2018 New Bedford 1/2 Marathon

First race in the USATF-NE GP happened.  That’s about all I have to say about it!  Overall, the conditions were pretty good.  It was cold at the start, but felt warm in the back stretch.  The wind was typical New Bedford wind.  It sucked, but it was WAYYY worse last year.

I went in thinking I could run sub 5:50 pace, but it was evident early that I was not running as comfortable as I would have liked.

Miles 1 thru 4 I started well, not getting pulled out too fast and didn’t attack the hills, just got through them.  I was 543-555-605-608.  I was really surprised with miles 3 and 4.  I thought they would be slightly faster.

After 4, you have the fast section of NB.  I still didn’t feel overly comfortable.  I thought it should feel a bit easier than the effort I was putting out.  But, I was able to get into somewhat of a groove and finally felt like I was at least giving it an honest effort.  I was 535-540-532-553-545-554 through 10 miles in 58:12 or so.  I was happy with the 10 mile split, but I definitely had to work way to hard for that time.

Now the fun begins…9 to 10 was already windy and you have to fight it through 11 and then on and off all the way up the hill through about 20k.

The mile 11 mark was put in the wrong spot, but I was 1215 10 to 12 and then 603 for 13. 

Official finishing time of 1:17:19, a tad faster than last year, but still shit slow.

With my lack of any real work outs, I am not overly surprised that the pace felt like it did, I have OK general fitness right now, but I really did not do my self any favors over the last month with neglecting the longer work outs.  I blame the cold and snow.  Yup…that’s what it was.

New GP race is in 2 weeks.  Not much time to help the fitness, but I will give it a whirl!

2018 Old Mountain Trail 5k

Old Mountain Field is a deceiving place. You would never think that these fun little trails are back in this small area. I was pleasantly surprised the first year I ran the race in 2012 and every year has been a little different, between course changes and weather.

December 2012 - 3rd place – 18:57 Fast dry year

January 2014 - 1st place – 23:32 Snow year

December 2014 - 3rd place – 19:08 unmemorable year

December 2015 - 6th place 21:34 Hungover year, TNT Christmas Party the night before.

February 2017 Did Not Run

I felt pretty good going into this race. My training has been uneventful, but consistent. No work outs to speak of, a few solid long runs and a few shorter races.

If I were Eric Lonergan, I would take out every one of these trail races the way he took this one out. FAST. This certainly made me suck wind early, but I said fuck it and went with it. Eric and Greg had a good gap pretty early and I followed Brightman. After about a mile I went by Steve and felt like Greg was coming back a bit, but I think it was just the twisty nature of the course that made him feel closer than he was. I still felt pretty good as we started through the “swamp area” it is twisty and not much of a defined trail. I never felt over my head and was making good progress and then BAM I went down. It was a solid fall but I was up pretty quick, but it definitely took my legs away from me, it took a while to get going again. Once I did I was quickly caught by Garvin and Ronald McTall guy. We headed towards the rock bridge creek crossing, where we were met by the same stupid guy with his two dogs off leash on trail. It was a good thing they were off leash, but this was the second time in the race that these dogs brought us to a crawl, I had to put my hands on the dogs and move them out of the way; fun times. After that we started uphill downhill flat hill who the hell remembers and Garvin and Mr. McTall man went by me. Garvin was passed shortly after. We hit the faster, wider trails on the course and the slick bridges. My new Inov-8s that seemed so sticky and grippy on the ice were basically, as Garvin put it, like roller skates on the bridges. I slid right off one of them. Out onto the field before re-entering the woods, Galoob was yelling at us. I was being caught by Old Man Brightman and Jonny was within distance. There is a hard left-hand turn when re-entering the woods and of course I slipped there too and we head back up the next to lastish hill and that’s when I was just fucking done. Brightman went by me after the stairs and I stayed close, but I was gassed, nothing left.

February 2018 - 6th place 20:18 Wet and muddy year

We did a group cool-down with the WTAC guys and headed over to The Mews. We had a pretty solid Turtle group, plus Brightman and Leslie OD. After that some of us headed up to Proclamation Ale
Company and one thing led to another and it was 7:30pm. A fun Saturday I would say.

2018 USATF East Region and NE Masters Championship

Another January and another USATF East Region and NE Masters Championship that I did not plan on running, nor did I train for, yet I ended up at.

I was pretty positive I was NOT going to run this race this year, but I ended up deciding to run it about a week and a half out. I did not decide what to run until about 4 days before the race though

I settled on running the 3000, mile and 800. I have no desire to run the 5000 on the indoor track and will never do it no matter what!

I figured I would give the 800 a whirl, because why not!

Here is a very quick run-down of each race.

