2009 Norwalk Summer Series 7 miler and Utica Boilermaker 15k
July 11th and July 12th, 2009
What a wonderful racing weekend! It started off with the Norwalk Summer Series 7 mile race in the Rowayton section of Norwalk. Most of the usual suspects were in attendance as well as a special appearance from George and Kellie.
George and I started out running together for the first few miles and then I pulled ahead. We got to see Gail out on the course twice as the route went by her house. Ikuko, who is nursing a foot injury, was also on the course working at one of the water stations. I caught up to Steve and chatted with him for a little while and also saw John, who had started out up ahead of us.
The temperature was pretty moderate, but I still started to feel pretty hot later in the race. I knew that my pace was close to a best for this race so I really wanted to hang tough. There were quite a few people around me so I made it my goal to keep up with or pass as many as I could in that last mile. I did finish with a course PR.
2009 Summer Series 7 miler race results
Mile 1: 8:08
Mile 2: 8:21
Mile 3: 8:22
Mile 4: 8:09
Mile 5: 8:18
Mile 6: 8:28
Mile 7: 7:47
Total: 57:32
Avg Pace: 8:14
Frank
John and Frank
Sherry and Frank
Roy and Dana
Kellie and Steve R
Kellie
Don
Maria and Petra
Kellie and Erica
Kellie, Kate and Erica
Jeanette and Tony
Kaz
Roy and Frank
Rob and Emmy
Kate, Emmy and Rob
Brian and Lindsey
Steve M
Steve R and Brian
Christine
Kellie
Steve and Lindsey R
LuAnne
Kaz
John
Steve M
Sean and Maria
Jeanette
Emmy, Rob and Roy
Jeanette
Anton
Terry
Lindsey with her first place trophy
Dorrie, Ikuko and Sean
Steve and Lindsey R - with car key that they thought they lost
Sue
2009 Utica Boilermaker 15k
After the 7 miler Tom and I headed up to Utica, NY for the Boilermaker 15k. Jeanette's friend, Joyce, was nice enough to invite us to spend the night at her house that night. The plan was to get to the expo before it closed at 4:30, but they ended up closing shop early due to the threat of a hail storm. Jill and Joe had picked up my race package and Tom and I picked up his for the 5k. I was very disappointed about not having the chance to purchase any souvenirs for this race. After picking up our stuff we headed to Joyce's house in Rome, NY. We pulled in right after Jill and Joe. It was our first time meeting Joyce and her boyfriend, Dan, so we introduced ourselves in the driveway and then they welcomed us into their house. Shortly after that Jeanette and Tony arrived. Joyce was putting on a pre-race party for her Roman Runners Running club so we all got to be special guests at this party. This group of people were so nice and so much fun to hang out with.
Joyce's wall of bibs
Joyce's medals and finishing photos from marathons and ultras
Joe, Jill, Jeanette, Tony, me and Tom
Roman Runners flip flops
Joyce displaying a beautiful strawberry dessert
Jill and Joe posing with their race tattoos
Tom showing off his 'ink' and his 'guns'
My tattoo
Tom, Jill and I
Dave and Gary
There was a big thunder storm with lots of rain overnight, which left the morning a little cooler. Race day morning, Dan and Tony went with Tom to the start of the 5k and the rest of us headed out about half an hour later for the 15k. Joyce led the way to get us close to the finish area and then we took at bus to the start. I was a little nervous about the course because the elevation profile showed several long hills and I was coming off the 7 miler the day before.
The weather was going to be relatively mild for a July day, which was a big relief for me. We met up with some of the Roman Runners briefly and then headed over to the starting area. It was pretty cool to see the thousands of runners all around us. There were almost 12 thousands runners registered for this race.
Tom
Jill, Joe, Kate, Tom and Jeanette
Joyce and Dan and Roman runners
Kate and Jill
Dan and Joyce
Tom being Tom
Dan and Joyce
More of the Roman Runners gang
Joe, Jill and Kate posing for the Roman Runnerrs Calendar shot
Kate and Tom
Jeanette and Tony
After the post-race party we headed over to Mickey and Luke's place for a pool party. We met more members of the Roman Runners club and had a great time. What wonderful people!
