbie had an answer. He was not going to give up easily. Plus, I know he has a wicked kick of his own, having destroyed me at the 2010 Get in the Green in the final 100 meters, beating me at my own game.

(Above) The OG crushing my spirit in the 2011 JA 5k in Shandon

Finally, with about 400 meters to go, I blasted into hyperdrive and went “all in” for taking him down. I passed him in the final curve and  flew down main street deathly afraid of Robbie returning the favor. What I didnt even notice is how quickly I was closing in on the next guy. I made a conscious decision not to headless chicken it and try and overtake him at the line. I figured we were battling it out for 5th place or something, and I knew my time was going to be on the slow side anyway.

Nope, it was for third. I had been locked in a mano y mano with Robbie for so long I had lost sight of the race at large. So I settled for 4th place, 19:27,.  A little slowish for me but I’ll take it with the hills and lead legs. I was finally able to return the favor on the OG for the above pic too. Luckily, did not miss out on cash or trophies, or I would have been devastated. Yes, I am that sick. Awards were YMCA hats, which are nice…except for people with freakishly large craniums. Paul crushed it out there with a low 18’s win, and the OG has obviously returned to form with a 19:30 for 5th. Oh, and I did win my age group. The Lickety Split wins the prize for the weirdest AG’s. Mine was 36-43, the mid-life crisis category I guess. I also ran into Amy “the Tiny Terror” after the race, as she was up in Hartsville for her husband’s HS reunion. We had to get a picture of the best running blogs in Columbai and Charleston, right? Or maybe I just want to look even more like an albino sasquatch next to her.

http://www.carolinarunningcompany.com/results1.html

The Jailbreak is in its seventh year , and I think this marks my fifth year running it. The race starts and ends at the Lexington County detention center and goes to benefit the Lexington County Sheriff’s Foundation. They always have tons of police out volunteering and Sheriff James Metts makes an appearance to give out awards.

For whatever reason, this race is insanely competitive. Yes, they give out prize money for the overall winners, but that does not explain the other 50 or so going sub 20. Last year a guy (Scott Wietecha) ran a 14:47 to win. Nuts. I finished 26th with like a 19:34 and barely got 3rd in AG. And that was a weak field for this race. I’m thinking this may be the goal race for a lot of people, since its the only event for Memorial Day weekend and its basically the last chance to race before Columbia begins its annual descent into hell…also known as  summer.

I was unsure of what I’d be capable of in this race. Last week I had an abysmal run at Red Bank but I was technically still recovering from being sick. I had put some good training in over the past couple of weeks and gave myself 2 days off before this race….an eternity in Blue Shoes time.

Although this race is usually on the warm side, they couldn’t have asked for better weather this year. Cool..very cool, like in the low-mid 50’s. In Columbia. In late May. For those of you that don’t live here, that’s practically an Arctic blast for this time of year.

Showed up 45 min early and already the place is crawling with some blazing fast peeps. Just driving in I see the SR elite ladies (Kenzie, Shannon, Erin) , Kathryn Cavanaugh, John Charlton  and David He. I did a warmup with the grandmaster beasts of SC, Billy Tisdale and Geary McAlister. Trophy and the Code are there, along with all the Diesels (even Roxie).  Ken Cobb and Angel showed up, further dimming my age group chances. Amy and her mom Valerie, along with Joyce, Sydney, Tracy Meyers, Travis Moran, Ken and Kenneth Vowles are all there for Team Utopia South. Other CRCers included Marie Demetriades, the Holts, Rocky, Birgit, Jeanna Moffett, and Ashley Horton. Meg Weis is back post baby and on the road to kicking my ass again. OJ Striggles, Eric Ashton , and Jason Dimery were some more people that would destroy me. The Plex was noticeably absent.

I actually line up a couple rows back at the start, because I’m standing in a sea of SC running legends, and I dont want to get trampled. Good thing I outweigh most of them by at least 30 pounds. Amy is standing next to me and nervously waiting for Justin to show up and guide her. For a few tense moments I thought I might have to step in but the “A standard” showed up with just a couple of minutes to spare. The start is nuts. People blasting out of the gate, dodging and pushing. Thankfully they have a start mat so you can have an accurate chip time.

The whole first mile I try to balance out the urge to crush it on the flat part of the course. I know the first mile and a half are basically flat to downhill, followed by some roll and then a gradual uphill last mile, which is pretty brutal if you’ve gassed yourself early on. See proof:

Yeah, that was Jailbreak ’09. That’s Greg Howell (who I didnt know at the time) looking all cool and smooth, and me looking like I just got shot in the back, or had a stroke, or both. Beautiful.

Anyway, I’m hating life because I’m used to being able to run without too much interference. But with all the competition, its like I’m in the middle of a huge pack, all doing about 6 flat pace too. I hit mile 1 at 6:03 by Garmin, though the actual time caller gave me about 6:10. There’s a long steady downhill after the mile mark and I admit, I got lazy. I figured I would let gravity take my sasquatch physique down the hill at a decent pace. But Howie passed me, then Erin Miller, then Shannon, maybe Billy too.  I havent slowed much, so these guys must be killing it. I latch on to this pack and try to keep Angel and the Code in sight. Cobb has already left the rest of the 35ers for dead. Its a battle for 3rd since OJ is on our age group and actually probably wont place overall in this monster field. I try not to panic because this course has played to my strengths in the past – hill climbing and finishing speed. One only need to look at the header to this blog to see the epic 2010 finish, leaving poor Trophy in the dust, him wondering what could have been.

There’s a long incline after the water stop at 1.5 miles, which gives me an opportunity to power up the freak quads and break free of my pack. Some kid blue shoes me on the ensuing downhill. I’m always flopping around and doing all kinds of unnecessary braking on declines, like a semi in the truck lane. Finally we make a turn at the stop sign on Roberts street and its go time – a long steady incline to the finish with a flat stretch at the top. Somehow I’ve caught up with Amy and Justin, and I think for a second that I’m absolutely crushing it, but then I realize she must be having a bad day, since she’s fading. I pass them with just over a quarter mile to go, and Bishop tells me its 400 meters from the next stop sign. Of course he’s basically jogging and speaking in full sentences while I’m gasping for dear life. So I throw down as hard as I can once I pass the sign. Everybody starts getting reeled in as I step further into the pain cave, walking the thin line between puking, collapsing or both. I pass Angel with about 200 meters to go, though he had told me earlier he was just going to 10k pace this race. Hey, I’ll take it. Suddenly the Code comes into view. I had already given up on catching him, but now he’s so close. Its coming right down to the wire as the kick blasts into 4 minute pace..and BAM we basically cross the line together at 19:14. We should have held hands…orrr maybe not.  Actually I’m pretty sure he got me by a half step. But damned if I didnt blast through the finish sensors at mach 5 trying to catch him. At first I thought the moment was lost because Strictly’s pics didnt have the finish line, but then I found the facebook page of one Henry Dukes. The dude literally has about 2000 pics of the race. And I found this:

Damn you Scott Brewer! I pulled to the side a millisecond after this pic to avoid an epic collision, though it looks like Code still had the “win”, i.e. the oh so important battle for 30th place. I do like this pic because it looks like we’re beating both Angel and Eric Ashton in the background. Awesome. This was also a course PR for me, so that helped me feel better about missing a chance to blue shoe the Code. But wait…at the award ceremony, I’m literally focusing my camera on the Code as he starts to go up to pick up his 3rd in age group when they call out my name. The look on Code’s face is priceless. Oh wait, I got that one!

Perfect. Code did beat me by chip time 19:10 to 19:11. I think the second mat picked up his chip while the first got mine.

The results for this race are nuts. Forty seven people broke 20 minutes, 170 something were under 25. The winner was Robert Razick, who actually beat Eric Ashton. Robert blazed a 15:03 while Eric ran 15:12 and 93 percent age grade. Thats world class for 45 years old. Teenage prodigy and tri stud Tony Morales took 3rd in 15:41. The rest of the top 10 are guys that win most races they enter – Tim Jeffreys, Irv Batten (who ran a 16:42 at age 50. Holy crap.), OJ, Hunter Janus, Eddie Vergara, John Charlton and Jason Dimery. All beasts. David He broke 18 minutes for the first time and finished 13th. Kenzie Riddle had an incredible race, winning the women’s overall and PR’ing at 18:02. We finished Cold Winters Day together, so clearly she’s doing something I’m not. Probably has something to do with more talent and about 80 pounds. Paul Reardon finished just behind her. Kathryn Cavanaugh smoked an 18:18 and finished 2nd overall female. Ken Cobb finished in 18:38 and took 2nd in my AG, thankfully fully clothed this time. Kenneth Vowles came oh so close to getting sub 19 but finished in 19 flat. Serves him right for beating me. Travis Moran continued his streak of finishing just ahead of me with a 19:05. Erin Miller crushed a 19:27 and beat Amy by a second. I think thats a PR for her as well. Shannon definitely got a PR at 19:46 and won female masters. Billy Tisdale finished just ahead of her , edging out Howie for the grandmasters win. Geary took 3rd GM. Ken Vowles had a huge PR with a 20:13, and Birgit also had a personal best with a 20:18 , 2nd masters. Jeanna Moffett, Mary Howk and Tracy Meyers took the female grandmasters overall.

In the age groups, teenage racing machines Parker Roof and Marie Demetriades each placed in the 11-13. Sydney Frontz took 2nd in the 20-24 in a good day for Team Utopia South. Ashley Horton took 3rd in the 25-29 while James Hicks placed 2nd in one of his last 30-34 races. Good luck in the age group from hell, James. Newest CRC member Amber Todd took 3rd in the 30-34. Meg is only a few months post baby and is already age grouping, placing 3rd in the 35-39. Joyce Welch actually made it out of the portapotty on time this race and won the 40-44. Ty Thomas threatened the Trophy (20:41) but still took 3rd in the 45-49. Strong work, Trophy. Thomas Tapp took 2nd in the 50-54, while Sandy Smith finished third the same age group. Valerie Selby rocked another sub 29 en route to a 3rd in AG, while Lynn Grimes easily captured first in the 60-64. In the mens 60-64, the Squirrel Fred Mullen took 1st, while Ponamarev took 3rd. Peter Mugglestone took 1st in the 65-59, while Margaret Holt won the female division. Arnold Floyd crushed the 70+ division with Rocky finishing 3rd.

Not many races coming up, but beware July 4th when team Trophy Hunting (Blue Shoes/Trophy) makes another go of it in the 2×2 mile relay at Born in the USA. Our goal: take down team K-Vowles. Better ramp up the speed, Trophy.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/13jailbreak.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/317743839

Run Red Bank is a 2nd year event put on by the YMCA, with a start and finish at White Knoll High School. The race had over 400 people  last year, which is pretty amazing for a first-time event.

I was pretty torn about choosing a race this weekend. I’ve done See Spot run for each of its 4 years in existence, and I’ve done Going the Extra Mile twice as well. Both are fun, well-run races, though they both have some pretty brutal courses.

Always looking for something different, and always looking to avoid hilly courses, I thought I’d give Red Bank a try. With the two competing races and registration apparently down in all three, there might of been a trophy hunt element as well. I didnt think this one offered much of a chance, since it was on Strictly Running’s Palmetto Grand Prix, but winning a YMCA race is like hitting the jackpot. Mega swag.

My first worry about the course of this race came earlier in the week, when I saw Justin Bishop (the 2012 champ) posting something about how hilly Red Bank was. Ruh roh. Then I looked at the USATF map of the course, and most of it ran through a neighborhood called LEXINGTON HILLS. Seriously?? I instantly started trembling , remembering the Lexington Jingle Bell 5k that is a proverbial mountain range. But surely it couldn’t be worse than the ungodly brutal See Spot, right?

So I was a little nervous about the course. I also had been wrecked with a GI virus last weekend that completely sidelined me for 4 days, and my “comeback” this week had been on the sluggish side. On the plus side, I was 5 pounds lighter. I most certainly do not recommend that weight loss method.

On race morning I drove out to Red Bank and decided to drive the course. I can say one thing about this race – they have no shortage of volunteers. They must have had 50 young people (man, am I old enough to use that term?) dressed in brown YMCA camp shirts out there. And they must have had a espresso maker on the volunteer bus, because these guys were JACKED. I was literally getting “good jobs” and cheers for DRIVING the course. It was probably a diversionary measure to distract from the torture that was unfolding ahead of me. I turned off highway 6 into the VERY APTLY NAMED Lexington Hills Rd.  One nasty mountain, followed by a decline and then a long  slog back to platt springs rd. But that was just a teaser for the hill d’ resistance, a quarter mile of pain right before the finish. Because there’s nothing nicer than hitting a nice long hill when you’re on fumes. Yeah, it would have been better just not to know.

I did a 2 mile warmup on the last mile of the course, which was tough at 9 minute pace. On the plus side, I was cheered throughout by caffeinated teenagers like I was winning the Boston Marathon. I picked up my packet to yet another blast of screams and cheers. I was kind of disappointed no one cheered my successful code brown in the red bank stadium restroom. Hey I was cheering.

A decent crowd was at the start, though certainly not the 400 from last year. Maybe they all got scared off.  “Trackstar” Eddie Vergara was there to ensure I didnt have any trophy delusions. Daniel Patrick, the winner of the Rose Fest 5k was also there, so maybe I could pace off him. Geary, Rocky, the Holts, Birgit and James Hicks were the CRC regulars. It being a YMCA event (Erin Roof directing) so Parker and Joe Roof were on hand. I’ve been hoping to help Parker get his sub 20, but I knew it wasnt happening at this race.

The start was about a quarter mile in the huge White Knoll High parking lot, followed by a big downhill, i.e. the same one we’d be slogging up in 20 minutes. There seemed to be a lot more people ahead of me than I had anticipated. Eddie took off in a sprint, and it looked like Parker was trying to follow him. I knew going fast early on would be a disaster given the nightmare ahead. Most of the first mile was downhill, and I wasnt pushing that hard, so the 6:14 mile split I got was OK. Unfortunately it was probably a good 10 seconds behind the actual mile marker.  I passed a few people and Parker on highway 6  right before the mile.  On my back though was the all to familiar sound of Geary’s “industrial machine” breathing. I didnt even need to turn around. A little bit after the marker was the turn on to Lexington Hills. Wow. Between the sudden headwind in my face and the 5 percent grade, I was waddling up this mid course mountain. En route went any vestige of hope I had at this being a good race. I was toast not even halfway through. Geary had surged just ahead on the hill but I managed to re-pass him on the climb. We basically went down the following incline in tandem.  You hit mile 2 right near the bottom of the decline. It suddenly dawns on me that the whole last mile is basically uphill. And you might as well stick a fork in me because I am done. I dont know whether its still being weak from last weekend or the warmth/humidity but its taking every ounce of effort to fight off the McAlister machine behind me. It doesn’t help that there’s no one to chase down. Daniel is the only guy I can see and he’s way too far to try and catch. I know I’m running fifth and the best I can do is just hold it. Left turn and I did a face plant into Mt Red Bank. Basically redlined it all the way up this monster,  desperate to be done. Mile 3 beeps on my Garmin and its pretty far from the finish, so I know its going to be long by Garmin (course is certified). Finally I flop myself into the parking lot again and I try to push it, but I realize I’m not even going to break 20. Finished in 20:08, 5th overall, 1st in AG.

I hate going over 20, but this course is just brutal. Combine it with a warm morning and its awfully tough to run a decent time. I have new respect for Amy and Flicker putting up low 19’s last year here.

Eddie smoked this race in 17:21 for the win, which I guarantee equates to a sub 17 on a flat course. Bob Sams, who finished 2nd at the Rose Fest 12k , finished 3rd behind a high school kid, John Drummond. Daniel placed 4th in 19:24.  Geary took 6th about 20 seconds back from me with Birgit winning the female race at 20:59 Parker had a rough day but still placed 1st in the 2-14. James took 2nd in the 30-34 while Joe won 2nd in the 45-49. Lynn Grimes won first in the 60-64 and laid out a wicked blue shoe kick to smoke a 36 year old at the finish. It was a thing of beauty. Henry beat Rocky for the 70-98 crown.

Four years into racing almost every weekend, there are very few races I haven’t done in the Columbia area, but this was one of the last holdouts. The Festival of Roses races are a 12k and a 5k that are associated with a festival of the same name in Orangeburg, SC. They’ve been around a while, and at least recently has been put on by the YMCA. They’ve been on our Tour de Columbia the last two years and also Strictly Running’s Palmetto Grand Prix.

I usually wouldnt be much into driving an hour to a race, but this one has a double dip built in to the event, and actually has an award for the fastest one who can do it. They call it the “Double Down” and involves running the 12k first at 7:30 followed by the 5k at 9:00. Insane. And awesome. I was in.

I had little idea of what to expect in Orangeburg. Justin Bishop, who won the 12k last year,  said it was flatter than Ray Tanner. I figured to give the 12k an all out effort and see if I had anything left for the 5k. My hopes of PRing in this odd distance werent that high. Ray Tanner in 2012 was a 49:12 6:36 pace effort, which I consider one of my best performances at any distance.

Also, I’ve been training like a beast recently with a couple of 50 mile weeks and a micro Robbie “O.G.” McLendon streak of 12 days straight. I certainly wasnt going to be at my freshest. Only about 3000 more days to go to catch up to the O.G. though. To boot, I was out late the night before catching Band of Horses at the Township, so I didnt get to bed till about midnight and a few 9 dollar beers. Yes, this is 2013 Alex late, not 1995.

Had a 5 am wake up call and felt OK. Once youve done a few relays you can run on no sleep, so 5 hours was a bonus. Took me a good hour to get to Oburg, and I by the time I got my packet and wrecked a perfectly good portapotty it was about 10 minutes to race time.

Quick check of the 12k start and its decidedly less competitive than I thought it would be. Amy was pacing 13 year old Marie Demetriades so I didnt have to fear another YMCA race beatdown a la the Bunny Hop a month ago. I became a little fearful I might have inadvertently stepped into a trophy hunt. At least Billy Tisdale was there. He’s pretty much my running clone, but beats me the longer distances. Ted Hewitt, the Outlaws, Birgit, Larry Bates, Pam Griffin, John Sneed, Nonie Hudnall were all on hand.

With the start, two unknown guys take off of my right at like Mach 5, and Billy surges ahead of me. There’s kind of a long nasty incline right at the beginning and I begin wondering if Bishop is delusional. Luckily the course levels out immediately afterward. Its an out and back, so I know the long incline will make for a nice finish on the way home.  I latch on to Billy, who’s about 10 meters ahead. He runs the 10k like a beast, so I make a note to keep him in striking distance. Mile one comes back at 6:39, which is just about perfect. All of my PR’s have had close to even pace followed by the patented blue shoe kick, so this is right where I want to be. And all of a sudden it gets very quiet. The two leaders have left us behind and we’re now out of sight of the rest of the field. And thats just about what the race is the rest of the way out. Billy and I all alone in rural Orangeburg locked in a brutal one-on-one. He surges ahead on the downhills and I catch him on the upswing. There really arent many hills on the course, so Coach Bishop – you were right. Thanks to having Billy to pace, the miles tick off like a metronome – all low 6:30’s. I feel surprisingly strong either despite or because of the crazy recent weekly mileage. Its pretty comical with seemingly just two people in the race. Billy asks me if I have any stories to tell him to pass the time. Finally we hit turnaround and a little after mile 4 we meet up with the rest of the pack still heading out.  Its a nice distraction as I bide my time, knowing this is going to come down to a painful fight down the stretch.  The pace starts to get a little quicker in miles 4 and 5, right at 6:30 a piece.  Billy has let me shoulder some of the pacing for awhile, though he is breathing down my neck the whole time.  Im starting to hurt a little but I’m more anxious of what I know is going to be a showdown coming up. As we go past the 10kish mark, I start to amp it up a bit. Billy follows right behind. This is not going to be easy. Finally we hit a quick double turn and the beginning of a long incline. All of a sudden I realize we may be approaching that downhill finish on the other side.  I glance down at the Garmin and see around 6.8 miles (12k is 7.46) and I decide its time to go all in. Billy has faded just a touch, and its like blood in the water.  He’s  way better than me on the downhills, so I blast up the last incline with everything I have, praying I havent miscalculated the course. As I crest the hill I can faintly make out the finish line in the distance. Im in a world of hurt from flying up that hill, but something dark and evil comes over me when I see that clock. I ramp it up as hard as I can go, deathly afraid of Billy catching me on this almost half mile long downhill stretch. Just before the finish theres an abrupt switch to a short uphill, and it about kills me. The Honey Bunches of Oats want to make an appearance but I manage to push breakfast down. I hear someone screaming that someone is right behind me, so I lose all form and headless chicken it to the line.  Total fumes. I look up as I cross and cant believe its at 48:13. A PR by almost a minute! 3rd overall. I pretty much collapse at make sweet love to the pavement trying to breathe again. Turns out it was Tigs yelling at me (she and Eric were doing the 5k) and “right behind me” apparently meant 30 seconds back. I am just total toast. Looking back at the Garmin data shows a 6:20 mile 7 and a 5:29 last 0.46. That would certainly explain it.

After about 5 minutes of sucking wind I finally come to the painful realization I have to do a 5k in just over a half hour. Its not looking good – the legs, which felt pretty great for the first 6 miles, were definitely complaining about that last 1.46. I took a bunch of pics of the 12 k finish. Good to see Birgit crush the women’s field for the overall win, chicking Ted (who won the 40-44) in the process. Steve Annan is 67 and ran 52:08, an 82 percent age grade. John Sneed and Nonie Hudnall also had near 80 percent performances. In fact, I was the only finisher in the top 14 under 40. Who says it gets easier when you get older? Chuck Hiers easily won the overall male with Bob Sams finishing 2nd. Marie won her age group of one with a strong 1:03 performance, good enough to get Amy a first in AG as well! Pam Griffin, Cheryl and Tommy Outlaw all age group placed. Billy had to settle for 2nd because they only went one deep in the overall. Brutal. Larry Bates won the 55-59 by seven minutes. Impressive.

I was hating life by the time of the 5k start, but what are you going to do? Erin Roof, the race director, hoped that I could pace her son Parker to another sub 20 attempt. I remember her saying something on facebook about not “wearing yourself out too much in the 12k”.  She forgets that self-restraint is certainly not my forte. Billy, Marie and Amy, the Outlaws, and Hou Yin Chang are a few of the people returning for the Double Down. Sarah and Eric have come out to run the 5k only, along with Marie’s mom Kimberly. I am acutely aware that neither of the top 2 12k finishers are returning.  Looks like the Double Down championship is coming down to me and Billy.

At the 5k start, some kid in a blue shirt takes off and Eric falls in behind him. I let a bunch of people pass me. Why? My legs are giving me a major “Are you f#$%g serious??” reaction. On the other hand, I can at least match my 6:30ish pace I had locked into in the early part of the 12k.  Parker , who blasted out to a 6:00 mile in our last 5k, is smarter this time around and is only a few meters ahead. Tigs is also ahead of me, and I’m already dreading the crap I’m going to take from her when she beats me. And damn that Billy, he’s a good 30 meters ahead only a half mile in. I hold 6:30 pace and start to catch quite a few guys as I approach the mile mark. Just past the mile (6:32) I catch up with Tigs and Parker. Tigs tells me she hates me. I love it. I tell Parker he’s right on pace but I think he’s fading a bit. I surge ahead though Im not going any faster. And then suddenly its just me and Billy again. Billy is a good bit ahead, and I start trying to calculate how many seconds I have to still get the Double Down if he beats me. I am slowly gaining on him though. I hit mile 2 at 6:39 and realize that most of the soreness has dissipated. Oh jeez, time to throw down again. Blood is in the water again as a quick surge puts me right on Billy’s heels. We hit the same incline as the 12k finish, and its complete deja vu. I blast up the incline, pass Billy and give a million percent effort all the way down. Honey Bunches of Oats start getting jumpy again but thankfully stay where they belong. Unbelievably I still see 19’s on the clock and blast it out to a 19:41 finish, 3rd overall again!  Didnt think sub 20 was possible after those first two miles. At first I thought there was a short course, but I had 3.09 on this certified route.  Garmin check reveals a 5:59 last mile. I have no idea where that came from, but apparently if you offer me a trophy chance I will virtually kill myself to get it.

Eric battled it out with the young guy for the 5k win and they had a virtual photo finish, with the same time. Unfortunately for Eric, the other guy (Daniel Patrick)  must of outleaned him at the tape. Tigs took home the women’s overall . Parker didnt get his sub 20 but still took first in his age group. Marie was by far the youngest double downer (13), finished 3rd in her age group in the 5k and won the female double down championship!  Ashley Horton finished 2nd in the 25-29. I think her sister finished 3rd. Amy won her age group even with a 26 minute time. Ted managed 2nd in 21:52, which is probably the best 5k performance of the double down compared to our usual times. Parker’s dad and Erin’s husband Joe Roof finished 2nd int he 45-49. Billy easily won his age group with Mike Griffin in a  strong second. Both of the Outlaws won their age groups, despite both doing the double down. Alex Ponamarev finished third in a tough 60-64.

Oh, and so I won the overall double down! Between the two age group wins I picked up 3 pint glasses total. And even better..a $150 gift card to Grove Park Pharmacy. I first had visions of a cartload of toothpaste and shampoo, but it turns out this store has a big selection of high end sunglasses. I went there right after the race and picked up a pair of 150 dollar Costa polarized shades. Awesome. Erin Roof and Todd Heinecke are definitely the road race swagmasters! Thanks guys!

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/13rosefest.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307697645

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307697617

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151601027125419.1073741840.777475418&type=1

So April 27th had been a weekend I had already thought about taking off. “Off” is a relative term, since I had run the Run for Your Life Downhill Mile on April 25 (Thursday). But if I’m not pinning on a bib on Saturday morning, then its “off” for me. The option I had was to run the Harbison Firebreak 10k or half, but readers of this blog know that trails are my kryptonite. Sure its fun to go easy pace in the woods, but when I race on trails, all I do is stare at my feet the whole time trying not to wipe out. And then there’s this race, the Providence Heart and Sole 5 miler.  It seems like a really cool race, except I don’t think they’d take too kindly to a 6’3″ albino sasquatch trying to bully his way into a women’s race. Plus, I’d get chicked…bad. So here is Jen “Mrs. Diesel” Ward’s race report.

 The Providence Heart and Sole 5 miler is one of my favorite races. It offers a 5-mile run, a 5-mile walk, and a 3-mile walk to create greater awareness of women and heart disease.  Long before my days of running began, I would walk the 5 miler with a group of ladies. I think part of the reason I have always loved this race, is because I enjoyed the car ride alone. I also enjoyed not having the pressure from Diesel telling me what I need to do, although he did send me a text that said… “You need to sub 42:00. Last years time 45:03 weak.”

Diesel apparently has no shame hiding behind his kids …or his wife.

Packet pickup was from 7-8 a.m. and I arrived at Arsenal Hall at 7:58 a.m. I figured I would let the crowd die down and since I am not one of the “fast runners,” I have never felt the need to show up an hour early to scope out the competition or warm up.

Jeez, what kind of obsessive freak would do that??

The race started at 8:30, so after socializing with several different people, I lined up with one of my friends from high school that also participates in this race each year. She asked me what my goal was; I told her my goal for every race is to just finish it faster than I did the year before. 

The course starts out pretty flat with dancers, vendors & volunteers cheering you on. Mile 3 is the climb up Gervais Street!

I decided to camp out and take pics at that site. Everyone appreciated me catching them walking up that monster.

I won’t list all my splits in case you guys are like me and skim that part of the blog each week. 🙂

Ouch. I’m sorry, I’m a numbers freak.

I will just say mile 3 was a minute slower than mile 2. The last two miles are pretty flat & I just kept waiting to see the downhill finish. I had to dodge a group of young “Girls on the Run” who were finishing the 3 mile around the same time. I was happy to see them out participating and was even more happy to see the clock, as I finished at 41:05- a 3 min. & 58 second PR. I did not come close to placing, but I did get a rose, chocolate covered strawberry & the satisfaction of doing better than Diesel had ordered! Joan Tangwar of Spartanburg, won the 5-Miler with a scorching time of 27:54! Congrats to Kristin Schmitz, Sharon Cole & all the others who placed in their age groups!

Congrats Jen! I’d like to see Diesel face Mt. Gervais without catching a case of the walksies. The SR team did really well at this race (Kenzie, Shannon, Erin, Mary Claire) with them all finsihing in the top 10 I believe. Kenzie got 3rd overall and Shannon got first masters. Birgit Spann finished 2nd masters and Janice Addison won 1st grandmasters. This race featured two brutally competitive age groups – the 45-49 group finished within 17 seconds of each other with Sharon finishing 3rd at 35:20. Karen Manning won the group at 35:03. Mary Howk, Lynn Grimes and Catherine Lemepesis filled out an all-elite 60-64 with Mary breaking 40 minutes. Speaking of breaking 40, Joyce Welch also crushed a 39:07 PR and 2nd in her AG.

A lot of fun to watch this race – huge crowd and lots of enthusiasm. Jeanna Moffett does a really good job directing this race, which has really grown over the years. Now if I can just get my rose and chocolate covered strawberries at my next finish line!

The Quarry Crusher is now in its 2nd year and, through word of mouth, has grown significantly from the inaugural event last year. Its  the most unique race in Columbia and probably the state. Imagine running a quarter mile of a typical road 5k….before descending into a mile long pit into the center of the earth. Pretty cool.

This is my second time around for this event, and it should have never happened if you go by what I swore 1000 times during last years race. But alas, the quarry is closed to the public the other 364 days of the year, and somehow my giant melon of a head started to think… it wasnt that bad, was it? 

And so I somehow I signed up for another torture session. In my sick, twisted mind I always want to do my worst races over again as if to somehow prove I don’t really suck that bad. In reality, the suckage was a lot less than I made it out to be. I finished 11th in last years race even with all the f-bombs, power walking and general misery. But there wasnt a huge amount of the publicity in the first year, so I think I might have been trophy hunting a bit. So far as I know, they don’t give trophies for 11th place.

But wait…they do if you complain enough. For calling her out as a fraud (see her promotional video from last year for reference)  and generally slandering her name in public, Merritt McHaffie, the director of the 5 points association and emcee for last years race, gave me one of their left over promotional rocks.  So far the first trophy I’ve received for being an ass. I’m sure not the last.

She also had talked about making another video with racing me her in the quarry, to settle the score. This never came about, probably because she knows my Brandi Chastain impression is way hotter.

http://www.thestate.com/2012/04/18/2239282/get-a-chance-to-run-in-columbias.html

Promo video or not, this race seemed to have a lot more buzz this year, and I heard there were over 300 registered in the week before the event. Otis Taylor from the State also ran a big article in the weekend section of the state where he professed to training specifically for this race. To the collective groans of my friends, the article also quoted this blog in a few paragraphs, further adding to my reputation as an unabashed attention whore.

Fearing the worst in this race, I apparently decided the best way to prepare for this grueling undertaking was of course to do a 5k an hour before hand. Well, Greta Dobe it last year and didnt walk at all, so I could do it too, right? I did. A fruitless trophy hunt at the Cones for a Cure 5k in Forest Acres. The Ashtons , David He and even Hayes Selbee showed up and “stole” my precious win. But that’s for another post.

To my credit, I wasnt the only insane one looking to double up on the day. James Hicks, John Gasque, Valerie Selby and Hou-Yin Chang also took part in the most idiotic double dip in history.

Part of the reason for doubling up was that I didn’t like my chances in the Crusher. I knew the Yerger would be there, and since he has about 50 less pounds to carry out of the quarry, advantage: Rob. Plus, with the size of the race growing so much, the trophy chance became significantly slimmer.

Sure enough, Dimery showed up, as well as Rick Stroud and some of his Harbison trail crew. There were also a ton of pretty fast looking dudes up at the front this year, in stark contrast to 2012. Not a whole lot of familiar faces at this race for me. I think a lot of people showed up for the novelty of the event and the sheer challenge. A lot of crossfitters, some costumes.  Sarah Blackwell, Adam Beam, and Greta were back again. Ken Cobb was there to make sure I didnt have a prayer of placing in my age group.  Jenn Covington was there to cash in her free CRC race.

I lined up a few rows back and decided to take this start a hundred times easier than the sprint I did last year. Like half marathon pace. Just scared to death of the trauma of 2012. As noted above, the first quarter mile is on the roads near Olympia Mills apartments, before you enter the quarry. Once you go through the gates, there’s another quarter mile of some fairly steep, but not too bad, incline. For the uninitiated, this gives you a false sense of security. Then there’s a hard left, and its like oh dear God…  Suddenly you’re in virtual freefall down a corkscrew road into a seemingly bottomless pit. You know its bad when there’s a 10 mph speed limit sign and another one for trucks to check their brakes before the descent. It doesnt help that a pack of vultures can be seen circling the ridge above. They came to the right place.

And out come the leg sledgehammers again. I’m desperately trying to find a happy space between the pain of blasting down the decline at full speed versus the pain of trying to brake yourself against gravity. If you check my pics, you can see there’s a lot of gravity involved. FYI, there is no happy space. Either way the sledgehammers are hitting somewhere. I’m trying to be all tactical, but when Adam, then James,then Sarah,  pass me – my overwhelming grandiosity starts complaining. I latch on to James and Sarah for the rest of the way down, which I see, as forewarned, has gotten longer with the continued digging over the past year.  The leader (Kevin Trumpeter) and Dimery are already heading back up with a tenth of a mile for me to go. I guess hanging on to the lead pack is not going to happen this year.

The turnaround is just psychologically devastating. Its like you’ve reached rock bottom. HAHA. Yeah… it sucks. My goal was not to walk this year, and I swear the evil walksie voices start talking right away. But I keep telling myself to keep going. The first half is just brutal. The back of the pack is flying down at double your speed while you’re crumpled over straining to do 11 minute pace. Keep going….  Baby steps. The voices are screaming, especially when half the dudes ahead of you are already in soccer mom mode. But I’m making slow and steady progress, passing people left and right blazing away at  first time 5ker speed. Halfway up Merritt’s lounging around in her golf cart, taunting me again, saying something about her foot being in a boot from last week’s Palmetto Half.  Excuses, excuses.

I finally catch Adam at about three quarters up and he is saying something about “one more hill”. Dude must be delirious, because I know there’s least three more brutal inclines. But whatever works. On the next hill the lead girl (who had been walking) comes flying by me. Oh hell no. I start picking up the pace, but the walksie voices get louder, and I go back to my “couch to 5k” crawl. Luckily, she starts walking again and I pass her with my power jog.  Finally, I’m near the top and the 10 percent grade becomes like 3 percent, and it feels like heaven. By the time I reach the gate I’m almost up to 7 minute pace and set my sights on a guy that looks suspiciously mid thirtiesh. I try to be all stealth, but when you weigh 190 and are breathing like a rabid banshee, the element of surprise is perhaps not optimal. Nevertheless, I blow by him and actually start reaching near 5k race pace, which feels like a sprint after all the light jogging. I round the corner and see the clock still in the 25’s (I ran 28:04 last year). I blast out the last bit and finish in 26:05 or something. 17th place. The official time has me in 25:43, so I’m not sure if we briefly entered some hole in the space-time continuum, but I’ll take it. Race is supposed to be 3.7 miles, though my Garmin has 3.4 this year with a longer course. I’m thinking the Garmin is probably just in WTF? mode when it sees you going 400 feet underground.

I didnt get to stay around long, but I hear they did give out cool rocks as age group awards this year. The only problem is ..one deep age groups? I was 4th in AG so it didnt matter anyway, but every other race does top three. Do I get another rock for complaining again?

Sarah rocked a 3rd overall female, so awesome for her. Dimery won 2nd in a blazing 22:04. Hats off to the Trumpeter, who crushed the field with a 21:11. The Yerg captured my age group and Rick Stroud won the 40-44. Greta won her age group as well, along with Valerie Selby, who rocked out a brutal finishing kick. Must be all that Team Utopia South training.

Quarry Crusher..better be ready for the Blue Shoes next year.

http://quarrycrusherrun.com/results2013.pdf

Once again the Palmetto 200 and the Palmetto Half were on the same day, so I had to skip my “home field” race. Trophy agreed to submit his report on this race, which is held on the hallowed Blue Shoes training grounds and directed by our fearless marathon training leader, Ken “Captain Marathon” Calcutt.

This is the 4^th year of the Palmetto Half Marathon.  Race starts and finishes in Sandhills. This race is one I definitely look forward to.  The race director Ken Calcutt is a good friend and running companion and it’s also a course that we train on quite a bit, so I know it well.  This race usually brings out a lot of familiar faces and fast runners.  This year’s field was missing some notable faces due to the Boston Marathon and the Palmetto 200.  Most notably…the Blue Shoes.

Trophy appears to have a chip on his shoulder…a 6’3″ 195 pound pale white chip.

The weather for this race was perfect. Temps were probably high 40’s when I got there and low 50’s for most of the race.  I arrived early to beat the massive crowd and do some expected socializing.  With the Blue Shoes absent I feel it is my job as his sidekick to mingle as much as possible.  A job I take very seriously. I decided to camp out in front of Academy and survey the talent while talking to fellow running group member Nathan.  After a little while of this we join Larry, Matthew, and Tommy for a quick warm up.  We get back in time and I make my way through the crowd to near the front.  I see Plexico is here and figure he is favorite to win.  Not too many fast faces that I see.  But you never know where they will come from.

Trophy was probably warming up to make absolutely sure he had his 1:34 half pace down.

My goal for this race was to break my 1:34 curse. Up to this point I have run 4 half marathons in 1:34….all of which were within 11 seconds of each other and two were exactly the same time down to the second. Apparently I am extremely consistent in half marathons…even though I have zero consistency in a 5K. Go figure. My training had been pretty decent coming off the Columbia Full. I figured it was about 50/50 that I could break the curse and go sub 1:34.  Unfortunately I didn’t see any good pacers to start off. Where is Burgess when you need him!??!?  (Last year he was kind enough to pace me and do play by play)

Burgess likes to jibber jab during the race and then drops Trophy like a bad habit. Its all those Dr Pain /miles of smiles intervals from last year. My Burgess Project continues to do well. Bwa ha ha ha. My hopes were high for the Trophy at this one. I figured he had a 1:32 easy, maybe 1:31.

We take off and the pace is pretty fast to begin with.  I hit the first mile in sub 7 and know this might not be good. We reach the overpass and I see Plex already turning on to Two Notch and already opening up a good size lead. Shocker.  I’m feeling pretty good at this point and am just keeping steady with around a 7 pace.  The last few miles coming back down Valhalla is rough so I need to get some cushioning. I’m about 3 miles in when I realize….there is no female in front of me?!!?  Odd. Normally some fast ones will show up and whip up on me.  Hold that thought. I look to my right and here she comes. So much for that. Not only does one pass me….but 3.  They were running in a pack of sorts….each separated by about 5 feet. I had a plan to stick with them for as long as I could. Good in theory…bad execution. They dropped me quickly.

What’s worse than getting chicked? Triple chicked by three girls he doesnt even know.

Everything went pretty smoothly until the hills in Wildewood.  They sure can suck the life out of you. I got back onto Mallet hill and headed home and tried to regain my speed I had lost on the hills.  I passed a couple of guys and was feeling decent. After a little ways down Mallet Hill you get to start running against the back of the pack.  I find it actually works well and most of them are quite nice and try to motivate you.  At this point in time the sun is coming up and I’m starting to feel it…so it was definitely needed.  The run down Mallet allows you to get some momentum back…and the few streets before Valhalla aren’t bad either.  But then you get back on Valhalla and the fun begins. The first part is downhill and nice.  But then you get a few rolling hills and this can make or break you.  It’s at a point in the race when you start to wear down.  For me…it seems to be break time. I am struggling to maintain pace as I go through the hills. I’ve run them many times so I know exactly what to expect. The only good thing was that no one was passing me.

Interestingly, Trophy leaves out the nasty quarter mile mountain on Valhalla. I run it a couple times a week. Its a beast and will break you just after mile 10.

After a nice little climb we finally reach Two Notch and turn for home. After a slight rise…you get a little bit of a downhill stretch back to the overpass at Clemson. I ramp up the pace a little bit, but feel at this point it’s pointless. The ever present calculator in my head is telling me that my goal of a sub 1:34 is pretty much unattainable without running a sub 6 final two miles. But…I drudge on.  Hit the overpass and it’s as fun as always.  The finish at this race is awesome though (once you get up the overpass).   I start the descent to Sandhills and try to pick up the pace.  I was passed by a fellow who looked suspiciously like a possible age grouper a little ways back. Must track him down.  I hit the turn into Sandhills and see he is slowing.  Time to unleash the Blue Shoes (metaphorically speaking since I just bought a pair of garnet and black shoes and this was my first race in them). I do not possess many things in life…but a kick I do have. I floored it and gave it everything I had.  Apparently dude has no kick cause it wasn’t close. But fun nonetheless. If you don’t feel like you are going to die when you finish…what fun is that?!!!?  I felt like death.

A finish to make me proud. Nice job Trophy.

I wasn’t sure of my exact time. My watch had delayed a little bit at the start and I didn’t catch the time on the clock as I was racing through.  I knew it was 1:34 something…so I wasn’t too concerned. It wasn’t until I got home and checked the results that I saw it. 1:34:22.  Why is this significant?  First off….1:34.  As Alex might say…son of a bitch. Second…it is the exact same time down to the second as my 2012 Palmetto Half time and 2011 Gov Cup time.  Wow. Is this even possible?!!?  I’m starting my own business….pacing people to 1:34 half marathons!  Email me for details.

Swear? Me? Never. 

As expected Plexico won by a couple minutes. 2^nd going to James Jackson of Aiken and 3^rd to Jonathon Ross of Atlanta. The female winner was indeed the woman who was in the lead when they passed me.  Heather Costello of Lugoff. 2^nd going to Emily Schneider and 3^rd to Ashlee Sears.  Winning time for Heather was 1:28.  Apparently they decided to pick up the pace a little once they passed me.  First place for male masters went to the leader of the A training group Larry Jourdain with second going to John Bradley.  First female masters was Sharon Cole.   I didn’t talk to everyone after so not sure of PR’s and all times. The Ward family did well.  PR’s by both Heath and Jen in the half and Brady and Brooke in the 5K.  I’ll let Alex hit any other CRC members who may have placed.  I, by the way, finished 4^th in age group.  So close. And the guy I passed….indeed in my age group. Good call.

There was also a 5k going on while we suffered through the half. Mike Hedgecock squeaked out a victory over Renato Cortez, Jr.  On the female side Nicole Berzins earned the victory.

Hey that Renato guy stole my 100 bucks at Healthy Capital. Nice job, Hedge.

Trophy signing off.  (Until I run another race Alex doesn’t or I beat him)

Good luck with that. Thanks, Trophy!

The Palmetto 200 is a 200 mile relay from Columbia to Charleston (James Island county park) that is now in its 4th year, and also marks my fourth year doing the event.

My first year doing this I had no idea what I was getting into. My longest run was all of 13 miles, and I am definitely someone who needs their sleep, but the idea of traveling to Charleston by foot was too cool to turn down.

Of course, it is not actually one person doing this. Typical conversation I have every year:

Me: I’m doing a 200 mile relay this weekend.

Person: Oh my God, youre running 200 miles?

Old response: long winded description of relays,legs,vans, etc, etc.

New response: Yes. Yes I am.

If you are one of the above people, the relay is 200 miles split up among 12 people. The 200 miles are chopped up into 36 parts, called “legs”, with each person running 3 of the legs. The mileage varies 1.4-9.7, but most are in the 5-7 mile range.

My connection with the P200 goes back to my pre-blue shoes days of posting on the “sub 22 5k ” message boards on Runners World looking for training advice. As it turns out, one of the regulars was a “MrSig” , who I eventually found out was also in Columbia. Mr Sig turned out to be Brian Clyburn, “El Capitan” of our team, who basically recruited me for the first relay as an unknown.

I did the 2010 P200 like a complete idiot.  My longest run was 13 miles at the time, and I had almost 23 scheduled, supposedly as one of our faster runners. I went blasting out of the gate on my first leg (leg 3)  and died a thousand deaths on that first 8.8 miler in the broiling sun. By my third leg at 5 am (leg 27) I was walking and hallucinating, swearing (quite literally)  up and down I’d never do this again.

That was 4 relays ago.

Running the Palmetto has now become an annual tradition, overseen by Brian and his spreadsheet. Most captains will haphazardly get their team together and hope everything turns out on race day. Not the Capitan. We get several pages of color coded excel sheets with our legs, distance, expected pace and arrival departure in each exchange zone. The thing is a work of art. Our blue ridge relay sheet had some quotient of difficulty due to the hills factored in, and this one had projected dew point and temperature.   Michelangelo had the Sistine Chapel, Clyburn has his spreadsheet.

We also have at least two team runs and a team lunch…and about 20 emails counting us down toward our race day.  We are one well oiled machine by the time we toe the starting line.

The team has evolved over the years, but myself, Brian, David McNiece and Joel have been constants. For this we have earned the five stars on our team shirts ( 4 palmettos, 1 blue ridge). This year Brian’s wife Jen rejoined the team, Joel’s wife Amanda came back, Darrell “Code” Brown was in for #3, Brandon was back for his second relay,  and David’s brother Andy was also in for his second. Newbies included Winston, who had been on mine and Code’s ninja team in the blue ridge, Conner – a friend of Brandon’s,  and Julie – an FBI agent who works with Winston.  We had lost our ringer Kori from the last couple of years but had some strong replacements that would probably put us close to last years record pace.

We got to the the start line at 11:15 for our scheduled departure at noon. They stagger the start times based on projected speed, beginning at 6 am for the slowest teams and 1:30 for the fastest. One of the 1:30 teams included Dan Hartley’s Columbia Marathon team, who were cool enough to come see us off at the Columbia speedway. Jennifer Hill, Jeff Curran, Israel Bilbao, Geary McAlister, Rob Yerger, Rick Gibbons were on hand soon after we showed up.  This was nice because technically we “stole” their vans. Apparently Triangle rent a car “reservations” are more like “suggestions”. We reserved the vans probably 6 months ago, but the guys at Triangle made it sound like we were very fortunate to get 2 of their precious 15 passenger vans. Luckily Brian and Joel got there at the crack of dawn and got the last 2, with them telling the guys to hold the other van for the slackers (i.e. Myself and the Code) who were coming at 9:30.  When we got there Dan was about to blow a gasket (rightfully so) because his reserved vans were not available. He got 2 large SUVs instead. Which sucks. Really bad. You want every bit of possible room on these relays. Believe me. I would have been charged with assault on a Triangle employee, so Dan handled himself a lot better than me.

After a rundown of the rules by RD’s  Kirk and Brian, we were off with 3 other teams. Joel was runner 1 and literally the second after the start gun it starts freaking pouring rain. Total downpour. Joel, being an expereinced runner (ex collegiate) held back on the first part of this leg, which is a lap around the old Columbia motor speedway in Cayce.  Although I didnt see it, he apparently then crushed the others over the next 6 miles. David had the second leg, the only one which is mostly dirt road. He told me he wasnt at his best but still did well. He got passed by some total ringer dude in a singlet, but held his own after that. Andy had leg #3 , which completely wrecked me in 2010. 9 miles out in the broiling sun – it was now close to 80 degrees and humid to boot. Everybody got scared seeing Andy, a 17 min 5ker, suffering out there. Jennifer and Brian had strong runs down Charleston highway and took us ahead of pace. Then came the dreaded leg 6 . Leg 6 has an ungodly mountain which produces more cases of walksies than I’ve ever seen. And its long (8 miles) with no shade. Code takes off on leg 6 like its a wintertime 5k, 6:20 ish and no water. Surprisingly he motored up the mountain like a champ. However, the finish was probably 3-4 miles down the road and I think he barely made it. Apparently he caught the walksies shortly after the hill, and by the time he finsihed he was complete toast. I as half worried I might need to take him to an ER, but apprently this rare compound called dihydrogen monoxide was able to revive him. Go figure. Amanda then blazed through her 1.7 mile leg in St Matthws (the shortest in the relay). Winston has been training like a beast of late with the times to prove it (39:09 I think at the bridge run 10k) . He blasted through a 6 miler in the blazing heat like it was nothing, 6:30ish pace I believe. Julie then took the handoff for leg 9. She is one of the very rare runners who is not a slave to a Garmin, so she had no idea what her pace was. She took off in total beast mode, and damned if she didnt rock a 4 miler at 7:15 pace. Conner and Brandon took the next two legs out of Cameron, SC, leaving me to run #12 in the tiny town of Elloree.

My first leg was an 8 miler , my longest of the relay, going from Elloree to Santee State park. The leg didnt look too bad on paper, elevation wise.  By the time I took the handoff from Brandon, it was just after 7 pm, and still freaking hot. I had initially opted for the reflective vest on white hairy chest ensemble, but my fashion police on the van (julie and the Code) gave the “chest thong” a definite thumbs down. One need only to see my leg 12 pic at blue ridge to see what an awful sight that is. Fearing arrest in Elloree, I went with the white tech shirt instead. When I got the relay bracelet, I took off like a complete moron. About a mile in, I seemed to be laboring too much for the 7 minute pace I was trying to hit. Garmin spits back a 6:18. NICE JOB HERO. And that was just the beginning. The next 5 miles were a complete death march. Got overheated and had to slow down big time. Whats worse were about 3 miles on a dirt road in the epicenter of nowhere. I was all alone and was wishing for the sweet release of death about 4 miles in, cursing myself  over and over.  These dirt hills kept coming out of nowhere and sucking my life away. One part was so muddy I had to stop and walk around it for about 20 meters lest I lose my blue racers in the sludge. I finally caught up with Curtis from the Darlington Marathon team who looked like he was hurting just as a  bad. I finally hit the entrance to Santee State Park and was so glad to be done…except apparently the entrance road is over 2 miles. Nice. After thinking the end was around the next turn for 15 minutes, I finally saw Joel at the exchange zone. I was a total wreck after I passed off the bracelet. Basically a nice mix of pukish and pass outish. I think I scared a couple of locals docking their boat at the lake afterward. Its imagine its not often to see a half naked delirious albino saquatch taking an ice bath in Lake Moultrie.

It was dark after my leg and we left van 1 (Joel, Andy, David, Jen, Brian and Amanda) to go to work while van 2 ( myself, code, julie, winston, brandon, conner) got dinner at Lone Star Barbeque near Santee. Its a nationally known place profiled on the food network. So good. I highly recommend it.

We had some downtime before Code’s leg 18, so we went ahead to that exchange zone and finally started to see some more teams. With us starting so late, the first 12 legs were pretty desolate. I made the first use of a relay essential – the sleeping bag. I guess you can sleep in the van, though if youre 6’3″ its not exactly comfortable. Of course, finding the key elements of sleeping bag placement is difficult – you want low noise, no bugs/snakes, somewhere you can be found, and most importantly – somewhere where you will NOT be run over by a white 15 passenger van. I crashed out for a bit on the bag, but didnt really sleep as it was only 10 pm or so. The night sky is amazing in Cross, SC though.

Van 1 put in some good runs on their shift and had gotten us closer to spreadsheet pace by the time Code got the handoff for leg 18.  I was a bit concerned about the Code, since this was 9 miles , and not too far removed from the brutal leg 6 and a full belly of barbeque. Not sure when he went off but I think it was close to midnight. Sure enough, the Code was hurting and cussing up a storm when he finally arrived. In reality I think it was like 7:30 pace but he made it seem like he was out for a stroll with his mom. After Jen took leg 19 we were finally back in regular rotation.  My memory gets a little hazy at this point, mostly because I was driving and trying to avoid all the teams we were now catching up with. Just mobs of teams, some with people on bikes shadowing the female runners. Thats nice of them, but the last thing I want to do is a freaking brick workout in the middle of the relay. Sorry ladies.

We put together a nice string of legs in the middle of the night. It was MUCH cooler and the terrain gets a lot flatter as well as you get closer to the coast. Somewhere Conner said he made contact with one of the other Columbia teams – Girls Gone Run, which had Joyce Welch , Ellen Rodillo-Fowler and Dand Burgess. Joyce apparently completely chicked Conner. Sorry dude, she’s fast. I had leg 24 next, a very short 2.3 mile leg near Moncks Corner. It was now 3:30 in the morning, and had gotten damn cold. Julie had a short leg before mine, but I was freezing my ass off every time I got out of the van, so I waited to the last minute. I see Julie coming close when I get to the exchange when I realize WHERE IS MY BIB??. Answer: in the freaking van 100 meters away. So I haul ass to the van , grab the bib and fly back. Julie has just arrived and is frantically looking for an albino beast but cant find me. After a few tense seconds, I go flying by at mach 5, grab the bracelet and take off. I start off relatively easy, 6:40ish , ramp it up to 6:20 then blast it out the remaining .30 in sub 6 pace, desperately trying to make up at least some of that total fail from leg 1.  Two guys doing 10 minute pace briefly feared for their lives until my freight train self passed by with my new 50 dollar beacon-esque headlamp. I was at a full out sprint when I handed off to the Capitan.  Leg 24 was done in 15 minutes, so I then jumped in the van, jacked up on adrenaline and headed to our last van flip at zone 31 (Jennie Moore Elementary in Mt Pleasant).

