jump to navigation

Applause/Half-marathon race report April 28, 2008

Posted by regivizz Uncategorized Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

I give a hearty round of applause to my family and friends. Mine are the best, ya know?

Without excuses of “it’s too early/wet/cold/far/troublesome” they showed up to offer support as Nathan, Dale and I ran the OKC Memorial Half-marathon. They cheered loudly at our approach, giving encouragement as we faced the toughest part of the course.

Not only that, they helped all along the way without even realizing it. As we took off in the cold drizzle at 6:30 AM, I knew that my timing chip let them know the race had begun. After the first few miles, as the crowd began to thin, my thoughts turned again to those waiting. As I passed cheering onlookers I had the comfort of knowing that there would be those cheering as I passed them by, those who actually knew me!

Anxiously I ran, faster than normal, looking to cross that next timing mat. I wanted them to know I was still doing well and that my pace was holding steady. I couldn’t stop running because they were counting on me to be there in a certain time range.

Even when I knew that nobody was scheduled to be at a specific corner or waiting in a specific park, I continually scanned faces in hopes that there would be a surprise spectator. The surprise spectator. Other than my desire of having friends and family showing their support, this is probably my next greatest wish: to see someone I didn’t expect. Unlike last year when I saw a former co-worker who yelled his heart out for me, I didn’t see anyone I knew, but I kept running because I knew that up ahead were those who were waiting.

We crossed a timing mat just before the 8 mile mark and then rounded back onto that final west-bound stretch. Just before the corner I spotted Mom and Dad. With a big grin I picked up the pace a little and started waving. (Looking back, I’m not sure where I found the energy to lift my arms that high, but it’s quite wonderful what a little incentive can do!) Wow. If felt so good to see them! It made the last 8 miles feel like they never existed. I felt like I was starting afresh. (I know I didn’t look or smell very fresh, but I felt it!) I wanted to ask how far ahead and behind Dale and Nathan were but I only had the energy for a “thank you so much for coming” as I purposed to run until the end of mile 9 without stopping to walk.

More loud cheers and uplifting grins came just before mile 9 where three more special friends were gathered. Fellow runners who had been there for the last several months to run/walk/push me on my training runs. The ones who encouraged me to keep going, to be persistent and to log the miles needed to run the half-marathon. The ones who witnessed most of the 130+ miles it took to get to the race. After that encouragement (and a little horn honking a bit later!) it was up to me to get to the finish line. That’s where it gets tough. That’s where you start tapping in to the emotions that kept you going for the first part of the race. That’s where you start coming up with theories to explain why it helps so much to have your friends and family there for support.

To put it into perspective for non-runners, it’s like an invitee’s attendance at your child’s birthday party. Maybe this line of thinking is flawed, but bear in mind it’s based upon “on-my-tenth-mile” logic! You put in the time and effort of making it happen (minus the blood, sweat and tears) and you hope it means enough to the friends and family you invited that they’ll strive to be there no matter what. When they do, it warms your heart and makes you feel loved! More importantly, on Sunday they did! That alone gave me the emotional encouragement I needed to keep running when my body kept saying it wanted to slow down a bit!

Once again, I offer up a hearty “THANKS Y’ALL” to my friends and family. They really are the best.

My half-marathon results: April 28, 2008

Posted by regivizz Uncategorized Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 4comments

bib number: H3484
gender: F
location: Oklahoma City, OK
overall place: 1448 out of 4352
division place: 108 out of 397
gender place: 616 out of 2570
time: 2:08:46
pace: 9:50
guntime: 2:10:51
10k: 59:44

OKC Half-marathon - 2.1 hours - 04/27/2008 April 27, 2008

Posted by regivizz Race, Run, Running Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

Workout:

Running 168 for 168 April 26, 2008

Posted by regivizz Marathon, Motivation, Other Runners, Race, Run, Running Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 3comments

Have you heard this amazing and inspirational story? A Senior Airman, Brenden Burstad is running 168 miles in memory of the 168 victims of the Murrah Building bombing. This Sunday is the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and there will be over 16,000 runners participating in this run which benefits the Oklahoma City National Memorial. If you’ve not taken the opportunity to come to Oklahoma and visit this outstanding memorial, the OKC Memorial Marathon is a perfect time to do so!

Brenden Burstad is doing more than his fair share to honor the memory of those whose lives were taken from them. He’s running 141.8 miles from where he is stationed at Altus Air Force Base and then the full marathon to equal 168 miles. Amazing.

Check out the article ( http://www.okrunner.com/airman-burstads-run-underway ), and really, come visit and I guarantee you’ll be surprised by the hospitality of our city, the professionalism of the marathon, the emotion of the Memorial and the great city of Oklahoma City!

