2010-04-28
Broad Street Alert, Club 5K in Newark, Triple Crown & Nashville results
Broad Street 10 Miler Alert
This was sent by Ed Maher, Grand Prix series director:
As you're likely aware, this Sunday's Broad Street Run could have as many as 30,000 runners. While there will be 8 separate wave starts with a "gun time" for each wave, there can still be a considerable time gap from the wave's gun until the last runner in the wave crosses the start line. In consideration of this, our WMA% scoring for Broad Street this year will be based on the runner's chip time. Please spread the word about this change among your club memberships.
Broad Street Expo days & hours are:
Friday, April 30, 2010 - 11 AM - 6
PM and Saturday, May 1, 2010 - 9 AM - 5 PM
The Phillies have a 7:05pm game on Friday, a 3:10pm game on Saturday and (fortunately) an 8:05pm game on Sunday. The Friday & Saturday games will undoubtedly cause traffic issues toward the later hours of the Expo! Please plan accordingly. ...the Flyers round 2 playoff schedule is still TBD.
Broad Street gear check: the process is very different this year:
http://www.broadstreetrun.com/New_in_2010.htm
The LDR Committee will have a table at the Expo on both Friday & Saturday. We will be able to take new memberships and will display results of this year's previous Grand Prix events.
Newark Reservoir 5K, Friday 5/7, 6:15pm start
All are invited to this free PCVRC event. If you're
likely to run or would like to volunteer to help, email Nikki at
nzander@udel.edu so we have an idea of numbers. The race will be "rain or shine". If we have a few people who want to help, we could have water available on the course. If there is a big turnout, it would be nice to have some help with timing. Social to follow across the stream at Timothy's.
DE Marathon volunteers needed:
Course Marshals for race day is biggest need. Please contact Ray at
run@pcvrc.com if you'd like to help with any of the following:
Tue May 11 5:30 - 6:30 pm At 1-800 PACKRAT on Rte
896. Need ½ doz people to help fill the water storage containers
Fri May 14 4-7pm At Tubman We set up an assembly line
to stuff the 2000 runner bags. People arrive and leave when they need to.
Sat May 15 9 -11 At Tubman PRE-Packet Pickup - Pull packets/shirts, etc for large groups
Say May 15 11-2 At Tubman First shift
registration/packet pick up - Arrive 15 min early for instruction
Sat May 15 2- 5 At Tubman Second shift
registration/packet pick up - Arrive 15 min early for instruction
Sun May 16 5-7am At Tubman Early Race Day Packet Pickup We want to open by 5:15am
Sun May 16 730-1030 and/or 1000-1230 Course Marshals in Wawaset Park / Little Italy area
Triple Crown recap
On Saturday, Pike Creek Valley Running Club had a great turnout in the Triple Crown 10K at Carpenter State Park north of Newark with twelve runners scoring in the event. PCVRC scored the most points of the four clubs and is now solidly in second place by twenty points over the third place team. It also trails the first place team by about twenty points, but gained seven points in this competition. Apologies for the jumbled order of the results, but this is how they weren't presented in the database. The grades in bold are the top five scores counted for the team score.
PLACE 10KTIME BIB FNAME LNAME G CITY ST AGE AGE%
99 1:01:16 340 Deborah Compton F Newark DE 61 64.907
76 0:57:08 351 Lorraine Fencer F Wilmington DE 49 59.393
106 1:02:48 416 Tara Huang F Wilmington DE 29 48.301
12 0:43:47 435 Epi Camacho M Wilmington DE 54 72.440
13 0:45:32 460 Ryan German M Newark DE 32 59.443
4 0:41:06 423 Tom Jermyn M Newark DE 47 72.911
2 0:36:34 463 Joshua Loren M Wilmington DE 29 73.473
14 0:45:39 404TC Mudhillon MuQaribu M Bear DE 30 58.963
24 0:47:10 427 Fred Shufflebarger M Unionville PA 61 71.413
38 0:50:39 391 Dan Simmons M Newark DE 62 67.094
70 0:56:23 433 Richard Szymanski M Wilmington DE 45 52.349 355.144
This writer had an up close chance to observe the action for I was going the reserve direction on the course while running the Triple Crown Marathon, which I completed in 5:53:40. I saw everyone twice since I was completing the first loop and then beginning the second as the 10K competitors went by. If you like fording streams and having to stop running in order to step over logs, this is the marathon for you!