We got there at about 4:30ish and its a total ghost town. We’ve apparently gone from behind everybody to completely in front.  There are literally 4 vans in the parking lot and its dead silent. PERFECT! I grab my sleeping bag and pillow and hop on a picnic table, which is like the freaking tempur-pedic bed of relays. No bugs, no getting run over, and with hardly anyone else at the zone, completely free of loud talkers. I jumped that table like a sailor on shore leave and sleep like a champ for a good hour and a half. When I wake up its still completely quiet and getting light. I feel like I’m on drugs because I actually  got some rest, which is like gold for these overnight relays. My only regret is looking over and seeing Travis Cowan in a hammock – now that is the way to go next time. He was shouldering some  ultra distance for his team which included his wife Stephanie and “barefoot” John Richards.

We had about an hour to spare during we went to town on a Chick Fil A in Mount Pleasant. When we got back Amanda with van 1 was en route, and she came blazing into the school to hand off to Julie. Julie , being a newbie to the team, had all the short legs, so she again crushed out another 5kish distance like a minute under spreadsheet pace. She’s definitely getting more work next time. Winston then had a 5 miler and blasted out some more sub 7 pace over the IOP connector. He unfortunately was supposed to do 6:40ish the whole time. The Capitan showed him some tough love! Brandon took leg 33 and laid down another 4.4 over the Ben Sawyer bridge like a boss. Code took the next leg, and he was toast by his own account. Still, he had only 3.1 miles, so I had to hurry down to Patriots Point to get Conner ready for leg 35.  Turns out I missed the parking lot for the exchange zone, and decide to take the next turn to turn around…which ends up being the on-ramp to the freaking Ravenel (Cooper River) Bridge. The bridge is almost 2 miles long, so I’m flying across it, deathly afraid of the Code just sitting there waiting. I take the first exit and then pull an action movie style U-turn that Julie assures me would pass at FBI driving school. I fly back at breakneck speed,  and make it to the exchange zone with less than 5 minutes to spare.  Conner probably got like 30 seconds to stretch before Code comes around the corner. After the handoff, I  took a shortcut to Mason Prep (near Montagu and Lockwood) and prepare for my final, and the team’s final, leg 36. Unfortunately Chick Fil A has decided to make its presence known, so me and the Mason Prep portapotty got to be very good friends. I am forever sorry to my fellow anchor leggers who followed after me. Finally Conner showed up after a run around the peninsula and I was left with my 6.66 mile, mark-of-the-beast anchor leg. I made plenty sure not to go out too fast, because the sun was blazing and it was already in the 70’s again. I knew we were too slow to break last years time, but I had a chance at getting us under 24 hours. Leg 36 is nuts – you have to cross like six heavily trafficked streets and cross 2 bridges. I had to stop quite a few times in the first few miles and wait for cars, trying to weigh a sub 24 versus my life. Luckily, they had quite a few cops out, and one time the guy brought like a hundred cars to a standstill to let me go by. All I could give him was a thumbs up, because I was starting to hurt. I was still pulling 7:15 pace with all the traffic, but the sun and heat were just killing me. This was the hottest weekend of the year so far, and I was definitely not used to it yet. I was so glad to finally get over the second bridge into James Island, but it seemed even more steamy once I got to the endless road to the finish at James Island County Park. Somehow I managed to get to the park, but I was dying. The park itself gave me a big adrenaline boost. I think I saw Girls Gone Run cheer at me on the way in, but it might have been a hallucination. It was killing me how long it was taking to get to the finish even though I was in the park. Finally I saw Julie and a couple of gold VOTR shirts in the distance and I threw down all that I had left – sucking wind and flopping around. I thought I was dead until I saw the clock and it was still in the 29’s (we were six hours off the clock, which meant 23’s for us). As my teammates started surrounding me for the run in, I misread the clock as 29: 59: 50 something and I went into some insane blue shoe kick that would rival my 5k finishes. I balsted across the finish at mach 5 , with the actual finish at 23:56:50 something. Under 24 hours!

The post race spread was awesome with food by sticky fingers and three kinds of beer. I made sure to get my 2 drafts, though I know better than the 2011 relay where I chugged 3 pints and was fighting the pukes for hours afterwards. The Capitan seemed pleased with the team’s performance, and I know I was – we lost a beast of a runner in Kori and still were only a couple of minutes off last years record. Code and I didnt exactly tear it up, but the others, especially Winston and Julie in our van,  more than made up for it.

The best part came a day later. FIRST PLACE. We were the winners of the mixed team category and 4th overall, out of 70+ teams. Incredible! Looks like we’ll have an even tougher standard to beat next year. I’m already scared of that spreadsheet!

http://www.palmetto200.com/palmetto200/2013-results

The Bunny Hop 5k is a new race this year put on by the downtown YMCA that goes to benefit their Partners with Youth program. In addition to being a new race, the event features a completely original course that runs from the corner of Washington and Sumter into the Robert Mills House area and back. Its a little strange, because at the far end of the out-and-back route is a two block double loop that you run like 2 laps on a track before heading back. Oh, and its flat. Not completely pancake, but pretty close.

There were three races on the Tour de Columbia this weekend, so I had to plan my trophy hunt carefully. Newberry was out, because they advertise prize money. This usually attracts people who are actually fast, like your Ashtons, Bishops and Plexicos, which completely ruins my chances.  The Resurrection run seemed appealing, because its usually very small, but I’ve noticed they still get winners below 18 minutes, so again, no chance. Plus, its held on the Cold Winters Day course, which I’ve run a million times, and will again in a couple of weeks at the Cones for a Cure. So Bunny Hop it was.

Although it was a first time race, YMCA’s Erin Roof was directing and Strictly was timing, so little chance of a Judicata flashback.

Did I mention my goal for the race? Well it was to stop the suck. Last two weeks had been a nightmare with my back injury. You would think that your injuries, when you participate in one activity maniacally and obsessively, would be related to that activity. Nope, I think it involved an overzealous snooze button hit a couple of weeks ago. I guess I’m not 18 anymore. One option would be not to race when you’re injured. But that would be a trauma too much for me to bear. Last week featured a long course, 40 degree rain and a 20:16 time. Oh, the horror.

But this week was better. Back was pretty much back to adequately supporting my sasquatchian physique, and the weather was nice for racing – overcast and cool. I showed up a little later than usual and saw a welcome sight – race shirts.

Now it is a very middle schoolish thing, but every regular road racer knows the fashion faux pas of wearing the race shirt to the race. Kind of screams couch to 5ker.  Not only did the Bunny Hop feature a bright blue tech shirt (which of course I approve) but there was a sea of blue in the crowd. Awesome.

One problem with the trophy hunt was the very real prospect of getting chicked again. Kenzie Riddle destroyed me at the Healthy Capital, and Amy McDonaugh was signed up for this one. Amy didnt have a guide for this race but Erin arranged a guy with a neon jacket and a bike to help. She asked me to make sure she stayed on course. I told her I’d be glad to keep her in sight much less direct her. I told Amy she really should slow down to help me out. Not a chance.

Erin also mentioned her son Parker was going to try and break 20 minutes and pointed me out as a pacer for him. Between the blue shoes, melon head and albino gorilla habitus, I stnad out in a crowd. Go figure.  I dont think I had actually met Parker before, though I tried like hell to track him down at the dam tri relay, when he had a three minute head start on the 4 mile run course. Didnt happen..the kid is fast.  I also heard his name a hundred times at the Pumpkin Run last year, when he was on my tail for most of the race and was clearly the hometown favorite.

At the start there were no singlet dudes, so that boded well.  Rick Gibbons, Pete Poore, J-Reeves, Wes and Rhea Spratt, Jeffrey Smith, Ashley Horton, Patti Lowden, Sharon Sherbourne and Henry Holt were some of the familiar faces, but really not a whole lot of people I knew. Gavin Ferguson, the kid that had me scared at the beginning of the Velocity Distance Project 5k, was also there.  A bunch of young dudes who lokoed relatively fit lined up at the front, so a potential wild card.

I blasted out hard from the start, but damned if Amy and 10 guys left me for dead in the first quarter mile, including Gavin and Parker.Are these kids going for sub 18? I was afraid I was starting to suck again, so I manned up and tried to keep all these guys in range. The last thing I wanted to do is get chicked and middle schooled.  First mile is almost all flat. I felt pretty good but was nervous about my placement as the first mile approached. I did pull even with Parker, who stuck to me like glue for a while, but I could tell he was hurting already with that sprint start. We hit the mile mark together …6:01. Didnt know we were going that fast, so I yelled out to Parker the split, hoping maybe he could slow down to keep from bonking.

After the first mile we started doubling back for the two-three block second lap. Amy had a nice lead and 4 other guys were still ahead of me. Looked like a couple kids and two guys that I was deathly afraid might be age groupers.  Things got a little dicey on the second mile, as we started threading into the back of the pack still on their first loop. I basically had to give these guys a wide berth. The last thing I wanted to do was for someone’s first race experience to be getting run over by a blue shoed truck. I did a fair amount of dodging and lost track of where the leaders were in the crowd. I was hurting but the flat course certainly helped me maintain the pace. Mile 2 came back at like 6 flat. Holy crap. Yes, I wanted to die, but it would be nice to PR.  Just past the mile mark we broke free of the pack and headed for home, so I could see everyone ahead of me. Amy’s lead had grown some but 4 guys were getting reeled back in.

