A few people have been asking, so here is a quick synopsis of the results for my last three races.
Run for the Pies:
5K (3.11 miles) on Saturday, June 14 – my 30th birthday. We came, we saw, we ate some pie. Oscar and I both beat our personal records (PRs), 19:41 for me (6:20 pace per mile) and he ran an 18:06 (5:49 ppm). Oscar finished 3rd in our age group and I finished 11th, so we both medaled AND were awarded pies. There were 1,167 runners and I finished 85th. Very cool race with lots of people. There was a huge afterparty at the Jacksonville Landing. I will definitely do this race again.
As a side note, my friends, Oscar and Erin, went WAY out of their way to make this a very special birthday for me. They took very good care of me and truly made it a great weekend.
Melon Run:
3 mile race on Friday, July 4. This was a pretty good race for me on a challenging course. I ran an 18:45, which is a 6:15 ppm and finished 26th out of 460 but was 4th in my age-group. My friend Dan and I ran the race together and he really helped push me through the tough parts. Afterwards, a bunch of the guys with whom I run got together and had a cook-out to celebrate the 4th. Overall, a really great day.
The Boilermaker:
15K (9.33 miles) on Sunday, July 13. I don’t even know where to start with this event. This was a giant race with about 12,000 registered, however, fewer than 10,000 finished, as I saw people pulling off the course with regularity. I placed 897 overall but, there was an error in the timing chips they used, so I’ll never know what my official times was for sure. My gun time was 1:08:20, but watch said I finished in 1:07:17 but the GPS on my watch said I went 9.42 miles and ran at a 7:09 ppm. The bottom line: No one knows.
This course was designed by Satan himself, with a steady incline for the first four miles. There was a point on the third mile where I looked up and could not see where the hill crested, just a stream of runners climbing the rays of sun. The climb was so tough, I closed my eyes (more than once) and kept chanting in my head ‘just keep your form.’ The last full mile was uphill and took everything I could muster just to reach the top of the hill. The last .33 was downhill, so everyone looked like great, finishing like a champion.
The most disappointing part of the race came at the 3-mile mark when I injured my foot. It seems I have plantar fasciitis, which feels kind of like a tear on the back of my arch/front of my heel. I don’t think this had too much of an impact on my race time, but I have been out of commission since then. I’m getting nervous and frustrated because my marathon training program starts very soon and the plan I am using has me running a 13 mile run the first week. As you all know, I have high-hopes for this marathon, so wish me well in healing up quickly.
Again, thank you to all of you who have contributed thus far – we’re up to $1,700! That’s really incredible, but we still have quite a way to go with 11 miles that need to be sponsored. Again, this money is going the American Heart Association to help fight heart disease and stroke, something that is near and dear to us all. Click on this link to make a donation and monitor my progress: Jake's Heart Walk Website