Jeanette, Jill and Kate
Tony massaging Tom, while he takes a nap
Kate Jeanette and Tom
July 11th and July 12th, 2009
What a wonderful racing weekend! It started off with the Norwalk Summer Series 7 mile race in the Rowayton section of Norwalk. Most of the usual suspects were in attendance as well as a special appearance from George and Kellie.
George and I started out running together for the first few miles and then I pulled ahead. We got to see Gail out on the course twice as the route went by her house. Ikuko, who is nursing a foot injury, was also on the course working at one of the water stations. I caught up to Steve and chatted with him for a little while and also saw John, who had started out up ahead of us.
The temperature was pretty moderate, but I still started to feel pretty hot later in the race. I knew that my pace was close to a best for this race so I really wanted to hang tough. There were quite a few people around me so I made it my goal to keep up with or pass as many as I could in that last mile. I did finish with a course PR.
2009 Summer Series 7 miler race results
Mile 1: 8:08
Mile 2: 8:21
Mile 3: 8:22
Mile 4: 8:09
Mile 5: 8:18
Mile 6: 8:28
Mile 7: 7:47
Total: 57:32
Avg Pace: 8:14
Frank
John and Frank
Sherry and Frank
Roy and Dana
Kellie and Steve R
Kellie
Don
Maria and Petra
Kellie and Erica
Kellie, Kate and Erica
Jeanette and Tony
Kaz
Roy and Frank
Rob and Emmy
Kate, Emmy and Rob
Brian and Lindsey
Steve M
Steve R and Brian
Christine
Kellie
Steve and Lindsey R
LuAnne
Kaz
John
Steve M
Sean and Maria
Jeanette
Emmy, Rob and Roy
Jeanette
Anton
Terry
Lindsey with her first place trophy
Dorrie, Ikuko and Sean
Steve and Lindsey R - with car key that they thought they lost
Sue
2009 Utica Boilermaker 15k
After the 7 miler Tom and I headed up to Utica, NY for the Boilermaker 15k. Jeanette's friend, Joyce, was nice enough to invite us to spend the night at her house that night. The plan was to get to the expo before it closed at 4:30, but they ended up closing shop early due to the threat of a hail storm. Jill and Joe had picked up my race package and Tom and I picked up his for the 5k. I was very disappointed about not having the chance to purchase any souvenirs for this race. After picking up our stuff we headed to Joyce's house in Rome, NY. We pulled in right after Jill and Joe. It was our first time meeting Joyce and her boyfriend, Dan, so we introduced ourselves in the driveway and then they welcomed us into their house. Shortly after that Jeanette and Tony arrived. Joyce was putting on a pre-race party for her Roman Runners Running club so we all got to be special guests at this party. This group of people were so nice and so much fun to hang out with.
Joyce's wall of bibs
Joyce's medals and finishing photos from marathons and ultras
Joe, Jill, Jeanette, Tony, me and Tom
Roman Runners flip flops
Joyce displaying a beautiful strawberry dessert
Jill and Joe posing with their race tattoos
Tom showing off his 'ink' and his 'guns'
My tattoo
Tom, Jill and I
Dave and Gary
There was a big thunder storm with lots of rain overnight, which left the morning a little cooler. Race day morning, Dan and Tony went with Tom to the start of the 5k and the rest of us headed out about half an hour later for the 15k. Joyce led the way to get us close to the finish area and then we took at bus to the start. I was a little nervous about the course because the elevation profile showed several long hills and I was coming off the 7 miler the day before.
The weather was going to be relatively mild for a July day, which was a big relief for me. We met up with some of the Roman Runners briefly and then headed over to the starting area. It was pretty cool to see the thousands of runners all around us. There were almost 12 thousands runners registered for this race.