3000 meters
First race of the day for me, I felt like I got out well and fell behind a big group of guys that went out behind Scott Leslie. I knew Scott would win and would probably be a minute in front of me. After a couple of laps I caught up to the group that was ahead of me and I settled in. When I felt like my stride was getting hindered, I move by 2 or 3 of them and fell in behind 2nd place. Same deal with 2nd place, after like 3 more laps I went by because I felt I was being slowed. I didn’t want to be the one doing the work, but away I went. I was able to hold on to 2nd place running just under 10 mins in 9:57. Mission accomplished.

Excuse me...

Pardon me...

1 Mile
I was pretty spent from the 3000 and I did not get out too well in this race. Of course I wanted to get as close to 5 flat as possible and went out just over pace in around 38. I went through the half in around 2:33+ and kinda just held onto that running 5:08. I was able to run some people down in the 2nd half of the race, so that was good.

800 meters
Hahaha….yeah. Well. I had a stretch goal of breaking 2:20. It was not that long ago that I would end 800 meter work outs in the low 2:20s….but hey, you are only as fast as what you train for and I don’t train for the track. With that said, I felt I got out great in the first 100 meters. I wasn’t sleeping like I was in the mile. I went through the 400 in around 70/71 and damn my legs hated me. I brought it home in a 2:24 and was happy to not be running around a track again anytime soon.

Overall the day was a success in my opinion. I got the legs turning over and I got to have some “fun” racing. Next year...I will do some work outs prior to race day!

Full Results

Per usual, a big group of us hit Ogie’s Trailer Park for after race food and drinks. It has turned into a pretty nice tradition.

2017 Nooseneck 18k/TNT Double

Almost every year I tend to have some sort of short spike in mileage around Chirtsmas and New Year’s.  Depending on how my days off from work fall I will add some random oubles, have some random group run or just run more.

This year that fell on the day of the Nooseneck 18k.  I have run this free “race” a few times in the past, but not in the last 2 years.  It is a roller coaster of a course, with some very difficult climbs.  It beats you up pretty good, but is a great way to get a good work out in and see some friends.

I wasn’t planning on running it this year, but it seemed a bunch of people I knew were and since I had taken the day off to use some of my vacation time up, I thought it would be a good way to get some good mileage in…and since it fell on a Tuesday, it made it easier to do so.

My plan was to run 2 mile warm up, 11.2 upbeat…620-630 pace, 1 mile cool down, then hang out, have some beer and food then drive to Turtles and run 3 to 6 miles.  Here is how it went down.

Of course in the days leading up to this I have gotten a cold, slight, but still felt a bit off.  So I was able to sleep in for once on Tuesday AM til 8am!  I was so happy about that.  I got to the race at 12pm after a short detour to Wal-Mart for water and meds.  There were more cars in the lot then I had anticipated.  But very quickly I saw lots of familiar faces, some I knew would be there and some that were a surprise.

I headed out with a small group for a 2 mile warm up, which ended up being 2.4 for me after circling the lot waiting for someone.  We all changed up and got to the starting line, the wind was blowing pretty good and it was a bit chilly.  I wore shorts with a long sleeve and a short sleeve over that…and of course gloves and an Inov-8 buff over the ears.  It was a solid choice, my hands were actually sweaty and I took the buff off my ears, my lips were numb though!

The run….  It starts straight downhill and people go out like crazy.  I was very conservative and still ran a 5:54.  Zak was with Kaela O’Neil about 6 secs up.  I made an effort to catch them and did around 1.5.  The 3 of us ran together though around 4..4.5  Zak and I got some separation on Kaela on the quad busting downhills.  Probably because we are way fatter and gravity helps us on the downs!

After the very generous downhill, you come to the hill on Pardon Joslin Road.  You have been running on Pardon Joslin, which is a dirt road, partially covered in snow, for the last 8/10^th of a mile, but right before the 5 mile marker the road starts its going up…in the next half mile you will gain 100+ feet and then another 75 to 80 from 5.5 to 6.  The section from 5 to 5.5 is a beat up old road that you are more likely to see in a trail race then in a road race, but it is what makes this run unique.  My pace went from a 5:50 mile to over 7 mins on the climb and according to Strava I slowed down to around 9:50 at some point in the climb.

The next few miles are rolling, you have a nice decent at 7.2 and then a hill I forgot about at 8.6 to 9.  That is where I separated slightly from Zak.  I was able to get some space between us and run a 6:05 from 9 to 10 to open it up a bit more.  I am pretty sure from there to the finish he was gaining.  You drop a few feet from 10 to 10.5 and then you have to go up the hill you descended at the start of the race.  This hill SUCKS.  You gain around 185 ft in less than a mile.  I averaged just under 6:30 pace for the final 1.2 miles.  It was brutal. 

Check out FULL RESULTS!

Once finished, we shuffled around for just over a mile.  We went inside and got a beer and chatted with friends and foes alike.  Since it was Taco Tuesday, some of us grabbed some pulled pork tacos, which were very good.  While eating we heard the raffle going on.  Although the race is free, there is a donation box.  20% each goes to the 1^st place male and female winners and then there are 3 random draws for the remaining 60% (20% each)  We walked over there and my # was called!  Yay me!

So, we went back to hanging out, 2.5 more Guinness’s and a Steve Brightman induced swig of Vodka straight from the bottle and I was out of there…off to the Tuesday Night Turtles group run.  I have been a Turtle since 2000 and in that 17+ year’s I have missed very few Tuesday runs, most of which I was out of town.  I even once took a train on a Tuesday AM to run the Empire State Building Run-Up and took a train back home to make the run.  I have landed at T.F. Green Airport at 4 and went straight to a run and I have left work events to get over to the run….so today was no different.

I got there at 4:57 and planned on two 3 mile loops.  Fortunately the pace was easy with the smaller crowd and the first 3 felt pretty good.  We started out on the second 3 at 5:30 and it was just 4 of us and the rest of them were doing the longer 6.3 mile loop; I had started making the turn at the split to do the 3 mile, but said what the hell and did the full loop with them.

Definitely the highest mileage day I have had in a long time, other than Baystate.  Here is the breakdown.

2.4WU

11.2 Nooseneck

1.2 CD

3/6.3 at TNT

After the run I changed up and headed to Fellini’s for pizza and one more beer.  I ended the night early and got home so I could get some rest and head back to work on Wednesday!

Bobby Doyle 5 Miler

I was not set on running this race until the day before.  I signed up early in the day, after getting back from running 13 miles in and around Big River.  I didn’t want to race, I would have been happier to get in a long run, but the people I usually run long with were either doing this race, or not available to run.  Soooo….I knew the only way I would make sure to get in a decent day of running was to go to the damn race.

After my 13 miles on Saturday morning, I spent 6 hours at the bowling alley,  bowling in a tournament and drinking beer.  It felt like a repeat of the Run 4 Kerri the week before.  Fortunately that was not the case.  I woke up a little tired, but not feeling like the previous week. 

My original plan was to get down to Narragansett early and get in 5 miles before doing another 3 warm up before the race.  That was the only thing that I sabotaged.  I slept a little later and only got in 5 miles before the race.

It was overcast and muggy as fuck.  It was not like last year’s horrible weather and it certainly was not like last week’s awesome weather…but it was not weather for fast times.

Although the race was not in the USATF-NE GP Series this year, the race organizers decided to keep the team prizes for USATF teams only.  Jim Pawlicki organized a team over the last month or so and we were able to field both Open and Masters Teams.  We were one runner short of a 50+ team.

Anyway…that was added incentive to run….so here is the race recap.

The first mile is fast and with the millions of High School kids in the race it was fast…I am usually good at not getting caught up in such craziness and did a good job not sprinting out in the first ¼ mile.  I fell in behind Dave and could see Josh and Joe from CMS just ahead.  Teammate Kevin Gorman of Level Renner fame went by me around 0.5 miles.  After the mile, 5:31, I went by Dave and Kevin and shortly after Joe.  Josh would stay ahead throughout the race, I came up on him a few times, but he kept gaping me again.  From 2 on the race was just a grind.  It was humid as hell and nothing felt easy, but we got though mile after mile and final made it past the 4 mile marker.  Before this point I had no clue where the others were behind me, but just after 4 Joe went by me and pulled up along side Josh.  I was waiting for the whole slew of them to come by at this point.  We made the turn onto South Pier Road and headed towards the finish.  This road sucks, it is slightly up hill….VERY slight…but it is straight and just seems to go forever.  Finally I could see the sign where the ¼ to go mark was.  I was keeping Josh and Joe within kicking distance and all of a sudden Joe waves me by…I thought he was letting me go to just out kick me later!  Turns out he said after that he was just spent and feeling like shit.  Right around the same time that Joe waved me bye, I heard someone say, “Go David”  Oh shit!  Dave is right there too!!  This cheering was added incentive to keep at it.  We turned the final corner and through the 8k mark to the finish.

Turns out the 5 scorers on the CMS team were all damn close.  We all finished within 20 seconds!

40th-Josh Perks             28:40.0

42nd-Robert Jackman   28:46.0

43rd-Joe Shairs             28:51.0

44th-David Principe     28:52.0

47th-Kevin Gorman      29:00.0

CMS guys heading out for a cool down.

