Lyndon Ellefson 5K

The Lyndon Ellefson race was a race I had heard all about, but never had the pleasure of doing.  The race holds a 5K and a half marathon.  I decided to do the 5K event.  It would turn out to be a race of near epic results.  My wife was recruited to be the race photographer for this event.  She does a lot of photography for me so I figured that she would be a good person to do the photography for this event.  She also is a great supporter.  Both Kaia and I planned to participate in our individual races today.  I was excited right off the bat in that I saw a fellow runner named Brett Ridout at the event today.  He and I have run against each other in several races over the course of the summer.  I knew when I saw him there that he would push me and I would push him.  We typically have finished within a few seconds of each other at several races in the past. 

The race director mentioned at the beginning of the race that there would be a fire truck leading the race.  He said that the fire truck would try to stay ahead of the majority of the runners, but that other runners could pass it if they wished.  As Brett and I took an early lead, I told him, "you heard the director.  Go ahead and pass the fire truck."  Brett urged me to do the same.  We exchanged jokes about this and went ahead with the run.  We race pretty much side by side for the first mile and Brett pulled a little bit of a lead.  Brett pulled the lead out to about 20 seconds at one point as I was developing some stomach cramps midway through the race.  Like any runner, I pushed through them and continued running.  At one point a couple of blocks before the finish of the race, I looked at my watch and saw the time.  I saw it looked like I had not run as hard as I had felt I had, as it looked like I was going to finish with a time much above my all-time personal best of 18:01 which I ran during a race on Thanksgiving several years ago.  I did give a hard charge at the end, however, and narrowed the gap considerably.  Brett gave a final look at he would cross the line first in 19:01

I crossed the line in 19:11, which was at about half the gap that I had at one point.

I finished second which was fine, but disappointing.  I had hoped that if I had not developed some midrace cramps, I would have held my position a little better, but the biggest disappointment was yet to come.  As people started finishing, everyone started doing the post-race visiting that usually happens after a race.  A few people with GPS watches stated the course length had been 3.3 miles.  That is frustrating, as it is nice if the distance is what the directors actually say it is.  I visited with several people who stated they had gotten 3.3 miles.  I had to check for myself.  I used my vehicle to check the distance and drove the route not just once, but twice and yes, it was 3.3 miles.  The one thing about hosting a race for someone like myself whom I consider to be a fairly serious runner is that it is important to have a course that is as accurate as possible.  It is a turnoff to several runners if you have an inaccurate course distance.  Some race directors will even own up to the difference in distance and state that the course runs a little long or a little short, but nothing was said here.  For me, the frustrating thing about this race is that my time of 19:11 over 3.3 miles would be much less if you converted the time to a distance of 3.1 miles.  If I convert the time for the course to what it would have taken me to go 3.1 miles, my time converts to 18:01.24.  How frustrating is this!  Even if the course had ended at 3.1 miles (which it did not), I would have finished in 24/100ths of a second slower than my all time PR.  While this tells me that I actually had a much better race than I thought I had originally, I still would have been about a quarter of a second slower than my all time PR.  Well, I should be satisfied with the fact my effort on this day nearly bettered my previous best, but had I been closer to the finish and knew I was in this situation, I wonder now if I would have been able to muster a little more effort to do even better yet.  Maybe next time I should have a GPS watch on verify the distance myself.

Kaia finally had a kids race following mine which she ran and had a great time.  She took off running well and got herself a medal; she calls it a necklace.  This was her first race that she didn't finish last in.  She finished in the middle of the pack on a couple of loops around an indoor running track.

Warrior Dash

Angela talked me into doing the Warrior Dash this afternoon.  I have done two races in one day before, but I do not think I have done two races in two different states before.  Since I gave a good effort at today's earlier race, I didn't have a lot extra in the tank, but this was supposed to be a race for fun.  Angela and I were going to initially do this race together since we had originally registered with some friends who we thought would watch Kaia while we did this.  However, these friends were unable to come.  Therefore, we each had to do the race individually.
When we got to the race, Kaia didn't know what to think.  People were walking around covered in mud, mud, and more mud.  Angela ran the race first.  She managed to keep herself fairly clean through most of the race, but that was soon to change. 







She decided a sliding approach to the final mud pits was the safest way to go.










But then she had to finally walk through the mud pit.  Sorry Angela, but you are about to get dirty.











Upon existing the last of the mud pits, she is covered almost from head to toe. 













Kaia didn't know what to think of mom's new look.  She sure was dirty.  Angela finished the 5K course in a time of 34:12.10.  She was 353rd out of 3911 females.  Pretty good there, Angela!

















Then it was my turn.  I tackled the obstacles with determination (or at least a desire to not get burned in the fire).










I decided to jump across the mud pits.  I never did the long jump in high school track, so unfortunately I still landed in the water at the end of the pit.









I then scaled the walls in the mud pit obstacle.  I finished in at time of 23:24.00.  This was good for 30th out of 3166 males and 32nd out of 7077 overall during the event.  Also, not bad considering I ran another 5K earlier in the day.









All that was left now was the cold showers.  Angela wished she was at home where the water was warmer, but she had to settle for cold water out of a fire hose.  The look on her face says it all.
















What a great day to be a Warrior and complete the Warrior Dash.  We all had a blast and love the hats.

Brill Harvest Fest 5K

I have always enjoyed the Woolly Mammoth race.  This year, I decided to have Arrowhead Family Dental sponsor the Nordic Walk 5K.  I won this race the year before and decided this would be a wonderful event to sponsor in order to help promote this event to others interested in the sport of nordic walking.  I worked with the business "Out There" to be the primary sponsor for the event.  The tough decision rested in determining which event to do.  I guess the thought in my mind was that I would need to run the 5K and not do the nordic walk.  I want to see the nordic walk championships grow since this is an event that nearly everyone can do.  It doesn't take specialized material.  Truthfully, if a competitor had a comfortable pair of walking shoes and a walking stick of some kind, that would be enough to participate in the event.  I would like to see more people take up this activity to promote physical fitness.
My wife and daughter came to this event to cheer me on. This would be the first of two races that I did would do this day. The other event would be another 5K Warrior Dash. My daughter and wife are truly my best fans (especially my cute little daughter).  I truly can say that I run faster knowing that she is waiting at the finish line to cheer me on.

 

She watches me while I stretch before the race (although sometimes I think she is just as excited about her snack as she is of watching me).

 

 

She loves to hug on dad before and after a race.

 

 Did I say that she is really proud of dad and loves to hug me a lot?

Sometimes she hugs me so long she gets tired and just about falls asleep in my arms.  Yes, she is my biggest fan (Sidenote: the only reason I don't have pictures of my wife, my other biggest fan, is that someone has to actually take the pictures. . .Thanks Angela!)

 

My biggest fan helped me run to a victory in today's 5K, running an unofficial time of 19:59.  I am not sure of the exact time.  Although I have a watch, I accidentally did not start it at the beginning.  There was a problem with the time clock leading to times which were high by an unknown amount, but several runners think it was thirty seconds to a minute high which would bring me to a time I would be more happy with.

 

I got to present the award to this year's 5K winner of the nordic walk.  This year's winner was Jeff Koppa, who won a couple of years ago.  He is a great guy.  I hope that he decides to enroll in the National Nordic Walking Championship.  He entered a couple of years ago and placed second in the nation.  He didn't say if he would be enrolling in the national championships.  Thanks to the Ice Age Trail Alliance for a wonderful 11th annual Woolly Mammoth event.