Happy Mother's Day and Indy Mini-Marathon Recap

Last weekend, I was on the mainland to visit family ... and to run a race!  The Indianapolis Mini-Marathon is the largest half marathon in the U.S. with over 37,000 registrants and over 30,000 finishers.  This year, one of those finishers was my mom! Here's a little bit of her story in honor of Mother's Day.

In January of 2011, I headed to Maui to run the Maui Oceanfront Half Marathon and to visit my mom.  Somehow I talked her into running the 5k, even though she wasn't running at all at that point.  But she put on her game face and ran the 5k in 41:34.  Here we are celebrating after the run:

But she wasn't happy with that time and called me a couple of days later to see if I could make her a Couch to 5k Schedule.  Of course I was more than happy to help her out and sent one over.  With the weather and race schedule in the Midwest, I don't think she got a chance to race again until the 2011 Kona Marathon 5k. Although I can't find the official results, I think she lowered her time there to 38 minutes.  Over the course of the next several months, she found more 5ks to run in at home, ending up with a PR of 33 minutes and an age group award!

At this point, I think she finally started enjoying running (isn't that what happens when you start getting faster?).  The next challenge for her was a 10k.  So, I made her another schedule and we put the 2012 Kona Marathon 10k on the calendar.  She kept with it and increased her miles over the spring and was ready to go by June of last year.  She finished her first 10k in 1:13:45. 

As happy as she was to finish, she was also a little disappointed.  At the Kona Marathon races, only the half marathon and marathon finishers get medals, and she really wanted a medal of her own.  So she said that she was going to do the half marathon in 2013 and get a medal.  She kept up with her running over the fall and I made plans to run the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon in May, signing her up for the race as her Christmas present (and yes, I think she did actually appreciate the gift)!

This time I put together a schedule for the half marathon that she followed pretty faithfully throughout the spring, running all over the country, including Indiana, St. Louis, Maui and the Big Island.  One of the highlights of the training (for me) was getting to run a 10-miler with her in Maui. And then all of the sudden it was race day!

After a really rainy Friday evening and a somewhat worrisome rain forecast, we woke up to overcast skies, 59 degree temperatures, and no rain - perfect running weather.  We headed off to our corrals and got ready to run.  We were in different corrals, so I didn't actually run the race with her, but she managed to snap several pictures during the run:

In the corral before the start

The race starts out downtown and heads west past the Indianapolis Zoo and through the town of Speedway, Indiana.

On the course

Once through the town of Speedway, you actually run into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (home of the Indy 500) and run one loop (a little over 2 miles) on the track.

Heading into Indianapolis Motor Speedway

On the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Track

After coming off the track, you start heading back into town and the finish line. 

In the home stretch

Although she didn't get any pictures of them, this race has tons of on-course support, bands and entertainment along the way.  From the tap-dancing ladies to country cover bands to cheerleaders and the cast of the Wizard of Oz, you were constantly seeing something new.  And the aid stations were amazing - it seemed like there was one every 1/2 mile!

After I finished my run, I headed back to the finish line to try to catch her finish.  She was hoping to finish around 3 hours, depending on how much walking she had to do towards the end. But I was getting text updates on her status and knew that she was going to crush the 3-hour mark.  As you can imagine, with 30,000 people I was worried I was going to miss her, but then I saw her. Unfortunately she was on the other side of the road, so I was only able to capture this photo with lots of other people in it.  That's her in the center of the photo in the pink Run Big top (of course!) with a khaki jacket around her waist.

She ended up finishing in 2:45:01 - a fantastic time for her first run. And she got her medal! I caught up with her at the end of the finishing chute and got a picture with our medals.

I was and am so proud of her! I don't know that she'll tell you she loves running, but she's sticking with it.  I know she does love the fact that she's lost a significant amount of weight, improved her overall health and reduced a lot of pain problems that she'd had previously.  And of course that she's done something she never really thought she'd do.  I haven't talked her into doing a full marathon yet, but she has said she might run another half marathon - maybe even the Kona half this year!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom and all the other mothers out there - runners or not! And hopefully this can also serve as motivation and inspiration for other people who may be on the fence about taking up running.  It's never too late to start!

Running Big in the Big Easy

[Editor's Note: This post was authored by Whitney, a friend of Big Island Running Company who ran New Orleans' Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon on February 13, 2011.]

When you plan on a road trip to New Orleans, LA, Bourbon Street, hurricane drinks, and beads typically come to mind. While all of these are some of my favorite past times in the Crescent City, I traveled to NOLA for a different activity, the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon. This was my second Rock ‘n Roll series race and I had chosen this one for several reasons, the main being the flat and fast course I knew the city streets would provide.

Since this was only my second big race and I was looking to improve my previous time, I had Erica make out a schedule that would better prepare me for Big Easy running. I more or less stuck to the weekly routines and the oh-so-fun early weekend long runs, thanks to Erica’s “coaching”. With only a couple minor speed bump injuries, race weekend came and I felt prepared. I road tripped down with a group of girls that so graciously agreed to be my cheering section. I’ve realized that having someone there to cheer you on and pump you up is vital for me in a race so thanks to them, they made the weekend loads more fun!

Since the race wasn’t until Sunday, we had all day Saturday to roam the French Quarter and take in the city’s sights. I took a run around Audubon Park in the Garden District with my friend Nicki, and fellow Rock ‘n Roll runner. Since NOLA is famous for its amazing food, we gorged ourselves on a good ol’ fashioned po’ boy. This picture may not seem appetizing for some, but it definitely hit the spot! Fried green tomatoes—yum yum!