Ronald McDonald 5K
Also on Saturday club member Mark Vilardo was the overall winner of the Ronald McDonald 5K, now held at the Wilmington Riverfront, with a time of 15:57.
Ocean City, MD. Half
Meanwhile, farther down the peninsula on Saturday, Jack and Kelly Horwitz ran the Ocean City, MD. Half-Marathon. Reports Jack: Kelly was 2nd female in 1:33:25 and I ran a respectable 1:42:16. The exciting news is that Kelly's 20 year old neice ran a 1:38:16 in only her second half marathon. There may be some genetic link that could benefit PCVRC in the future!
Country Music Marathon results
And then, there's the story of the Country Music Marathon and Half-Marathon, which was also on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee. Club VP Claire Neilan headed up our group for the Half while Club President Ray Christensen reports on the Full:
Tony Chelpaty & I left the room at 5:45 a,m., after watching weather forecasts
for the 10th time in 24 hours. It was warm and humid enough that no
throwaway was required. We walked up West End Ave towards bag check in the
park. Upon approaching the start area, the announcer said "The only change
is that start time has been moved up 15 minutes to 6:45." Well that's pretty
darn significant, so we quickened the pace to drop our bags and head for the
potty line, wondering when and how the time change was made public.
Although there was too much talking and not enough music, the announcer felt
no urgency to continue repeating the critical time change message, so
luckily Tony informed the other Rebels as they approached. No rain yet, so
we figured that things were looking up, even though the high was expected to
be 74. Of course, the 6:45 start found runners scrambling into position, with
lots of bewildered participants walking on sidewalks in the opposite
direction during the first several blocks after the gun went off. With
31,000 runners, the wave start helped us find a reasonable pace. But being
in corral 2 of 31 was a bigger help. Mostly downhill for the 2 miles to
downtown helped us relax. Tony and I would run mostly side by side for
almost 10 miles as he pulled me up many of the climbs. Bands rocked us and
high school & grade school cheerleaders pumped us up as advertised.
At 2 miles, we turned on 4th Ave to head back out on Demonbreun Street.
This first big loop included lots of gentle rolling and was highlighted by
the "Musica" statue of naked dancers and a couple 'beer stops'.
Water/Cyclomax stops were large and well-staffed with spirited volunteers.
Even narrow, tree-lined streets were appropriately full of record studios as
we toured Music City. A slight breeze sometimes was a headwind, but felt
good in cooling us off. Several long stretches of runners coming the
opposite way were fun and back downtown we eventually arrived at the 11.5
mile split off of the half marathoners, which greatly diminished our
numbers. Tony's pace slowed, so a gap was developing between us. I was
also de-motivated realizing that we still hadn't reached the halfway point.
Two minutes ahead of our 3:30 time pace was reasonable, but with spaced out
runners, it was harder work. I settled in to a true 8:00/mile pace
(maintaining the 2 minute cushion) for a few miles, but although there were
less hills in the 2nd half, the sun sometimes peeked out to intensify the
heat. We silently ran on some wide industrial streets until enjoying a
scenic 2 mile stretch on a levee along the Cumberland River. A short but
steep downhill signaled our turn back to town to complete this second loop.
At mile 19, we re-joined the throng of half marathoners as they headed for
their finish, crossing the bridge towards the Titans football stadium. At
mile 20 there were plenty of finish area spectators, but then we were eerily
alone again for the final 10K.
I was struggling to try to maintain a sub-3:30 finish, but was losing
ground. Another stretch along the river and around a park helped make loop
3 more bearable. Just before mile 24, I was passed by the 3:30 pacer (whom
we had not found in the corral). That was disheartening, since I couldn't
stay with him. To make matters worse, he was alone, having lost his entire
group. A lone runner carrying a pacer sign is depressing. Then we again
experienced the oncoming runners, as the clouds darkened and a few raindrops
fell. I hadn't totally lost my stride, but didn't have the legs to move
faster. Mile 25 was good to see, but just before the last water stop I was
surprised to see a steady stream of runners coming around a corner to join
us. I was afraid to ask what brought them there and even wondered if I had
made a wrong turn but I definitely had not run on this street before.
Besides, all of my concentration was focused on finishing.