So a better race then the last, but over a minute slower than 2015 at the same race.  Training over the last few weeks has been good and this week is going similar.  Consistency is the key and I am finally getting to that point at least!

Run 4 Kerri

This year’s Run 4 Kerri was all about the great weather.  Too bad I am not in great shape and had too much fun at Foolproof’s Augtoberfest the night before the race to have taken full advantage of it. 

I woke up the morning of the race feeling like hell, a headache, no desire to get out of bed, just felt beat overall.  I finally rolled out of bed and into the shower, hoping this would get me out of my haze a bit…

I finally stumbled out of the shower and proceeded to brush the beer taste out of my mouth and get my things together.  My shoes were drenched from sweat from the prior days 13+ miler, which was supposed to be 10…so I just threw my racing shoes in my bag and used those for the warm up, race and cool down.  There was a stop at the gas station for gas and Gatorade and then off to Matunuck Elementary School.

It was an amazing day…it was cool, it was not humid and the sky was beautiful.  Soon after arriving I grabbed my bib # and threw on my running shoes and soon after that a group of 7 or 8 of us went out for a warm-up.

The race…

Zak and I had talked about started relatively easy and trying to pick it up.  This sounded great, because I was not in any shape to go out hard; having someone that I have raced with and run 1000’s of miles with would also make the race easier...

Yadda yadda…the race starts and Zak, Kaela O’Neil, Dan Hawkins and myself became a group pretty quick.  I believe there may have been a couple others early, but I don’t recall.  Through the first ½ mile or so, I felt pretty good, but unless you go out like a complete asshole, there is no reason you should feel bad a half mile into a 4 mile race.  We had thought around 5:50 pace would be a good start and we went through around 5:43, so a tad quicker, but not too fast.  The next mile went by pretty smooth as well.  We were all still together and we were catching up to some people that may have started out a bit too quick….like they always do.  We hit the 2^nd mile in 5:40.  The next mile is the toughest on the course in my opinion.  There is no huge hill or crazy headwind, it is just the 3^rd mile of a 4 mile race and you are on a straight road for about half of it, where I tend to fall asleep and then you turn into a twisty neighborhood then finish the 3^rd mile with the only hill on the course.  So, with all that said, I made a conscious effort yo try and push on the long straight stretch.  When I did this the pack broke up a bit, I am not sure if I just pulled away or what, but I started reeling in a dude in blue and I saw Dave not too far ahead.  I caught blue man at around 2.5 and started the twisty neighborhood section…got up the goddamn hill, hitting 3 in 5:49 and tried to get my legs back after cresting.  I was doing my best to try and get closer to Dave, but after 3.5 I don’t believe I got any closer, but it kept me going for sure.  With around 0.4 to go, you take one last 90 degree right hand turn, when I took that turn I could see that Zak wasn’t too far back, so the motivation to keep the pedal on the gas just went up a notch, I am not going to catch Dave, but I sure in hell did not want to get caught by Zak!  The last bit of the course is a slight up, a slight down and then about 200 meters on the driveway to the school.  I kicked hard and was able to get under 23 mins, with a 22:56.  Not too bad the way I was feeling that day!  I ran faster than Arnold Mills, but had way better weather.  Hopefully a decent performance will get me going.

A big group of us did the course again for a cool down, I bonked pretty hard.  I just wanted Gatorade and food.  Awards happened reasonably quick considering the timing companies issues….and off to Mew’s we went for lunch…14 of us in fact!  All in all it was a good race and I even picked up a prize!  Haha.  

Arnold Mills 4 Miler

I am on a blog roll!

Last year was the first year I had ever run the Arnold Mills 4 Miler and I enjoyed the race, I also had a pretty decent race, running 22:16.

This year, I had no thoughts of running the race, but as it turned out, many Turtles were going to run, so I said what the hell.

Dave and I did a WO the Thursday prior, which went way better than expected. We then pushed our long run up to Saturday instead of Sunday to have one extra day to recover before the race, however that was one less day to recover from the WO before the long run. My hammies were screaming! It was a brutally humid day for the run too, but we got it done, 16 miles in the bank.

I ran easy Sunday and Monday and planned on running Arnold Mills as a work out. My plan was to start right around 6 min pace and try to pick it up.

I felt a bit sluggish on the warm up, but my hammies were way better than Saturday. The weather was way better too. The humid conditions of the early weekend were gone and we were left with sun, a slight breeze and warm, but not HOT conditions.

