TeamDUMB

2010-10-08T07:08:00.001-07:00

Marissa “Grape Stomp” 5K, 11-14-09

2009-11-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

I think this was the first year for the Grape Stomp 5k. I like first year races. My belief is maybe not as many people know about the race so not as many people show up and I might be able to get first overall. Well, that didn’t happen. The high school cross country season ended a week or two before the race so there were quite a few younger people running. I ended up 9th overall. The good thing was I got first in 40-49. My final time was 19:49. I think that was my fastest 5k this year. The race started at 10:30, an odd time, but I liked it. When it started a bunch of guys just took off. I thought they would slow down eventually and I could pass them, didn’t happen. I was able to pass two of them. I got behind one guy that was probably in high school. I never did pass him. Around the mile and half mark I looked behind me and saw no one. I knew the people ahead were way far ahead so I pretty much just ran and didn’t worry about it. Close to the end I got within a second or two of the guy in front of me but then he took off and ended up finishing five or ten seconds ahead of me. I didn’t mind.
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Overall this was a good race. There might be a couple things I would change. I thought the course was really nice. It started going out on backroads, came back to town, ran through the park and finished downtown. I really liked the finish. They were having their Grape Stomp celebration so it was pretty cool finishing there. Overall it was a nice race.

Tunnel Hill 10 Mile, 11-07-09

2009-11-18T10:24:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo! I got my train whistle! But more about that later. Last year I could not make it because I got mandated to work the night before. The bad thing is I got mandated to work the night of this race so after I got home from the race I had to work 16 hours. That was no fun. The race starts at 9:00 but one has to get there early to sign in at Vienna and then get up to Tunnel Hill for the start. Once we got to Tunnel Hill there was a problem, there were only two restrooms. This could be bad considering there are 200 runners for the race. Good thing I’m a guy and the course is surrounded by woods.

During the race, one problem I ran into was with my Garmin. I had charged it and then ran two other times, but when I turned it on that day it said “low battery”. I was hoping to get at least halfway through the race before it died but I didn’t. We were at the starting line, I look down and it was off. I pressed the power button, but nothing. This was pretty frustrating. When I first got my Garmin I didn’t think I would use it too much, but now I think it is my best training tool. When it wouldn’t work, I was worried. My plan was to run between 7:00 and 7:30 minute miles. With my Garmin not working I wouldn’t be able to know my time. All the miles are marked, but now I didn’t even have a watch to let me know how long it took between marks. I just started to run at a pace that I thought was good. After a mile or two I started running with another runner. He had a Garmin that worked, so at mile five I asked him the time. He told me 35:20. If I kept this up it would put me at 1:10:40, which is faster than I thought I would finish. This made me feel a lot better. Somewhere around mile six I saw Marvin ahead of me. I knew if I was catching up to him he had a problem. I ran ahead of the guy I was running with and caught up to Marvin. He was hurting, side stitch and said he even walked a little. I tried to motivate him so we ran until mile seven and then he told me to go ahead. I still felt good, passed a runner and caught up to another. We ran together until a little past mile nine. I was worried he was in my age group so when I knew we had a ½ to ¾ of a mile to go I sped up. This was a gamble because I didn’t want to bonk before the end. I made it o.k. My final time was 1:12:00. I was extremely happy with that time. It was almost two minutes faster than two years ago. I got second in age 40-44 and 20th overall. I got my train whistle! If you place in your age group you get a wooden whistle that sounds like a train whistle when you blow it. I never thought I would get one. I think I lucked out because for a longer distance I am in a very strong age group. I thought at one time I could maybe get third in age, but never second. I was very happy.

I don’t know if it was good or bad that my Garmin screwed up. On one hand I just ran at a pace that I thought was comfortable and did well. On the other hand maybe I could have run faster knowing my time was closer to 7:00 minute miles. I could have tried harder and got under that. Oh well, I am not going to complain. This year I ran a half marathon and now this 10 miler. I never thought of myself as a distance runner but now I want to more of these. I just wish work wouldn’t interfere with it.