And like David Banner when his eyes turned green, seeing potential road kill makes me a maniac. So with a mile to go, I just said F$%^ it and went for it. Arms pumping, lungs burning, pure blue shoe kick. Passed two of the guys  in the next 400 meters or so, leaving Amy and two guys to go. I finally caught the next guy with less than a half mile to go. I was in a world of pain but I could tell dude #4 was hurting worse and looking slightly over his shoulder. Probably wondering what the hell escaped from Riverbanks. As we made the last turn you could see the finish line. Between seeing the finish, being deathly afraid of this teenagers sprint speed, and seeing the 18’s again on the clock, I reached into some dark, scary place and found some other gear.  Amy finished a good bit ahead of me, but I suddenly realized I was in second place, and I threw down some adrenaline fueled 5 minute pace to the finish. 18:59! Garmin actually had my run at 3.18 miles, so 5:58 pace overall by the watch.  I apparently need to have better field vision when selecting my holes in the back of the pack defense. The course is certified.

But wait…this also meant I was first male. Trophy time! OK, so it doesnt really count as a win, but I have no shame when it comes to my precious trophies. And if you’re going to get chicked, at least let it be someone smokin fast. Amy won overall in 18:42.  The “four guys” (Mike Galdieri, AJ Enoch, Kevin Raymond and Josh Horton) finished in 19:04, 19:08, 19:15 and 19:31. Brian Talkington, who I remember racing at Runway, finsihed in 20:01/7th. Parker couldnt quite reach his goal, though 20:15 for a 13 year old (1st in AG) is still impressive. Other age groupers included Marie Demetriades first in the 2-14, Gavin finished 3rd in the guys division.  Ashley won second in the 25-29, just a few seconds from first. The Roof family claimed another winner with Joe taking first in the 45-49. Rick Gibbons barely won his age group by a mere six minutes. Wes Spratt impressed his tri friends Les and Frank by fighting off all the 55-59 competition and “winning” his age group of one. I’ll give him a break since he qualified for the 70.3 (half ironman) championships in San Juan 2 weeks ago. Pete Poore also won his age group by showing up, though he ran a strong time. Patti Lowden, Sharon Sherbourne, and the Holts all easily claimed age group glory as well.

It may hurt my trophy hunt for next year, but I won 100 bucks of Mast General Store gift cards, an hour massage at Hand and Stone and 2 free Columbia historic house tour tickets. Very nice swag!

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/13BUNNYHOP.TXT

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/290789764

The Healthy Capital is a 5k held at Columbia High School (mascot is the Capitals) that is put on to benefit the school. Its been a favorite of mine, as I set a PR there back in 2010 and the race is always well done. They typically have the high school band out there, lots of enthusiastic volunteers, and a hot dog cookout after the race. Ive missed the race the last two years though due to conflicts with the Palmetto 200 and the Rosewood Eagles 5k.

As it turns out every start up 5k in the city decided to hold their event on March 23, which didnt help registration for this race (or any of the others for that matter). There were literally five 5ks in the Columbia area yesterday. A couple of them I wasnt even aware of until after the fact. I’m someone constantly scanning the internet, my gym, running stores, etc. for races, so if I havent heard of your race in my hometown, clearly the advertising is less then optimal.

Of course, the dark side of the Blue Shoes sees this scenario as a perfect storm for trophy hunting. Healthy Cap was the only Tour de Columbia race, and a known quality event, so I had already signed up a couple of weeks ago. Shenequa Coles is the race director and an active runner in the community, so that always assures someone actually knows what they’re doing. Plus, at 15 bucks for early registration, this is the cheapest race on tour.

Given that this is an established race, on the TDC and offering prize money, it was definitely not the trophy hunt pick of the day. I saw that Trophy was racing somewhere, but he knows better than to let me in as to where.

When I got to the race site, it was absolutely miserable. Temp was 40 degrees and just a total downpour. Couldn’t believe it was late March and the weather was still sucking this bad. The only worse race for weather was the Make my Day 12k. At least this race was on roads and not the trails.

Turnout looked pretty light with all the other races going on and virtually zero race day registration. I don’t think too many people woke up and thought it would be a great day to race. I had a minimal warmup, basically doing a few laps around the parking lot and a couple of strides. Scouting the competition, I didn’t see any known male elites. There was one fast looking dude I’d never seen before, but no one else. This is a high school race , so I thought there was always the chance at some random cross country dude coming out. Among the women, Kenzie Riddle was there with Erin Miller, so at least the female side had some competition. I figured Kenzie would probably win this thing. Of course, that also meant that maybe, just maybe I could get some overall glory for myself.  Kenzie would usually kick my ass, but we virtually tied at Cold Winters Day, and I beat her At Race for the Place when she had an off day. Unfortunately I’ve been a wreck most of last week. Followed up the Get to the Green with 15 more miles on Sunday, and my back didnt like it one bit. Had to recover the rest of the week, though I did get in 7 miles on Thursday without any problems.

With the weather, only the diehards turned out for this one. J-Reeves was coming back from a month off due to illness and moving. There’s about a 99 percent chance  of Ponamarev, Gasque , Pete Poore and Rocky showing up, and sure enough all were there to score some easy age group points. Valerie Selby  and James Hicks were also on board. Sheila was also on the comeback trail after being in a boot most of the last few months. Andy Mikula and Paul Drohomirecky were some other familiar faces. I had a chance to meet new CRC member Dana Burgess and Pam Inman as well.

The start of this race is always nuts, but it was made more comical by all of us running from the high school out to the start because of the downpour. You start at the top of a hill and every time a pack of high schoolers fly down at sprint speed before basically stopping at the bottom. After all the high schoolers cashed out,  fast dude  and Kenzie were ahead about 20 meters and I was all alone.  I tried to keep the two leaders in sight. I was going back and forth a bit. I started reeling them in at one point but then either I faded or they kicked it up a notch. First mile was in 5:57, which is inflated on the speedy side because of the freefall for the first quarter mile.  The second mile is mostly flat but I was getting lost. I used to know the course like the back of my hand, but we were taking a turn away from what I remember.  I was worried at this point because I was afraid it was going to make the course way short. I was also finding it really, really hard to give a damn at this point. Shoes were getting waterlogged, the rain was beating down, I wasn’t making much headway on the top two.  Running completely by yourself also doesnt help either. I was losing my sense of pace and motivation was super low. I had a decent lead on number 4 judging by the volunteer cheers,  so phoning it in seemed like a pretty good idea.  I hit mile two at 6:30, which is about my 10k pace, though  I actually never checked my Garmin because my long sleeves had completely plastered themselves to my arms.   We finally took a turn that I recognized and I realized we had gone around the original course for some reason. The whole last mile just sucked. Legs felt ok but had zero motivation to ramp it up. Plus I knew the end was a long slog up the hill we ran down to start. Finally I turned right to start the mountain climb, and I hear my Garmin beep at mile 3 WAY too far from the finish. Ruh roh. I can still see Kenzie and fast guy, who had been running like they were joined at the hip the whole race. I think fast guy was tucked in behind her some, letting her set the pace, which he then used to unleash a wicked kick to pass her at the end. I saw this happen pretty far away, because I was locked into a debbie downer mindset trying to scale Mt. Capital going pretty slow and wishing for death.  I looked up at the clock and saw what I thought was 18:30 so I thought I was still going to race a decent time. WRONG. I turn into the parking lot and realize I’m already over 20 minutes. WTF?? Finished in 20:16, 3rd overall, 1st in AG.  I was stunned by the time initially until I checked the Garmin and realized a 3.2 mile course and I had just run two 10k pace miles to finish. Nice.

After taking some pics, I went back and checked the course. It turns out they had to divert part of the race because the regular course was a total lake. Completely flooded. I would have had to swim across this thing, and anyone who knows my swimming knows thats not a good thing.

Fast guy turned out to be pretty nice, for a trophy thief. He (Renato Cortez) lives in Whittier, California and was just running on a whim. Damn him for being fast and taking my hundred bucks. Kenzie of course won the female race in 19:25 and 2nd place overall.  Erin finished abut  30 seconds behind me and took 2nd female, followed by Andy Mikula and Paul Drohomirecky. James Hicks also scored himself an open point by finishing 10th , first in 30-34.  Sheila won second in the female 30-34.  Dana Burgess and Shenequa Coles went 1-2 in the 40-44.  Shannon Mosely finished first in the 45-49, and Gasque won the 50-54. Valerie crushed her rival in the 55-59 by 12 minutes, while Alex Ponamarev and Pete Poore filled out the 60-64. Rocky Soderberg won the 70+ by showing up. When its 40 degrees and raining, and 4 other races are going on, sometimes thats all you have to do.

But wait…to make things worse, I get a text with this:

Trophy’s trophy. Yep, he ran his previous trophy race, the Special Olympics 5k in Swansea, and won it again. By like 5 minutes. A two time champion. Well played, Trophy, well played.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/13CAP.TXT

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/288106695