The gun went off and the herd of high school kids that run this race were off. Through the first ½ mile I must have been in 50th place. I felt smooth and relaxed. The GPS had around 6 to 6:10 pace throughout and I went through the mile in 5:53…so pretty much spot on. At this point I was passing loads of people and still felt pretty solid as we looped around back to the same road the mile is on to go through the 2 mile mark in 5:48; so far mission on track. After the 2 mile there is a slight downhill that I really tried to open it up on and track down the 2 runners ahead of me. I ended up catching and passing both of them prior to the 3 and could now see Dave ahead having his own battles. I went through 3 in 5:40.

The 4th mile of this course has a lot of sun and pretty much the only significant hill on the course (right around 3.3?) I felt pretty solid up the hill, way better than last year. You go back past the corner that has the most spectators and have a half mile to go. I was trailing another high school runner and I felt like I was gaining a bit. Just a bit passed where I was parked, the runner moves to the side of the road, stops and attempts to throw-up, I don’t believe anything came out, but it enabled me to get past him. However, that was short lived; whatever hacking he did over there must have made him feel better, because he went flying back past me. We turned back onto the main road, which is a slight downhill for about a quarter mile and then took the final right onto Arnold Mills Road and across the finish line in 23:12 in 27th place. Not too bad. I felt good, I didn’t die and I feel great today. Overall a success! How much faster could I have gone? Probably not much, but the simple act of not going out over my head, allowed me to feel stronger and run well late in the race. I never went to the well, keeping that work out mentality.

We ended up having around 10 to 12 Turtles at the race, depending on who actually “counts” as a Turtle. We enjoyed a couple beers hanging outside by the cars watching others finish. Not a bad way to spend the morning.

Year in Review

Another year in running has passed, most of the races and adventures that we conquered earlier in the year seem so distant, it is as though they never happened.  Here is a re-cap of some of the events I was lucky enough to be a part of this year.


1/1/11 - I started the year off defending my title at the Hangover Classic in Bristol, RI, winning in 27:57. The previous 2 years this race had bad snow luck, the course was covered in inches of snow and ice.  This made for slow and dangerous conditions, so it was nice to get on some dry roads this year.

1/2/11 - This date was supposed to mark the first snowshoe race for the TNT Snowshoe Team, however, Hollis, NH did not have enough snow, so the race turned into the Beaver Brook Snowy Slushy Trail Race.  With a small field of 17, I was able to take my second victory in two days, I think that was my last win of the year!

1/15/11 - Feel Good Farm Snowshoe Race... this is one of my favorite snowshoe races.  Feel Good Farm is an interesting place, as is the owner.  This ended up being the first snowshoe race for TNT in 2011, and for some unlucky soles, it was their first snowshoe race ever.  FGF is a tough place to strap on the shoes for the first time.  We had 10 Turtles toe the line at FGF and I finished 7th in a field of 67.  Unfortunately, this race has been taken off the Granite State SSS schedule.

1/22/11 - Whitaker Woods Snowshoe Race was one of our longer snowshoe race trips, heading up to North Conway, NH. This was a first time event put on by Kevin Tilton.  He had a great course set-up and we had another good TNT showing, with 12 runners toeing the line.  The highlights of this trip were popsicle sticks and a trip to Moat Mountain.

1/29/11 - A group of 7 made their way up to Center Sandwich, NH (Home of the largest dining room set in the Northeast).  The Sidehiller 4 Miler was the next race on the Granite State Snowshoe Series calendar, and also a northeast qualifier for the USSSA Nationals, which meant there would be a strong field.  I had a pretty good race and it came down to my first ever snowshoe sprint battle in the last 1/4 mile with Charlie Thierrault and Danny Ferreira, both of acidotic RACING.  In the end I beat Danny, but Charlie out leaned me at the line...it made for a fun finish.

2/5/11 - Another snowshoe race, this time in Exeter, NH for the Exeter Snowshoe Hullabaloo.  This might have been my worst race of the year, up until this point at least!  The path was super narrow and I kept clipping my shoes and went down multiple times.  The course was pretty cool otherwise...but this just wasn't my day.

2/6/11 - I was talked into running the Super 5k in Narragansett, RI so we could field a men's team and win the team prize.  It was a beautiful day down in Narraganset albeit a little windy.  With the afternoon start, I was still able to get in a long run in the morning and then attempt to run a 5k off of a race the day earlier and a long run a few hours earlier.  I was happy to come away with a 4th place finish in 17:00 and more importantly, the team victory!

2/19/11 - Snowshoe double-header...Since the Beaver Brook Snowshoe Race from 1/2/11 was postponed we ended up with a double-header on 2/19/11.  The TNT SST made the trip to Hollis, NH in the morning for the BBSSR, which by the way WAS my worse race of the year, then we headed to Milly's Tavern in Manchester, NH for some food and beer before heading to Madbury, NH for the Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe Race.  The night race is by far the most fun of the year, and after running like hell in the morning I came back to run a good race, but ended up finishing 5th instead of 3rd after following Geoff Cunningham off course.

