A very good year

I can’t help but notice that in the 50+ category there’s not much competition from women born in ’50-‘57 or even in ’59. All the good "mature" women runners seem to have been born in ’58. At any given race in our area, most of the top women finishers in my age group were born the same year as I was. On top of that, I would often be ranked about the same if I were running in the 40+ category, sometimes even better! I wonder what was so special about 1958?

Gotta run…

Renens bouge

For me, the big draw to enter today’s 10K race was the fact that it was only a few miles from home, making it possible for me to ride my bike there, and it was free. There must have been between one hundred and one fifty runners. I immediately saw that there was only one other woman in my category who was sure to beat me. We ran 3 times around a 3.4K loop that reminded me of a roller coaster, up and down, up and down. We had to negotiate winding paths through the woods strewn with roots. I was glad to cross the finish line without a sprained ankle. I hung around for the award ceremony and sure enough, I came in second in my category. It was my second time ever to stand on a podium!

Gotta run…

Run for all

The October issue of Runner’s World contains a great article on running with a purpose. It talks about training kids or special needs individuals, taking SPCA dogs out for runs, volunteering at races, hosting out of town runners, and raising money for charities. Unfortunately the online issue only carries a short paragraph on the article and a long list of charity race programs. I have one to add. Brother’s 5K is coming up November 14. The good news is you don’t need to travel to Paducah to participate in the second (annual?) International One World Run, you can run it wherever you live . Brother will send you the race t-shirt and you will be helping to support Project AIDS Orphan.

Gotta run…

Now for the serious training

I’ve run more than a dozen 20Ks or half marathons, but until yesterday, I had only run farther than 21K three times in my life. All three time were over a five-week period 16 years ago. I had been serious thinking about entering the first Lausanne Marathon that would be held June 23rd, 1993, to celebrate the grand opening of the Olympic Museum. Soon after the Lausanne 20K that first Saturday in May, I called the Marathon organizers and asked for advice. The guy told me if I could run a 20K, I could run a marathon, cause it was a matter of will power. He said to do a couple of 2 1/2 hour runs, which I did. That was my whole marathon training, but I was only 35 at the time; at 51 I decided I would need a smarter training plan. Yesterday I ran 22K, it’s not much farther than 21, but it is farther. From now till the Beaujolais Marathons, my long runs will all be among my longest ever.

Gotta run…

Le marathon le plus long du monde

The 25th Médoc Marathon was held this morning. Husband and I had considered signing up for this race, but the 8500 spots filled up in a matter of hours. It is billed as the world’s longest marathon, because wine tasting is offered at the 50 different chateaux all along the course. Apparently by the time they reach the finish line some runners are zigzagging quite a bit, and all that extra distance adds up! This race is for people who want to have fun, not for record seekers.

Gotta run…

La Sarraz

This evening Husband and I drove to La Sarraz for the last leg of the Tour du Pays de Vaud. Daughter tagged along to cheer us on. I checked the standings before we left home and saw I held a comfortable fifth place in my category going into the race. The fourth place woman was 5’30” ahead of me, and the sixth place woman was over 2 minutes behind me; not much chance of the ranking changing. All in all Husband and I were pleased with the run. On the first tough hill I passed a woman who was walking. She always beats me, so I told her she needed to get moving because she didn't want me beating her. She thanked me at the finish line and said she probably would have quit without my encouragement.

We had decided to stay for the award ceremony followed by a drawing; so we sat at one of the long picnic tables with a bunch of other people to eat our sandwiches. It ended up being a good decision to hang around. Not only because we both won prizes in the drawing, a sports bag for me and a Nike watch for Husband (that he promptly gave to me!), but also because we met some very nice people. One of them was the sixth place finisher in my age group. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon.

Gotta run…

The “spirit” of the race

Here’s what you can read on the Beaujolais Marathon site:

Il est dans la tradition et dans l’esprit de notre marathon de ne jamais proposer de récompenses financières. Le vainqueur est pesé sur le podium et reçoit son poids en BEAUJOLAIS lors de la remise des prix.

Translation:

In the tradition and the spirit [italics mine; no pun intended since the original text is in French] of our marathon we never offer monetary rewards. The winner is weighed on the podium and receives his weight in BEAUJOLAIS at the reward ceremony.

Gotta run…

Saint-Prex

Saint-Prex

The fourth leg of the Tour du Pays de Vaud was moved from Aubonne to the neighboring village of Saint-Prex. I don’t know why this was, but the numerous Saint-Prex volunteers, in their bright yellow t-shirts all along the course, were tickled pink. I took off faster than my normal pace to avoid the bottleneck that was sure to form when we got to the narrow uphill path in the forest. I only lost a few seconds in that little traffic jam (unlike the one I was stuck in for half an hour on my way to the race, which was actually postponed 10 minutes because so many runners were stuck in traffic). I had to slow down for the second half of the race, which meant I was constantly getting passed from then on. All in all it was a good run, but I must say it was relief to finally get to the finish line.

Gotta run…