Parkersburg HM

[flyinghighrunner]

Congrats, Jaron on a nice run. If I remember right, this is a pretty rolling course. At least the weather cooperated. Good job! Give us the report when you get in.
1 Alene Reta, 25, Ethiopia 29:47 1:02:39 4:47
2 Reuben ChebiI, 24, Kenya 29:46 1:02:51 4:48
3 Mesfin Hailu, 25, Ethiopia 29:46 1:03:20 4:50
4 Girma Tolla, 31, Kenya 29:47 1:03:33 4:51
5 Nicholas Kamakya, 22, Kenya 29:46 1:03:49 4:52
6 1 David Langat, 33, Kenya 29:54 1:05:04 4:58
7 1 Ernest Kimeli, 22, Kenya 29:55 1:05:08 4:58
8 1 Richard Korir, 25, Kenya 29:54 1:05:10 4:58
9 2 Jynocel Basweti, 20, Kenya 30:22 1:05:20 4:59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pace: 5:00 | 6:00 | 7:00 | 8:00 | 9:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | Top-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 2 Mario Macias, 26, Mexico 30:31 1:06:15 5:03
11 3 John Gathoga, 27, Kenya 31:10 1:06:54 5:06
12 4 Josh Ordway, 27, Fairborn, OH 31:50 1:07:07 5:07
13 2 James Jurcevich, 31, Columbus, OH 31:50 1:07:53 5:11
14 3 Joseph Sitienei, 32, Kenya 31:27 1:08:22 5:13
15 5 Samuel Rotich, 25, Kenya 31:28 1:08:56 5:16
16 4 Sammy Nyamongo, 31, Kenya 32:10 1:09:18 5:17
17 1 Wegayehu Tefera, 18, Ethiopia 31:27 1:09:41 5:19
18 5 Orinthal Striggles, 31, Elgin, SC 32:26 1:09:46 5:19
19 3 Jaron Hawkins, 24, Frostburg, MD 32:40 1:11:32 5:28
20 6 Richard Ondimu, 27, Kenya 33:52 1:11:50 5:29
21 Sharon Cherop, 23*, Kenya 34:33 1:12:26 5:32
22 4 John Davis, 23, Huntington, WV 33:52 1:12:37 5:33
23 6 Jason Gish, 32, Camp Hill, PA 34:45 1:13:04 5:35
24 Belainesh Gebre, 19*, Ethiopia 34:33 1:13:20 5:36
25 2 Ezkyas Sisay, 18, Ethiopia 34:35 1:13:21 5:36
26 Maria Busienei, 22*, Kenya 34:33 1:13:46 5:38
27 Galina Aleksandrova, 31*, Russia 34:33 1:14:05 5:39
28 John Piggott, 42, Williamsburg, VA 34:36 1:14:20 5:40
29 1 Chuck Engle, 36, Carroll, OH 35:11 1:14:57 5:43
30 Dw3Nx52 35:11 1:14:58 5:43

[frojoe23]

Here we go with the recap. Other than not being able to find my hotel for a long time, things went well. Got there and they told me that Tom Stevens and I were sharing a room. No big deal - Jackie and I waited until about 10:30 for him to show up, but he never did! We thought maybe he was uncomfortable with rooming with us and had got a room somewhere else. (There was also some confusion surrounding the room situation - there were supposed to be two rooms: one in Spinnler's name, the other in Susan's. The race director told me that since Susan scratched, that room was given away and Tom and I would be in a room together - under our names. I don't know if he just couldn't find a room under Mike's name or not. Since he was coming in late, he wouldn't have picked up his number and would have no way of knowing the room changes.) So on race morning, about 30 minutes before the start I checked to see if Tom had picked up his number - he hadn't and he never did show.

Now to the race: What a hilly fiasco this place is (two monster hills, one is at least a mile long from 1.75 to 2.75 and then the last is about .3 or .4 at around 11.5 miles (really crushes your legs at this point). The rest of the course is short ups and downs.

I'll start by saying that I did run a PR by a minute, but I know I can run under 1:10 there (some things held me back). I am pleased - at the end it felt like a normal Monday run, except I was hurting more than usual.

I got a good start and the only person that passed me after the initial start passed me about 400 meters in. I could see two Americans ahead of me (Jim Jurevich and Josh Ordway). I knew that both of those guys would run 1:07-1:08, so I hung about 5-6 seconds back early. Went through the first mile in a quick 5:09 (not what I wanted, but it felt good, so at this point, I decided to compete and not worry about goals). Stayed behind Jurevich and Ordway with another elite guy about 4 steps ahead of me. Two was a little slower because of the hill, but a decent downhill at 3 and finally a flat mile for 4 put me at 20:35 for four miles and ready to latch onto Ordway. At this point I started to get some indigestion (before the race it was two watery craps that had me a little concerned). By 5, I was hurting, but kept on pushing because I knew there was supposed to be a Porta John at 7 if need be. Between 6 and 7, the craps hit me bad and there was no Porta John anywhere in sight. At 7.5, I saw a BP station and asked the water crew if there was a bathroom. Given the affirmative, I ran into the store, down the aisle to the bathroom, not even caring to turn on the light, let loose and then was gone back out the door. I asked the water station if anybody else came through and they told me "no". So at this point with slightly over 5 to go and thinking I was the 3rd American and might get a little cash I started thinking about maintaining my position. Always a bad decision to let those thoughts in because naturally you don't really focus on the race. But I was in "no man's land". In between 6 and 7, I could see that Ordway and Jurevich were gone. Meanwhile, the guy that had been about 5 seconds ahead of me started to pull away. After my pit stop, I could only see a wheelchair racer ahead of me (caught him at 11), but I had nothing to focus on - this is where it became tough and just like a long run. Anyway, I had a decent last mile after that so well placed incline. I was a little upset at having to pit stop, because I think if I wouldn't have had to, I would've been under 1:11 easily. And even though I took care of my needs then, it stayed with me a little bit and I was fighting it off some the last two miles (nothing that made me feel like crapping my pants though) But I thought if I felt a little better, I would've been a little faster. I finally had a race where I could come away knowing I was in decent shape - now all I have to do is put this together for the maraton. I think I'm close to doing that because this was not an easy course (it wasn't the hardest, but I've seen better.) I almost feel like I can do this back to back if I was at Chicago, but I know that is wishful thinking cause the second half is a whole different beast.

Here's the splits: By the way, almost set a PR through 10k and judging by 5 miles, I'm ready for Gary Brown

1- 5:09.22 5:09.22
2- 5:18.64 10:27.86 (end was uphill)
3- 5:23.76 15:51.62 (majority uphill)
4- 4:47.94 20:39.56 (flat)
5- 5:19.96 25:59.52 (Gary Brown, here I come)
6- 5:28.90 31:28.42 (10k was 32:39)
7- 5:29.05 36:57.47
8- 6:12.57 43:10.04 (pit stop in BP, maybe 5:35 without it, hard to say)
9- 5:15.17 48:25.21 (felt good after losing a little weight)
10- 5:30.10 53:55.22 (54:10 is 5:25 pace, so right on even after a little break)
11- 5:41.51 59:36.73 (starting to fall apart, but still kept these last three consistent)
12- 5:48.12 1:05:25 (steep uphill in the middle)
13.1 - 1:11:32 6:06.13 (1.1 miles, so low 5:30's to finish it out)