Pinckneyville Fall Classic 8k, 11-31-09

2009-11-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of work that goes into this race. Marvin does most of the work and I’m not sure how he gets it all done. We got a lot of pre-entries, which helps out quite a bit. One thing that worried me this year was the weather. It had rained most of October and was chilly. We lucked out and got pretty good weather for race day. There was no rain and the sun came out occasionally. We had the usual 9:00 a.m. start and everything seemed to go well. The only problem was a glitch with the time clock where two runners came in at the same time, but it was easily solved and put us behind about five minutes. We had a total of 86 runners and walkers, the most we ever had. It seems like we get a few more each year. Again, we gave out a lot of trophies. Also, this year we were lucky enough to give away a pair of Asics running shoes to the first overall male and female runner. I think that was pretty good. We had some pretty nice door prizes too. Go to www.pyramidrunningclub.com for results and other information. It was a pretty good race.
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In the picture are Marvin, Cara, Sara, Alicia, and Kayla before the race.

Melvin J. Fisher Hills and Hollows Half Marathon, Valmeyer, 09-26-09

2009-09-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

This was my first half marathon and also the farthest I have ever run so I wasn’t sure what to expect. My goal was to finish under two hours and thought I might be able to do it around one hour 45 minutes. I didn’t know the course and since it was called “hills and hollows” I was a bit worried. The first seven miles wasn’t too hilly. It was pretty much standard for this area, but with a couple long downhills which was good. The next four miles was pretty much flat because we ran along the Mississippi bottoms. The last two miles or so was uphill. They were not too steep but very long uphills. It was not too bad.

When the race started we were all kind of packed together. I wasn’t worried about starting in front because I knew it was going to be a very long race. It took about half a mile to get the group apart. My plan was to run 7 ½ minute miles the first few miles and then slow to 8 or 9 minute miles. I ran with Brad Warhausen and another guy. I think Brad said he wanted to run 8 or 8 ½ minute miles so I figured I would run with him awhile. About mile four Brad pulled away and another runner caught up to me, later I found out his name was Steve. I was feeling pretty good so I just kept up with my regular pace and ran with Steve while keeping Brad in sight. About mile 5 and 6 there were a couple steeper downhills and I made better time, 7:11 and 7:05 minute miles. Also, I passed Brad at mile 6 but then he passed me back. The whole time I was feeling pretty good. I had a Gu gel pack before the race and took another about mile 5. I think this helped. We got to the river bottom and Steve pulled away a little bit. I caught back up and passed him about mile 10. I also took another Gu gel pack. Steve caught back up to me and we ran together for awhile. At one time I asked when the hills were going to start. Steve then advised me we had been running up one for a little while. I hadn’t realized it. It was a long incline and with me being tired I just didn’t realize it. Later there were a couple hills that I definitely could tell were there. About a mile to go I was able to pass one runner and then another with a half mile to go. This gave me a couple moral victories and extra energy. With 50 or so yards to go I passed Steve and was almost able to catch up to Brad. My final time was 1:37:53. I could not believe it. The whole race I felt good. I’m not sure what I did differently for this race but it worked. Starting off I went about 7:30 minute miles and just kept that pace, more or less. The few big downhills really helped. My overall pace average was 7:24. I also think taking three gel packs helped and it seems I timed them well. This race had the regular 5 year age groups, but it also had different divisions too. They had divisions for years 39 and below, Master 40 to 49, and Grand Masters 50 and over. I’m not sure why the Masters was only ten years but that is ok because I was able to get second in it. I was also 12th overall. I am very happy with my race.

The race was very well organized and all the people were very nice. What really surprised me was that they had water at all the mile markers except two or three. This really helped. They even had bananas and grapes at some mile markers, I passed on them. Everyone also received a finishing medal, which was great. They were also pretty quick with the awards too. They didn’t wait for everyone to be done. It seemed like when they had a bunch of groups done they would present the plaques. I know because I was icing my legs when I heard my name called. Also, Marvin Fisher, the late Melvin Fisher’s twin brother, was nice enough to have his picture taken with me and my friend Rachel. He seemed happy to do it and talked to us for a little while even though he was busy and had other things to do. In the picture are me, Marvin, and Rachel. Rachel by the way ran very well and got second in her age group.