April 19, 1995 is a day I’ll never forget. The sound of the blast, the news coverage afterward, the overwhelming accounts of charity and kindness, standing at the base of the Murrah building looking up at complete devastation and now the field of 168 empty chairs…those emotions, sights and sounds will keep me coming back to run year after year.

We will never forget.

Eeek. April 24, 2008

Posted by regivizz Marathon, Race, Running Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

I’m looking forward to Sunday. Really, I am. There are some cool features for the OKC Memorial Marathon (and half marathon) that will make it different this year from last. Namely the 20 mph north wind we’re supposed to have. :-)

There are some other things, like the live updates available online or sent to your cell phone and the fact that the official time is the chip time instead of gun time. There’s also a couple more thousand participants this year compared to last!

Is it really 2 days, 15 hours, 7 minutes and 40 seconds until race time? Woo Hoo!

Run - 0.3 hours - 04/24/2008 April 24, 2008

Posted by regivizz Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Workout:

Live marathon updates! April 24, 2008

Posted by regivizz Marathon, Race, Running Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

For the first time, the OKC Memorial Marathon is providing LIVE updates online and to registered cell phones! Here’s the story from newsok.com:

Live marathon updates sent for the first time

By Blake Jackson
Staff Writer

Alison Cohen usually waits until mid-afternoon on Sunday to make the call.

For the past six years, her brother Adam has run the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. And for the past six years, she has dialed long-distance from her home in Cambridge, Mass., to find out how he finished.

“It can be really nerve-racking actually,” said Alison Cohen, a marathoner herself. “There’s always a piece of you that wants to be out there running. Normally, I have to go find out how he did an hour or two after (he runs).”

This year, Adam’s results are coming to her in real time.

And a Tulsa-based company is bringing them.

For the first time in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon’s eight-year history, live results and updates will be available online and via cell phone alerts during the race.

“It works like a Pikepass, only it’s miniaturized,” said Tim Dreiling, owner of Fleet Feet Sports and Fleet Feet Timing, the company charged to keep up with 16,000-plus runners Sunday morning. “It’s RFID (radio frequency identification) technology. They use it in all types of timing and tracking systems.”

Each runner is outfitted with a tiny microprocessor housed in plastic. The “ChampionChip” is attached to the shoe of single marathon runners with a zip-tie. Relay teams will be equipped with transferable anklets.

Radio receivers built into FieldTurf mats at five separate course check points activate as the runners pass through, sending an individual signal back to the results tent near the finish line, where the results are funneled in mass to OKCmarathon.com and — for an added fee — cell phones.

The technology prevents cheating.

“It’s important to know that people have run the entire course,” said co-founder and marathon president Thomas Hill. “You have to cross that mat with the chip or we know you cut the course.”

It aids the medical crew.

“There’s a database updated in real-time at the medical tent,” Hill continued. “They can find out where people are on the course and if someone is taken into medical care out on the course they can communicate it that way.”

It streamlines dissemination of the final results.

“We can make minor adjustments and clean it up and have it turned around and on the Web site in less than a minute,” Dreiling said. “It’s real-time and it will be faster and more accurate than we’ve ever had.”

And it’s cheaper, too.

The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon has implemented some form of “ChampionChip” technology each of its eight years. But out-sourcing the timing services to a company based in Georgia came at a high cost.

Hill says switching to Fleet Feet made sense from both a financial and communal standpoint.

“Because the marathon is about what happened here in Oklahoma City and the city and state’s response to that, we have tried very hard to utilize local companies to fill our needs,” Hill said. “(Fleet Feet Timing) is relatively new, but they’ve demonstrated in other races that they are extremely capable and have pushed the technology farther than a lot of other timing companies have.”

That push in the technology — the ability to follow runners live throughout the race with little or no delay — puts Oklahoma City in some very prestigious company.

Only the largest races in the world, like the Chicago, London, Boston, New York and Los Angeles marathons, have implemented the technology.

“It’s something that you would see at only a handful of the absolute top-notch marathons in the world,” said Adam Cohen, who lives in Norman but won’t be waiting for his sister’s call on Sunday. “In terms of races Oklahoma City’s size, you do not see this. This is a big, big plus for the marathon.”

Run - 0.5 hours - 04/22/2008 April 22, 2008

Posted by regivizz Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Workout:

Walk - 0.6 hours - 04/21/2008 April 21, 2008

Posted by regivizz Walk Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Workout:

Run - 1.8 hours - 4/19/2008 April 19, 2008

Posted by regivizz Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

Workout: