Run to Win

• This week last year, I offered some advice on what to wear to a race to prevent “severing your leg at the thigh” from chafing.
• I tried to decide if it was worth running in an ultramarathon a few weeks before my next marathon. Ultimately, I decided that yes, it was a good idea.
• I shared what I learned about velomobiles after attending a Bike Commuters’ Meetup. They look like fun toys.
• On the news front, Oscar Pistorius had some troubles after running out of his lane and getting persecuted by the IAAF. There also came down the first cyclists to get charged with doping after signing the UCI charter. The Yarmouth Clam Festival had 917 finishers and went off without any problems last year
• This week two years ago, I continued my series on icing with a description of how to ice w/an ice bag. and shared my thoughts on why you should not use weightlifting gloves or belts when you work out. I shared why it was important to determine how much you should be sleeping every night. One of my more popular articles over the past couple of years explained the differences between running on a track versus running on a treadmill.
• This week two years ago, there was some trouble in the UK with cyclists getting pushed off of their bikes by passing motorists. Three years ago was even worse, when an 88 year old hit some cyclists after ignoring the police who were controlling traffic at the Clam Festival. (Along with a 5 mile run, there is a bike race.) In Germany, a 16 year old killed one of Australia’s top cyclists when she drove into the whole team while they were training.

The annual Clam Festival 5 mile road race was this morning in Yarmouth, Maine. The temperatures were not nearly as high as they were in years past, but the high humidity made the race tough for the 932 finishers this year.

Despite the lack of some of the annual favorites in the race, there was a very deep field this year which led to an exciting finish. Jon Wilson went out hard but spent the majority of the race near the middle to back of the lead pack. He retook control on the trails and in the park as he came into the last mile of the race, however, and made it look easy as cruised in 12 seconds ahead of everybody else in 25:44. A total of 12 people ran under 27 minutes.

Kristin Barry had a little less competition near the end, finishing the race in 27:59. She was followed by Sheri Piers in 28:31.

It was interesting watching the race from behind the finish line this year, as this is a race that I have run every year since moving to Maine. It is generally one of the hotter races each year, falling as it does near the end of July, and it certainly led to some of the sweatiest chip bands that I’ve ever had to remove from runner’s legs.

I quickly stopped congratulating people on how they ran and instead just pointed them straight to the water once I had gotten their chips off. That was about the extent to what some of the people were able to understand. One of the runners put a whole in his singlet in an effort to take it off and thought he was supposed to turn in his bib number instead of his timing chip!

(Full Results - Photos: Fun Run (a) - Fun Run (b) - CD 1 - CD 2 - CD 3 - CD 4 - Awards - Finish Line)

The Pat’s Pizza 5 Mile Classic at the Yarmouth Clam Festival was this morning. Pat Tarpy came back to Maine to attempt to set the course record. Two years ago, he ran a course record 24:29 but was soundly beaten by Matt Lane, who ran an impressive 23:48. This year, having already run the fastest mile on Maine soil, he set his sights on breaking Matt’s record. He went out strong and on pace, but fell back a little in the last mile to finish 8 seconds shy in 23:56. He has, however, now broken the course record from before the course was certified. Jeff Caron took second place but was over a minute back in 24:58.

The women’s race was much closer, with Kristin Barry and Sheri Piers repeating last year’s 1-2 finish. They were only 7 seconds apart, running 28:56 and 29:03, respectively. I didn’t see Joan Samuelson at all today, but she came through a hair under 30 minutes, just as she has for the past few years.

Despite the coolest weather since I began running this race, I did not do quite as well as I had hoped to. My goals were about a half minute to 45 seconds faster than I ran, which shows that I should have followed last year’s strategy of running negative splits. My last two miles were a solid and even effort, but they were both about 9 seconds per mile slower than they were in 2006. I came through in 28:02, which will hopefully serve as a good wake up call for my legs so that I can perform well in two weeks at the Beach to Beacon.

There were also 290 children who completed the kid’s 1 mile fun run, and 917 finishers in the 5 mile race.

(Full Results - Clam Festival - Fun Run Results - Photos)

This week last year was pretty busy, with the Clam Festival and some site news. I spent a lot of time talking about health, both from the taking care of yourself and the treating injuries perspective.

