Race Report: Finish on the Fifty Half Marathon [New York: State #7]

This is going to be short and sweet... mostly because there is little good I can say about my experience with the Rapid Running Buffalo Half Marathon.

"But, wait, Russ. This says you ran the Finish on the Fifty Half Marathon."

Exactly.

I registered for the June 30 race about two months prior to the date, willing to pay the high entry fee ($85) since I happened to be in the area during my road trip. Since the time of my arrival in the city was questionable, I opted to pay an additional $20 (seriously?) for race-morning pick-up. Total rip off.

Well, on June 21st - the day before I left on my drive and only 9 days before the race - Rapid Running sent out an email postponing the race to an unspecified fall date. I was miffed because there was no way I'd make it up there in the fall. They offered to transfer registrations to another RR event, but none fit my schedule or were anywhere near me. I emailed asking (politely) for a refund knowing it was a lost cause. I've come to find out thousands of others did the same (some not so politely). Apparently, RR's excuse was that they hadn't prepared for so many entrants. Well, how about you cap the entry number then, geniuses? STOP TAKING ENTRIES.

Rumors swirled that they didn't have a sponsor and that was the problem. Regardless, I was annoyed with the lack of customer support (a constant diatribe I have about America in all industries). So, I was prepared to adjust my drive accordingly when visitbuffalo.com went WAY out of their way to put on a comparable event.

Visit Buffalo recognized the smear that RR placed on the city and in 8 DAYS got sponsors, community approval (including cops), and Buffalo Bills front office concurrence to run the race. In 8 days. Now, it wasn't perfect, but I give them total credit for pulling this off.

About 500 people showed up to race. Where were these thousands that RR claimed? Admittedly, the experience left bitter tastes in the mouths of many, but only 500? Visit Buffalo was able to get t-shirts for us (sweet!) but no medals (a disappointment to many... especially those that had signed up with RR for this event as their FIRST race).

We met early in the morning at the Bills clubhouse for packet picket. The indoor practice facility was impressive, but I've seen much better facilities on college campuses. Oh, and the Bills play in Orchard Park, NY. It's a nice area with rolling hills and... cows. But there is absolutely nothing out there but the stadium. Why Buffalo chose to build their stadium in BFE is beyond me. Why a professional football player would choose to play for Buffalo is similarly confusing.

The bare-bones organization made for a hectic start, but we were quickly off and running through the pastures of eastern New York. it was actually a nice run but not at all what I expected. The field was minimal, so long stretches would go by where I would be near no one. A few overpasses and culverts produced hills, and it began to rival those I saw in Tennessee. I started fast (something unusual for me), and I felt it as I toured the marshes and cattle fields of miles 10 and 11. But, I fought forward because of what was coming.

RR had promised a finish on the 50 yard line of Ralph Wilson stadium, and Visit Buffalo had matached the promise. We turned into the tunnels and emerged under the goalposts for a mad dash through the dozens of spectators to the 50 yard line. It wasn't as grandiose as I had imagined weeks earlier, but it was certainly a memorable experience. Even better? I set another PR (my second for the trip) in 1:54:17.

Rapid Running's complete disregard for its customers made a large hill for Visit Buffalo to climb, but they did it well considering their resources. And, the Finish on the Fifty was certainly one I will remember.

I can't post a picture of a non-existent medal, and my distance from Buffalo makes it unlikely I'll run another race there. So, I can't recommend this race. But, given what they pulled off, I'm sure that next year (Visit Buffalo enjoyed the 8 days of confusion and was considering making it an annual, better-organized-with-more-time event) it will be an improvement.

However, I won't be running another Rapid Running race (they aren't a fly-by-night operation... they have a somewhat large presence in racing) again.

Race Report: Amica Knoxville Half Marathon [Tennessee: State #6]

As I made plans for my (already tremendously successful) 2012 road trip, I came up with several baseball games and day stops along the way. Of course, this would let me sleep in on the mornings... or, I could find some races. I chose the more sleep-deprived option.

With races mostly found on the weekends and my plans keeping me in Tennessee for two nights, I checked into options in the Chattanooga area. The Amica race series, a group of competitions mostly geared toward triathletes, I found one in the woods outside Knoxville, TN. The website was pretty bare-bones, and support leading up to the race (where's packet pick-up? are there waves?) left much to be desired.