Overall this was a great race. It makes me want to run longer races, even marathons. I have always been a 5k kind of runner, but this makes me want to do more. We had almost perfect weather, which helped, and the course was pretty nice. It seemed everything clicked for me and I was able to maintain a positive attitude the whole race. I could probably never run another long race again and be happy, but now I want to do more. I hope to make it back to Valmeyer next year.

Here's an update for the race. I just checked the posted race results and my time was actually 1:38:01. I'm still very happy with that. Also the guy I called Steve, his name is actually Scott, sorry. Also, the division was not 39 and below, it was an open division. If you look I was first in 40-44. Good day.

Evansville Days COSLHS 5 Mile Run 08-15-09

2009-08-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

(David) This is the third year I have run this race. It seemed like this year there were a few more runners, it is a small race. Last year Marvin came in first and I second. This year Marvin did not run so I was hoping to maybe take first. I finished about 6th. There was a cross country team that showed up. They took off pretty fast so I was hoping they would crash after mile three, they didn’t. Even if they had not shown up there was a guy in the 19-24 age group that beat me. Oh well. My time for this year was over a minute faster than last year. This year I was 33.58 and first in age 40-44. I’m pretty happy with that time because it is under a seven minute pace. They hills almost killed me though. My worst miles were 3 and 4, the hilliest. The next couple days my calves and thighs really hurt. The heat didn’t seem too bad until I started running east into the sun and that wore me down too. This is a nice race with nice people running it. Also, it seems pretty quick. I think I left by 9:30 and it started at 8:00. There are a lot of 5k that take twice as long. Overall a good time.

Cobden Peach Festival 5K 08-08-09

2009-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

(David) This was the first time I ran the Cobden race. I was not sure what to expect. Marvin told me a little bit about the course, an out and back with a long hill. The hill he was talking about is about 1.25 miles long. For a 3.1 mile race that is almost half of the course. The bad thing is the hill is downhill to the turnaround point and then you run back up it for the second half of the race. It wasn’t steep and at times it didn’t feel like going up hill, but yea, it was uphill most of the way back. I think the heat and humidity affected me more than the hill. Although it was a 7:30 start the sun was really heated things up. Besides all that I did get my best 5K time of the year, 20.08. My one mile times were: 6.08, 6.26, and 6.50. I got 5th overall, but 2nd in age 40-44. It is a little frustrating to do well overall and not get 1st in age. Oh well, what are you going to do? I felt o.k. during the race, the humidity hurt me though. At the finish line they handed out cold, wet hand towels to everyone. I thought that was a good touch and helped cool me down. My brother-in-law Brad also ran, he is in the picture with me. He got 3rd in age 35-39. They gave out door prizes and I was lucky yet again and won a bag of peaches. I have been doing pretty good with door prizes. I like this race. They had it at the park, which was a nice place, and ran down a quiet road, I think I saw one car. Like all races the people were nice and it seemed well organized. The 7:30 start was a little tough, I woke up at 5:30 to get there and we still ran a little late. Thanks to Bill Freemen for taking the picture.

Hoyleton Hofbraufest 5K 07-11-09

2009-07-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

(David) Finally, a race that my time was better this year than last year. This year my time was 20.11, last year 20.27. What’s odd is that my first mile time for last year was 5.35, this year was 6.03, interesting. Do I wear myself out in the first mile or should I have run harder in this year’s first mile? This was also the second race in a row that was run in the rain and also the second race in a row that my left shoelace became untied during the run. Maybe there is a connection. I ran about a mile of the race with it untied. I figured I would not stop and tie it until the shoe completely flew off. This is a pretty fast out and back course that brings in a lot of fast runners. The winning time was under 16 minutes and that was in rainy and windy conditions. I wonder how good the times would be in perfect conditions. Last year it was miserably hot. I’m not sure of my overall place, but I did get 3rd in age 40-44. The last mile felt like it hurt the worst and I beat myself down mentally, again. I missed the door prizes because I sat in my truck out of the rain. I don’t know if I won anything or not. The results of this race always seem to take awhile, this day was no exception. After the awards another runner I know said all the results might be messed up because they screwed up his age group. No, not again! I think it may have been just his age group, I hope. This is the third year for this run and they still have a lot of competitors. I hope I get the chance to run this one for years to come so I can say I have been in every one to that point.