The sore left Achilles that had hampered my training could be felt since
mile 8, but never really worsened and I didn't encounter any other specific
aches or pains. Only hills and humidity to blame for a tough run. I was
moving at a faster pace than the main group, so passing runners was a
positive, but sharing my finish time with slower runners was a negative,
especially since I still didn't know where and when they'd been diverted. I
enjoyed the home stretch as much as possible, with a half-hearted kick being
cheered by a good number of spectators and my 3:32:30 chip time didn't
really make me unhappy.
Less than 2 minutes after finishing, rain started falling and lightning was
visible. Wind kicked up as I collected medal, blanket, water, bananas and
whatever I could fit in my Race-Ready shorts pouch. Of course, most of the
25,000 half marathoners had already finished so the finish area was mobbed.
It was also very chaotic, with few signs explaining where to go. By the
time I found bag check (at furthest point from the finish), I had declared
that organization was a mess. By now, it was pouring and people were
crowding under tents, stadium entrances and anyplace else for shelter.
Since I found myself near the beer tent, I grabbed one and squeezed in with
other storm victims. The rain would not stop, so I kept eating my
provisions and grabbed another beer. The wind and downpour only got worse,
so I finally did some stretching with one hand while holding the foil
blanket closed with the other, since it was windy, wet and cool. I spoke
with 2 different young guys who had completed their first marathon, one in
3:37 and one around 4 hours, who turned out to be one of the last to pass
before runners started getting diverted at mile 20.5 or so. They were
happy. I also spoke with 2 ladies who had been diverted while trying to
complete their first marathon. They were sad --- as were many others.
Mainly due to the weather, the marathon portion of the race had become a
fiasco. I wondered how they'd figure finish times and even who had finished
the full, since there were no mats past the diversion point. I later found
out that Tony had created his own diversion course, finishing in the half
marathon chute. Dar had been part of the regular diverted group. Race
management would eventually go through results by hand to determine which
"category" each runner fell into (including the previously discussed
"marathoners being diverted to the half marathon finish", essentially
running the half marathon. About 720 of us completed the full, another
1,000 diverted to 21 or so miles and maybe 2,000 being forced to run the
half. Don't expect too many good reviews at MarathonGuide.com!
There was still one more "leg" to my adventure. Certainly the 10 half
marathoners in our group had headed to the hotel or downtown to seek proper
shelter in a bar. As the beer tent was being torn down, I started my wet 2
mile walk across the bridge through downtown towards the hotel. Several
other stragglers were also limping back across the bridge and I started
talking with another idiot who happened to be headed to a hotel even farther
up the street than ours. We joked with each other as a deluge of rain fell
on us and lightning sometimes lit up the sky. Every corner was like a river
crossing and soon many of the sidewalks were 2 inches deep with water. It
wasn't the safest thing to be doing and I told him that his wife was gonna kill him.
Full story, with photos, of our weekend trip will be online at
http://www.RebelRunners.com by Saturday.
PCVRC Nashville runners (all are Half unless noted):
Ray Christensen (full) 3:32:30
Tony Chelpaty (self-diverted from full)
Claire Neilan 1:47:06
Gelsomina Paolini 2:09:43
Rachel Bleacher 2:14:51
Lori Culnane 2:14:52
Jordan Fridman 2:14:52
For the perspective of another person on Nashville, see the account from Dana Casanave, who is attempting to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks to raise money for aids orphans in South Africa. Being one of the people diverted from the marathon course, she went to a local gym and ran over five miles on a threadmill in order to complete 26.2 miles. http://www.52beginnings.com
Save the Children 5K
On Sunday, David James won the Matthew Bowers Save the Children 5K in Newark in 19:21.
Also participating in that race after months away with a mysterious debilitating problem was April Hubbard, who has finally recovered. After many inconclusive medical tests, she believes the problem may have been brought on by an auto-immune response to a series of bee and wasp stings. This writer happened to meet April out in White Clay Creek State Park on Friday while helping to set the trail for the Triple Crown races. She told me she feels like a real runner again because she fell on trail. Yeah, I'm a charter member of that club! Welcome back, April!
Links for Runners:
Club member Joanne Hennessy Slawter offers 10% discount to PCVRC members: http://www.MassageForAthletes.com
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Run, Race, Enjoy!