Once the gun went off we gradually walked towards the start line and then slowly picked it up to a jog. From the very beginning we were treated to lots of cheering spectators and local bands playing for us. I started out with Jill and we went the first few miles weaving around people to get to a comfortable pace. I was a little concerned since my left hip and hamstring felt very tight. We were shooting for a 9 minute pace, but at this point I felt like our mid-9 pace may end up being too much for me. However, I really wanted to stick with Jill as much as possible and figured that my leg would work itself out. As we came up on the golf course with the big hill I wanted to back off a little more to relax before the hill. I hadn't realized that the first few miles had already been uphill. Joyce had told us out the thrill of runninng around the golf course and we weren't disappointed. The runners run up the left hand side of the course uphill while the faster runners are coming down the hill on the other side. Jill and I were still passing many runners on the way up. Once we got to the top of the hill we then got to see all the slower runners on the other side going up the hill. The view of the course overlooking the water was really spectacular. We grabbed for some water and as I started the downhill I looked back and couldn't see Jill anymore. I wanted to continue to run with her, but also knew that this was a great downhill section to really open it up. At this point I had forgotten all about my tight left leg and was just enjoying the moment. I passed by a Roman Runner and said hi and that I knew Joyce and I continued on down that beautiful hill. Further down some spectators were yelling 'no more golf course for a year' as if the golf course was a thing to be dreaded. I loved it and wished we could run through it again.
I slowed up a little on the straight away and still didn't see Jill so I decided to just run my own race. I was so happy that those first few miles of uphill really didn't seem bad at all and the downhills seemed to just keep coming. We had several sections of the race that were nicely shaded and some with some sun. However, the day wasn't too hot or humid and there were tons of water stations.
I couldn't believe how quickly the miles were going by. Before I knew it I was in the last mile. I knew that there was a slight uphill towards the end, but couldn't remember what the last .3 was like. I do remember Joyce saying that it's easy going after you hear the bagpipes. As soon as I saw and heard them I had a huge smile on my face. The last .3 ended up being all downhill so it was a very nice finish. I also heard Tommy on the sidelines in that last stretch yelling "Go Katey!". What a wonderful race this was to run.
Mile 1: 9:27
Mile 2: 9:14
Mile 3: 9:13
Mile 4: 9:29
Mile 5: 7:45
Mile 6: 8:21
Mile 7: 8:44
Mile 8: 7:53
Mile 9: 8:13
Lsst.38: 2:38
Total: 1:20:58
Avg Pace: 8:38
2009 Boilermaker Race Results
Tommy on race day morning
After the race we all met up and hung out at the post-race party for several hours.
Joe and Jill
I slowed up a little on the straight away and still didn't see Jill so I decided to just run my own race. I was so happy that those first few miles of uphill really didn't seem bad at all and the downhills seemed to just keep coming. We had several sections of the race that were nicely shaded and some with some sun. However, the day wasn't too hot or humid and there were tons of water stations.
I couldn't believe how quickly the miles were going by. Before I knew it I was in the last mile. I knew that there was a slight uphill towards the end, but couldn't remember what the last .3 was like. I do remember Joyce saying that it's easy going after you hear the bagpipes. As soon as I saw and heard them I had a huge smile on my face. The last .3 ended up being all downhill so it was a very nice finish. I also heard Tommy on the sidelines in that last stretch yelling "Go Katey!". What a wonderful race this was to run.
Mile 1: 9:27
Mile 2: 9:14
Mile 3: 9:13
Mile 4: 9:29
Mile 5: 7:45
Mile 6: 8:21
Mile 7: 8:44
Mile 8: 7:53
Mile 9: 8:13
Lsst.38: 2:38
Total: 1:20:58
Avg Pace: 8:38
2009 Boilermaker Race Results
Tommy on race day morning
After the race we all met up and hung out at the post-race party for several hours.
Joe and Jill
Tom
Jill, Joe, Kate, Tom and Jeanette
Joyce and Dan and Roman runners
Kate and Jill
Dan and Joyce
Tom being Tom
Dan and Joyce
More of the Roman Runners gang
Joe, Jill and Kate posing for the Roman Runnerrs Calendar shot
Kate and Tom
Jeanette and Tony
After the post-race party we headed over to Mickey and Luke's place for a pool party. We met more members of the Roman Runners club and had a great time. What wonderful people!Jeanette, Jill and Kate
Tony massaging Tom, while he takes a nap
Kate Jeanette and Tom