2/26/11 - The next to last snowshoe race was held at Northfield Mountain.  This was to be the first NEF Snowshoe Championship, it was a tough race with lots of climbing and it made me tired.

3/13/11 - 2 weeks after running up Northfield Mountain on snowshoes we headed way up north to the FINAL! snowshoe race of the season, The Granite State Snowshoe Championships.  This race starts across the street from Mountain Washington.  It was a nice mix of groomed trails and long climbs.  The race went well for me, finishing in 5th place behind 4 acidotic guys.  We finished out the year sipping on some beer provided by Redhook and acidotic RACING.

3/20/11 - The New Bedford Half Marathon, finally a race where I could show that I was in shape, getting ready for the marathon doesn't usually result in great 3-4 mile snowshoe races.  This race went pretty well, and I ran faster than I had expected.  I tied my PR according to the official results, and on the watch I beat it by a second.  I ran with teammate Matin Tighe late int he race, but couldn't reel him back in, in the final half mile, and he got me by 2 seconds.

4/10/11 - Doyles Emerald Necklace 5 Miler, It was a great after party, I don't think I raced?  Jackie ran a 5 mile PR though!

5/1/11 - The Cox Sports Marathon was the main goal of the spring.  This was actually the first time I had ever run a marathon in Rhode Island, so that was something to check off my list.  The race went pretty well, I feel I ran as well as I could with the training I had in the legs.  I finished with my second fastest marathon in 2:42:37

5/21/11 and 5/28/11 - We through in two USATF Mountain Series races before getting down to training for the Transrockies Race.  Northfield Mountain Race on 5/21/11 and Wachusett Mountain Race on 5/28/11.  The Wachusett Race went much better then the Northfield Race, but both were a blast.

7/17/11 - North South Trail Long Run.  Jackie, Karen and myself ran 35 miles of RIs NS Trail.  It was a great run in 90+ degree heat!

Jackie and Karen on the NST

8/7/11 - Because we are in the Brooks ID program, Jackie and I were lucky enough to get a free entry into the 1st Annual Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon in Providence, We had no intentions to race this 1/2, but took it as a good opportunity to get in a long run.  I ran 17 miles before the race, while Jackie did slightly less.  We then ran in the race together, starting out EZ and passing all the runners that went out too fast.  You can read about it HERE.

8/21 - 8/26 - Transrockies Run...the epic run of the year.  I highly recommend anyone that enjoys running in the woods to try this adventure.  You can read about it here!

Stage 2 Transrockies

9/18/11 - Our Turtle teammate Karen Benway was planning on racing the Pisgah 50k.  This worked out well because Jackie and I had 30 miles on the schedule.  So we decided to make the trek up to the race and it made for a nice easy way to get in 30+ miles, while practicing fueling for the upcoming JFK 50 Miler.  Other than a wrong turn late in the run for me, it was a great day.

10/5/11 - 6:45 pm TNT vs NRA Showdown.  This was probably the most proud I have been of the Tuesday Night Turtles as a team.  When there is a race on the line, and the other team is trash talking that they would beat us to death, the Turtles came out of the woodlands :)  We might not have the fastest folks around, but we had the most team pride on this night, and with that we took home the big W...it was a great night!

11/13/11 - RI 6 Hour.  This was the third running of the RI 6 Hour, not bad for a race I thought up in the shower one morning.  The 2011 event went well, other than those damn cops.

Sunrise @ Warwick City Park

11/19/11 - The JFK 50 Miler was a great trip.  I was happy with my new 50 mile PR and super happy to see the TNT Women's Team of Jackie Jackman, Karen Benway and Issy Nielson, come away with the team victory and also breaking the Women's Team Record that was set back in 2002 by over 2 hours!!  JFK Race Report

2011 JFK Course Record setting women's team!

So those were the major explorations of the year, there was also running the Fat Belly to Fat Belly the afternoon after running Northfield Mountain and the Grog and Dog Jog on Columbus Day Weekend.  Not to mention the Run for Hope a few weeks ago, but I had enough recapping!  On to 2012, which I already started with a not so good race at the Hangover Classic, ending my three year winning streak.  But I followed that up with a great 2 hour long run today in the Arcadia Management area with Karen Benway and Zak Kudlak, so things are already looking up!  Good Luck to everyone with their 2012 adventures!

Ultrarunning May 1981

This race report originally appeared in the May 1981 edition of Ultrarunning Magazine.  It is typed as seen in the original magazine.