• I continued my series on icing with a description of how to ice w/an ice bag. On the topic of injuring yourself, I also shared my thoughts on why you should not use weightlifting gloves or belts when you work out.
• I ran the road race at the Yarmouth Clam Festival this week last year. The race was a little slower than it was in 2005.
• I reviewed the VirtuRace.com website, but they no longer exist in that form and I have not gotten around to reviewing their new website. In fact, it has been quite a while since I even checked out the new site.
• On a health note, I shared why it was important to determine how much you should be sleeping every night.
• I explained the differences between running on a track versus running on a treadmill. Personally, I have trouble going more than a mile or so on a treadmill because I quickly grow bored out of my mind.
• Last year, there was some trouble in the UK with cyclists getting pushed off of their bikes by passing motorists. Two years ago was even worse, when an 88 year old hit some cyclists after ignoring the police who were controlling traffic at the Clam Festival. (Along with a 5 mile run, there is a bike race.) In Germany, a 16 year old killed one of Australia’s top cyclists when she drove into the whole team while they were training.

The 2006 Yarmouth Clam Festival official results are now available.

In a repeat of their victories at the Portland Sea Dogs Mother’s Day 5K, Ethan Hemphill, 34, of Freeport and Kristin Barry, 32, of Scarborough claimed top honors at the 25th annual Clam Festival Classic 5-Miler.

Hemphill overcame a challenge from Gorham’s Mike Downing, completing the course in 26 minutes, 15 seconds — nine seconds ahead of Downing. Yarmouth’s Christian Muentener, the 2003 champion, placed third in 26:32.

Barry’s time of 28:46 was good enough for a 31-second victory over Sheri Piers of Falmouth. Erica Jesseman, 17, of Scarborough rounded out the top three in 29:34.

See yesterday’s write-up for my own thoughts and memories of the Yarmouth Clam Festival Classic.

Ethan Hemphill won the 41^st running of the Yarmouth Clam Festival Classic. Yarmouth was covered in fog a few hours before the race, and it managed to burn off at just the perfect rate to have a nice and humid Clam Festival Classic 5 mile race. By the time we started our cool down, it had cooled off and was actually quite pleasant for running conditions. The official results are not online yet for the Yarmouth Clam Festival, but here is what I can remember off hand:

Last year, Matt Lane won the Clam Festival Classic in 23:48; nobody came even close this year. The times were not as top heavy for the fastest guys this year, and everyone came through much closer to one another than in the past few.
(Click here to continue reading…)

The Clam Festival this weekend had many events other than the 5 mile race. There was a kayak race and a cycling race as well.

The cycling race was not completed, however. They had to stop the race with 2 laps (about 10 kilometers) remaining. 88-year-old John Christiansen apparently didn’t understand what the police were telling him earlier, and he didn’t see fit to stop and make sure he understood. Instead, when he saw a long line of cars pulled over to the side of the road, he decided to swirve around them.

Four cyclists of the 2 dozen or so that hit his car were taken to the hospital, and 12-15 were treated by EMTs on the scene. Only two people had serious injuries (a broken leg and severe head trauma).

I can understand why the roads were still open during the race, and I understand that the race officials did everything they could to make the race safe. In fact, other than cyclists wiping out on their own, there have not been any serious accidents since the race’s conception. The USCF had signed off on the safety of the course. I hope that they are able to continue the race next year, preferably with the road closed but I still think the course is fairly safe. Hopefully Mr. Christiansen’s family convinces him to give up driving, since it seems to me that he is no longer fit to safely do so.

Yesterday was the Yarmouth Clam Festival. It was fairly hot, and I was not hydrated or warmed up enough for the race, but I did all right.

There was one thing I learned yesterday that really can make a runner feel small. I spent the first three miles running right next to Joan Benoit Samuelson, and everybody was cheering for her. Nobody was cheering for me (at least not until 4 1/2 when I passed some of my teammates who decided not to run), but everybody was yelling “Go Joannie! Go Joan!” It was like the whole world was against me. I guess that’s what happens when you run with famous people that are popular in their communities.

As for being punched, her left arm shot out at the 1 mile mark as her right grabbed water; she smacked me a good one on my right arm. She apologized. I passed her on the trails after mile 4, which coincidentally was the exact same place I passed her last year. This year, even though I ran the exact same time as last year, she managed to run 5 seconds faster so was a bit closer to me.