I awoke early in Chattanooga and drove the hour to the race site - a beautiful park in the middle of nowhere - and began questioning my decision. The field was small, and most people seemed just as lost as me. This was somewhat reassuring in that it proved I hadn't missed something. But, race organizers shouldn't ever want their competitors confused. That's a bad thing. This confusion matured into frustration as we found that we wouldn't be allowed to wear headphones given the course's hugging of a rather busy road. Being forced to run without music is one thing, but this is something that should have been conveyed to racers beforehand.

Either way, the race started fifteen minutes late, and I was introduced to the other surprise of the day - hills. I knew nothing about the course, so it's partially my fault. But, there was no elevation chart for it (more lack of information to runners), so it was a surprise to everyone that hadn't run the route before. Up and down. Up and down. But, I pressed on. The route was beautiful but tedious as there was no end to the trees. It reminded me much of my runs in Florida... and those are a bit boring.

My pace was faster than my previous halfs, but I didn't feel that I was pushing too hard. I did worry about the late miles given my lack of hill work when training. Then, to really bring it all together, the final 3 miles were along the crest of a sun-drenched levee, and the late start meant that we were running in the heat of the late morning when we crossed it. On gravel. Yea... we weren't happy. But, by that point, I realized that I was on a PR pace and fought through the frustration. I came back within sight of the finish arch as my watch ticked over to 1:54, and my final kick hit hard. With a previous PR of 1:59:19 officially (I'd run some faster in training since that SF race), I saw the chance to really blow my best time out of the water. The only other runner near me (with only a couple hundred racers, it was common to go a couple miles without passing someone or being passed) kicked, as well, and we sprinted into the chute. I was ecstatic to find that I had finished in 1:54:51, a more than 4 minute improvement. It made me wonder how I would have done without the hills, but it was a good day regardless.

It was even better when I found that I had won my age group. Though, admittedly, the field wasn't very large. Still, I got a certificate and a nice backpack that has already come in handy as a dirty clothes bag on my road trip. All-in-all, I'm glad I ran the race if only to stay in shape as I drive across the country. But, if given another chance, I may have chosen to forgo the Amica race and do one in Nashville that I could have turned into a vacation in the city. Another small gripe... There was a 10K run at the same time as the half. We all received the same medal, and that seems like a cop-out by Amica. Simply putting the distance ON the medal would have seemed obvious (the 19.7 refers to the triathlon). But, since they only change the city name and color from race to race instead of tailoring the design to the location, what can you expect?

Sprintin' a 5K: Why not try it once...

I've never been a fan of 5Ks. When I first started running, I cursed them for their 3.1 miles of pain and frustration. When I had the distance nailed down, making it fairly routine, I passed them up for the more-challenging 10K and half marathon. Now that I'm into endurance races and longer distances, 5Ks just don't hold the allure that they once did. Also, many are small-scale events with narrow courses, and navigating through the crowds of slower runners and walkers can be maddeningly frustrating.

That's slowly changing, though, now that I've incorporated speedwork into my training. 200m sprints are growing to 400m. I've worried that the sessions ruin my training since I end up running only 3-4 miles instead of the 7-8 that I'd run if I was doing a normal run. But, during a recent session, I started fast and stayed that way for 2 miles. I ran it in 15 minutes flat, a significant improvement on any similar run I can remember doing. And, I felt pretty good when I stopped.

So, as another speedwork session was planned for this morning, I decided to register for the Orlando Runner's Club Race into Summer 5K. If I can hold that 7:30 min/mile pace for two miles, why not three point one?

So, I raced. I rarely 'race' at events. Instead, I tend to enjoy the run and nearly always have negative splits. This morning, I had negative splits again, but that was largely due to the final kick near the finish where I was around a 5:15 min/m for the last 1/4 mile.

I finished in 23:02, a full four minute improvement on my PR. But, since I rarely run 5Ks, that wasn't that surprisingly to me. I haven't raced a 5K (I've done some with a full ruck) since 2008, so some improvement was expected.

As I sneaked off to the side to down Powerade, bananas, and bagel halves, I considered how I'd done with respect to the other runners. Maybe I slipped in with a third place finish in my 30-34 age group? The field was sizable with around 300 runners. There was a chance. As I snarfed down food and listened, I realized that they didn't have 5-year groups. I would be in the 30-39 age range. D'oh. Well, mayyyybe third place...?

They called out those that placed. Nope. Not third. Oh well. Wait... did they just say my name? FIRST PLACE?! In the 30-39 age group?

Damn straight.

When they handed it to me, I ran off like I stole something.