Knickerbocker Knocks Back Record...3:40:42 for 60 km
by Stan Wagon

The NYRRC's 1981 Ultra Series got off to a fine start on March 7, with the fourth annual Knickerbocker 60 km run in Central Park. Several inches of snow the previous day and a brisk wind made for chilly spectators and split recorders, but the road in the park was free of snow, and the conditions were good for running. Central Park joggers must be fairly used to weekend races by now, and they seem to enjoy the presence of such events.

The pre-race favorite was Bill DeVoe of Queens, who has an impressive ultra record for someone who's only been running seriously for three years.  In 1980 he defeated Allan Kirik in a 40-miler, won the national TAC 50 km championship and the Philadelphia Marathon, and placed 4th at Boston with a 2:24:47.  Bill led through the first lap in 38:02, but was not running away from the field, as both Larry Friedman and Terry Knickerbocker looked strong, 30 seconds back.

The race was a homecoming of sorts for the 32-year-old Knickerbocker.  He had won the inaugural version of this race 4 years ago, running a U.S. best time to do it.  Incidentally, the race was not named for Terry, but, after it was over, it was certain that if you heard someone say "Knickerbocker" it was Terry they meant, not the race.  While not a force in ultras since that 60 km win, Terry staged a comeback of sorts.  Free of injury, and with 27 straight weeks of 100+ miles (and, notes Terry, "weight work to develop my quads") he felt ready for a good race.

DeVoe held the lead with two more laps in the 36 minute range, but, the fourth time around, Knickerbocker made a strong move, taking the lead with a 35:52.  DeVoe  was suffering a bit from stomach cramp sand was unable to stay at the front.  But Knickerbocker seemed to get stronger and smoother as the race progressed.  After 50 km it was clear that he was not going to be pressed, and with a split of 3:04:05, he knew he had a chance to regain the record he set four years ago.  That record had been improved twice, by Alan Kirik, and, this past January, by Frank Bozanich, who lowered it to 3:44:10 (see story elsewhere in this issue).  But Terry pushed himself through the final lap, finishing in a new U.S. best of 3:40:42 (5:55 pace).   The field included many old-timers on the N.Y.C. ultra seen, and all seemed quite pleased at Knickerbocker's return to form.

Larry Friedman's steady race earned him a fine time to go along with his second place finish (6:15 pace), while 41-year-old Bob Van De Kieft ran a noteworthy 4:09.  The list of finishers read like a who's who of east coast ultramarathoning, and if that wasn't evident, it was made clear at the awards ceremony.  Race director Richie Innamorato presided, and he seemed to know the ultra history of each of the top 20 runners as well as they knew the road in Central Park.
It was no surprise that 45-year-old Sue Medaglia was the first woman.  She was displeased at how much her time was slowed by several pit stops, but still, it's the third best amount American women.  And there was no surprise int he team competition either, as the Millrose team, Knickerbocker, DeVoe, and Bill Hart, won easily.

At the awards ceremony, Allan Kirik was presented with the NYRRC'c Ultra Runner of the Year Award for 1980.  Highlights of the year for Kirik included a strong second place int he London-Brighton 54 miler, a super-fast 6:37:54 for 100 km (6:24 pace), and a sub five hour effort for 50 miles in windy conditions at Copper Harbor, Mich.

Knickerbocker 60 Km

Central Park, N.Y. March 7, 1981
Certified  37.28 mi

1.   Terry Knickerbocker    3:40:42 (American Record)
2.   Larry Friedman            3:53:23
3.   Bill DeVoe                  4:00:52
4.   Tom Chiaro                 4:03:18
5.   Bob Van De Kieft       4:09:16
6.   Bill Lawder                 4:13:38
7.   Glenn Olszewski         4:16:22
8.   Bill Hart                      4:17:54
9.   Rafael Bordonaba       4:19:55
10. Martin Kittell              4:20:05
31. Sue Medaglia              5:09:11

I only typed in the top 10 and first place woman, there were 47 finishers and 58 starters.

Marion Corrigan Memorial 24 Hour Super Run

This original race report was in the January-Febuary 1982 ultrarunning magazine.  It is re-typed as it was.  I will look through some more of these old magazines and post stories that I find interesting.  I picked this one once I saw that the race was held on a 150 meter long indoor track!  Please note that the author was 62 years old at the time of the race and set the US 60 and over record for 24 hours.