The temperature the morning of the race started off in the low 40’s so getting to the start wasn’t so fun. After wishing Nicki good luck on her first half and departing to find my corral, I made some friends in the oh-so-dreaded restroom line. This couple was running the full so we briefly chatted about the race and they advised me to watch out for any potholes in streets--I’ll pass on a sprained ankle thanks! The husband was so kind to give me one of his pace time cards he had laminated for his group that was set for an 8:35/mile which is what I was striving for. I was super pumped about the time card since I didn’t have Erica with me and her trusty GPS watch (I really need to invest in one!).

7:00 AM came and we were off! I was lucky enough to be in the front of my corral, which helped me to come fast off the start feeling like I was already a winner. J The course started in the lower Warehouse/Garden District and took us on a beautiful tour of Victorian Mansions, overgrown live oak trees, and street-car lined roads. We wound our way through the area until about mile 8. The full marathon runners split off from the half around mile 5 and continued Uptown toward the Audubon Park. As for my cheering section, we had originally planned for the girls to be at mile 3 then hop up two blocks for mile 7. Well, as New Orleans streets are impossible to navigate quickly and thanks to several road closures, the girls finally managed to squeeze into a spot after mile 4. These girls rock because they woke up extra early to have a poster party to show their support! I knew I needed to be looking for neon signs and finally saw them as they stared into the sun searching for me. Only until I was about 10 feet away did they see me but they definitely showed some love.

I was feeling pretty good about my pace and was actually ahead of my time card through the first half. I saw the girls again after mile marker 7—

-then the course began to wind back to the French Quarter. Thankfully it does not take you straight down Bourbon Street, because I’m not sure if I could stomach the previous night’s lingering aromas. Once we passed the French Market it was time to turn up Esplanade and finish the last 3 miles into the City Park. This was the only part of the course I did not love because of the gravel they had put on the road to fill in some of the holes and cracks which made footing tricky at the end. Since around mile 2.5 I had been keeping pace with another girl and at the end it paid off to have someone push you a little extra towards the end. I crossed the finish line at 1:50:56, ten minutes faster than my first half marathon! I was pretty proud to increase my time by several minutes and felt that for the next race I would know where to push a little harder along the course.

My cheering section appeared at the finish and captured some photos of me shuffling through the food and drink lines. Group photos ensued and I must say we may make “Run Big” look pretty good.

NOLA was a great race and I think if I ever get the courage to do a full, this will be the place. You couldn’t beat the weather and the course was awesome. My only complaint to the Rock ‘n Roll series coordinators: PLEASE schedule the next race for Saturday morning instead of Sunday, as my sobriety on Bourbon Street does not appreciate such taunting.

Race Report: 2011 Mercedes Half Marathon

Tired of the year-round perfect weather in Kona--sarcasm comes across on the internet, right?--Jason and Tennessee Ray decided that they should travel to the mainland and compete in the 2011 Mercedes Half Marathon in Birmingham, Alabama. Race day morning was about 32 degrees, leading to the runners from Hawaii looking like this at the start:

Okay, that photo is actually from our warmup. We reluctantly shed too many of those warm clothes and were ready for the start. My picture from right before the start shows exactly how I felt about the temperature:

After a brief speech by Birmingham's mayor in which he proudly proclaimed that runners were present from all 50 states--I was inclined to believe this since Ray and I were representing one of the states that would seem to be among the most illusive, but my post-race research revealed that there were no citizens from Rhode Island, among others--the gun sounded, and we were off.
The course for the Mercedes Half Marathon is what I would describe as a "fair" course. (The full marathon course is essentially two laps of the half course, so most of my comments would pertain equally to that race.) It's definitely not in the "flat and fast category" but the climbing that you do is rewarded with equal descents. When combined with the cool weather, I figure that it was a pretty decent day for fast times. Ray confirmed that theory, but more on that later.

The first four miles or so of the course were either flat or very gently rolling as you wind through downtown Birmingham. From mile 4 to 6, you head through UAB (my alma mater), which has a bit of climbing to it. At about 10k, you start on a moderate but steady climb that continues until mile 8 or so. For those familiar with Birmingham, this climb takes you through Five Points and on to Highland Avenue. This is definitely the most challenging part of the course. From there, it's mostly descents and flats with just a few gentle inclines to keep the legs fresh. I found some of the straights in the last few miles to be a little windy, but in general, the weather was excellent for racing.

My race went pretty well. I went out too conservatively (which wasn't helped by inaccurate split markers that led me to believe temporarily that I had gone out way too fast), but that left me feeling strong for the back half of the race. I was able to attack the late miles of the race--a nice and all too rare feeling--and came in at 1:16:18, which was good for 19th place overall and first in the old man age group. Not a bad run, but I wish that I had pushed it a little more in the early miles.

Ray was not far behind. I jogged back out to the course just in time to give Ray some encouragement as he began his Bolt-like sprint to the finish. Ray broke the tap in 1:29:40, a massive PR for him, which put him 79th overall (out of 3200+) and 9th in the really old man age group.


After being dragged on an unmercifully long cool down, we headed to brunch where Ray and I celebrated our runs by consuming mass quantities of whatever food happened to come in front of our faces. A big bowl of grits was a nice change of pace from my Kona post race favorite, loco moco.

It was a really fun day and we both had good runs. I wish I could have lopped the kind of time off my PR that Ray did! I do have to say "good job" to the Mercedes Half Marathon. The whole race was put on really well, with logistics and aid stations being perfect. My only criticism of the race would be that many of the mile splits were hopelessly inaccurate--a minor problem, but still seems easily avoidable when just about everyone has a GPS watch these days. Still, I give this race a solid A rating--and where else can you get a giant finishers medal that looks like you just ripped it of a $100k+ car?

The two members of our fan club*; we're desperately seeking more:
Some crazy locals keeping it fun in the full:

*Only kidding here. Ray and I were both lucky enough to have several other people out cheering for us.