OBX Half-Marathon 2008

Susan with a Pirate
Originally uploaded by CellPhoneSusie

It wasn't the same being back at the OBX without any of the original wakeobxers except Ron. But we returned for the Year 3 event with our daughter-in-law's family. They had selected the OBX half/full marathon for their yearly family race event. We rented a big house that ended up being right on the race course, which made it handy for the folks that didn't race (including Meredith who cheered hundreds of racers as they passed by). Four of us did the half this time around: Ron, Nancy, Sue (Nancy's mom) and me. Nancy's cousin Karen was the lone marathoner this year.

The course had been tweaked a bit since the inaugural event we attended. They moved the finish line to the waterfront in Manteo (at the Maritime Museum). The made the finish so much nicer: right on the water, a big street party and tons of activity. The starting points were a bit different, but for the most part the route was the same. The biggest difference (beside the fact they did much better with the number of port-o-lets at the starting line) was that the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Once the sun came up, it was a cloudless beautifully sunny day with enough breeze to keep the racers cool. The number of racers had also grown, with 3000 starting the half and around 1200 the full. They started us in waves, which helped with preventing too much jamming up in the first few miles.

I had a much better race than I anticipated, particularly a week after the half ironman. I did the 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours, 15 minutes, at a pace of 10:18. That got me 12th out of 68 in my age group, which was the fastest pace I've managed in over a year!

If you wonder who that pirate guy is in the picture, it's not Ron! They had this whole pirate theme going (giving prizes for costumes, no I did not participate.....). But I did get my post race picture with a wandering pirate as we waited for everyone to come in.

Hey, OBXer's, we should put this race back on the table for next year, it's really a very nice event when the weather is perfect!

Beach 2 Battleship Half and Full Triathlon

Susan's post nearly says everything there is interesting to say about this race - and about all that I can add is that "it hurt." The event was well coordinated for the full participants as I had just enough time after catching the bus from downtown to look over my equipment before heading to the tip of Wrightsville beach on the trolley. We started the race by running (or walking in my case) into the surf and swimming into the channel. As I made the right turn to head along shore it was as if I had a propeller strapped to my back. After the few days of edginess leading up to the race, having the hour to speed along on the incoming tide was calming. I was amazed when I got out of the water and saw that I had swum the 2.4 miles in 1 hour flat!

The bike was enjoyable but definitely a bit draining. As Susan reported - the day warmed up nicely and before I knew it (I mean after about 2.5 hours) my feet defrosted and I was able to take off my gloves and arm-warmers. I averaged just over 19 mph on the bike and came into the run a bit tired but feeling ok. I started the run at right around hour 7 and headed up the first (of 6) bridge crossings. Like Susan I was a bit concerned about the run and my ability to keep moving for the entire distance.

I really wanted to run the first 13 miles anyway and seeing all the support of the people in downtown Wilmington really helped. The run included a beautiful loop around Greenfield Lake and I have to say qualifies as one of the nicest setup-events run ever. Starting the second loop was both exciting and painful - I took two ibuprofen and decided to try running on a mile-by-mile basis. As lap 2 settled in so I resigned myself to probably not breaking the 12 hour mark I had set leading up to this race but somewhere around mile 17 the ibuprofen kicked in and - in my one real surprise of the day, my pace picked up from what can only be called a 'shuffle' to a 'slow run.' It was my first experience of 'finishing strong' on a long distance race and it felt good :).

As Susan said, the quality of the aid stations and level of support was really amazing. The residents of Wilmington had to put up with long lines to get over the bridges (I had several folks cheer me on from their cars as they waited), closed streets, and exhausted runners all Saturday and all I could think as a rounded the run course a second time was that while my day was about over - those volunteers had another 5 hours in front of them.

Although I've got no pics (well there are a few of me but I don't think we need to be posting them on the web), there is a nice article about the event in the Wilmington Star.

And as a last note - I hear we are getting the OBX group together for the Misltetoe 5K and Half-Marathon. The 5k is walker friendly and the half-marathon features a portion of the now famous WTL5K route. . . .

Beach 2 Battleship Half and Full Triathlon

Yesterday was the Beach 2 Battleship Half and Full Triathlon. This was an inaugural event in Wilmington, NC. The triathlon community is very large and active in North Carolina, and there has been a demand for a full distance event (aka Ironman, but that is trademarked) for a long time (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run). An ironman competition has been a goal for Erik for several years, but it is hard to get a slot in these races since there aren’t lots of them and the competition is so fierce that they often close out registration within an hour of opening! So when this event was announced early in the year, Erik jumped on it and talked me into coming along since they also offered a half distance race as part of the event (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run).

Training for either of these events takes months of dedication on the athlete’s part and Erik was focused and well prepared. I wasn’t quite as ready as I should have been due to my foot problems this year, but was fairly confident that I could muddle through. During the last few weeks, we finished our “build” period of training and worked hard at the recommended “taper”, which was hard for Erik and too much like my regular regime for me. We had to figure out what clothing and equipment to bring, which is harder than it sounds but since it was a Nov. 1 race, we had to be prepared for all types of weather. Think about what is required in equipment: warm up clothing, swim goggles, wetsuit, bicycles, cycling shoes, helmet, gloves, running shoes, sunglasses, hats, arm warmers, cycling shorts, running shorts, nutition, well, you get the idea! So we pulled it all together and headed to Wilmington Friday morning to check in and be ready to be at the race site by 5:30 am Sat.

The most daunting part of the race for me this time was the swim, because of the cold weather. Erik had to be in the water at 7 am for the full distance. We half distance racers got some small break and didn’t have to swim until 8:30. But the air temperature was low to mid 40’s and IMHO, the water wasn’t much warmer. Even with the wetsuit, it was enough to take your breath away it was so cold. And that was after standing around outside waiting for 3 ½ hours! My teeth were chattering before I even got a toe wet. The good part was they timed the swim to take place as the tide came in (It took place at Wrightsville Beach in the Intracoastal Waterway), so the swim times were very fast (the fastest full distance guy did 2.4 miles in 39 minutes!). I managed to have a decent swim, but it took quite awhile to warm back up as I biked.

The day (after the sun came up) was picture perfect for racing: sunny, cool, minimal wind. I had a good bike segment but tried to conserve some energy for the run, which is always torture for me. And I hadn’t been able to properly build for a 13.1 mile run since I only started running again a few months ago. But I actually had a tolerable run and felt good 7 miles into the 13. Then I faded but was able to keep up a steady jog, with a little walking at the food stations (which were every mile and very nicely done).

I completed the race in 6 hours, 44 minutes which pleased me since my goal was to get in under 7 hours. I pulled out first place in my age group (I think out of 4, but they haven’t posted all the results yet).

Erik will tell you his own story, but I’ll simply report that he had a fantastic race and finished in 11 hours and 52 minutes, a real accomplishment for a first iron distance race.