Spending a Day Indoors? Why Not Run 1000 Laps
by John Huckaby

It was a dreary Saturday morning as my wife, Betty, my marathon poodle, Suzette, and I headed to Friendly's for pancakes.  The waitress stared in wide-eyed disbelief as I dumped a pint of liquid fructose on my hotcakes instead of using the syrup she shoved at me from across the counter.  Little did she realize that I would run for 24 hours on that gloopy glob of griddle cakes saturated with viscous, sticky syrup.  We gave some breakfast sausage to Suzette, and headed for Auburn's outdoor track.

But blizzard-like conditions made the outdoor track event impossible, and the organizers fell back on their alternate plan, to hold the race on a certified 150 meter indoor track.  Nine runners toed the line, including race director Allan Wilson, and Al Hastings.  These two seemed like gladiators, and were really hyped up for the race.  They were both from Auburn, and had raced often in the past; Wilson beat Hastings last year by chalking up101 miles, and this year they both had their eyes on 125.  On my right was Sue Kahler, also of Auburn, who had run three marathons on consecutive weekends, winning two of them and finishing fourth in the Skylon Marathon.

At the gun, Wilson, Hastings, Kahler and on of the runners from the 6-person relay team took off while the rest of the field settled into a slower pace.  Still, it didn't take me long to realize that the pace was too fast.  Suzette came in for a couple of laps but then quit.  She returned later for a paw print autograph session with her fans.  The short track was somewhat boring, but every two hours we changed directions to unwind.  I locked in on a pace that would get me to 50 miles in about ten hours, and allow me time to take short walks every 15 minutes to keep my legs from cramping.

The public address system blared fourth good rock-and-roll, but after awhileI suggested they burn the tape of a song called "Another One Bites the Dust"; it was putting a psychological whammy on me.  In the early morning hours, after about 21 hours of hoofing around the track, they played, appropriately, "It's Been a Hard Day's Night."

While the leaders kept trying to outdo each other, Sue was hanging in there, running as gracefully as a ballet dancer.  If she kept it up, the guys would be in trouble.  But after about 8 hours, her legs cramped and her stride became ragged.  My wife gave her a rubdown with some powerful analgesic horse liniment, which also works well on the sinuses.  That junk is so powerful that it would mollify a petrified hamstring. Sue recovered her stride, but later was troubled with general fatigue (who wasn't?).  She ended up with over 116 miles, the fourth-longest distance ever run in 24 hours by a woman.

With about 30 minuted to go I had covered 98 miles.  There was quite a crowd on hand as the race was a fund-raiser for the March of Dimes and had received a lot of publicity.  It was a great moment to grandstand for those who had anything left.  Someone yelled to me to pick it up or I'd fall short of a hundred, and this caused a violent reaction on my part.  I started sprinting (forgetting that I had pledged a dollar for every mile I ran), and broke 100 with plenty of time to spare.  As I closed in on the 100 mark, I decided to give all the spectators a thrill.  I climbed out of my body, got up on my shoulders, and whipped myself like a jockey; I twisted my right hand clockwise to pump more gas into the big Harley motorcycle under me.  Faster and faster! My Etonics were just a blur as I went head-to-head with Dave Hall, from the relay team.  I startled him by outkicking him for 50 meters, but I couldn't hold it.

Everyone expected Hastings to hit the wall, but when he did, so had everyone else.  Ex-marin Wilson was tough, but her had to settle for second today.  I was pleased with my total; it had been a rough training schedule leading up to this race.  A 50 miler the previous weekend, 50 miles in training, and this race made for a 200 mile week.

While driving back home on the Thruway, my wife said, "giving that money to the March of Dimes was just great, they'll put it to good use in the prevention and treatment of birth defects."  Later, while staring straight ahead into the snow squalls, she said, "I know of one person that is suffering from a major birth defect - like missing a whole brain."  I didn't hear a word she said...I was wondering if the 24 hour run was going to be enough of a depletion run for the Philadelphia Marathon the next weekend.

Marion Corrigan Memorial 24 Hour Super Run
Auburn, NY  Nov. 21-22, 1981
Indoor 150 meter track
(with 50 km, 50 mi, 100 km and 100 mi splits)

	Name, age	mi	yd
1.	Al Hastings,36	122	528
	(4:29,7:30:54,9:40:27,17:28:11)
2.	Al Wilson,32	118	1499
	(4:34,7:58,28,10:25:23,18:41:06)
3.	Sue Kahler,27	116	676
	(4:56,8:33:16,1:33:37,19:42:27)
4.	John Huckaby,62	101	753
	(6:05,10:44:42,14:04,23:38:08) US 60&over 24 hr record
5.	Kenny Davis,16	75	704
6.	Perry Cook,22	50	1232
7.	Bill Reynolds,24	50	880
8.	Jack Brennen,20	41	1478
9.	Mark Hall,13	41	1320