Steeleville Firecracker 3K 07-04-09

2009-07-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

(David) Wow, where to begin with this race? This race would have been a race director’s nightmare. First off it was continuously raining. That wouldn’t be horrible but there was lightning also so they kept pushing back the start time. We should have started at 9:40, but didn’t start until after 10:00 and we still ran the whole race in rain, but no lightning. Like all races this year, I knew I wouldn’t beat my last year’s time. My first mile was 6.14. Last year it was 5.42. Mentally I am telling myself I cannot run as fast. My overall time was 11.42, last year’s 10.56. I knew I was running slower, but not that much slower. I was still able to finish 20th overall and 1st in age 40-44, which leads me to the next race director’s nightmare. A lot of the results were messed up. Apparently the racing bibs had two number 195s, so everyone’s results after that number was off by one. I was number 232. After the race they had me listed as finishing 207th overall, missed by 187. This messed things up a lot. They gave out trophies and I kept thinking I should get something, but didn’t. Marvin and I talked to the director after the awards presentation and he told us what happened. He was very apologetic and sorry for what happened. Marvin didn’t seem too bothered for not receiving his first place trophy. However, I was kind of upset. I think it is really nice to get a trophy because most races do not give them. The only races that I can think of that give trophies anymore are Chester, Pinckneyville and Steeleville. Evansville used to give them but switched to medals last year. It is nice to get a trophy. Plus this is the fourth year in a row that I placed first in age group at Steeleville and I have the trophies lined up in a row. I may never get a first place trophy there again. Oh well, what are you going to do? I do feel sorry for the race director, he seemed kind of blind sided by all this. Add on all the rain that screwed things up and I bet he had a really bad day. I guess if that was the worst thing that happened to me that day I am pretty lucky. Maybe this will give me incentive to train harder for next year’s race. Oh yea, I ran over half the race with my left shoelace untied, maybe that was the worst thing that happened to me that day. I guess I was still pretty lucky.

Firecracker update: I received my first place trophy in the mail the other day. I am very impressed that they went to all the trouble and expense to do that. They also sent a nice letter with it. Really a great group of people.

Sesser Homecoming 5k 06-20-09

2009-07-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

(David) Last year I set a personal record at this race. This year I knew I wouldn’t do that. I’m still not running and riding as much as I should be. My final time was 20.42, over a minute slower than last year. I did get 5th overall and 1st in age 40-44. If you check last year’s blog you will see I was in the age group 35-50 that year, so I am glad they changed that. Actually, they made a few good changes from last year, although the results could have been faster. Also, they only gave medals to first in age group and it would have been nice if they would have given top two or three. My run was pretty good. I felt good most of the time. Around the two mile mark I started feeling better, maybe a second wind, and picked up my speed. I passed three people at that time, which I seldom do. I started wondering if I could have run faster the whole time. A lot of my running is mental. If I don’t think I can run fast, then I don’t. It’s something I need to work on. I guess I am happy with my results. This race is the same time as the Sesser Homecoming so after the awards I walked through the car show which had some nice cars. The start and finish of the race is at The Custard Stand, which by the way does not sell frozen custard. Who knew? Oh yea, thanks to Brad for taking the picture.

Kristina's Race for Peace 5K (aka Violence Prevention 5K) Waterloo, IL June 13 2009

2009-07-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Marvin...Same race as last year, but was renamed and the date move to early June instead of late May. It's a small race that is a fund raiser for the Domestic Violence Prevention Center. Dave and I was looking forwards to running this year with the chance of scoring in the top three. The race course starts out running down a rather large hill. It's rather easy to start out to fast, but this was the third time I ran this and was able to get the pace slower. The rest of the course zig zag through Waterloo and there are times I would wonder if I made the right turn. Around a mile and half the course changes into going back uphill. At this point I was all alone in the lead, and finish the race in first place. The field for this race was small only 32 people. I finished with a time of 19:21 1st overall. I received a small ribbon metal which was a let down compared to the the large overall trophies that they handed out last year. They had many nice door prizes. I won a t-shirt. I was hoping for the birdhouse like I won last year. Oh yeah Dave and I did win the babies..... lol

(David) One of my goals for this race was to place in the top three runners. They give nice trophies of etched glass, see our blog for this race last year to see one. Well, the good news is I got second overall in the race, the bad news is they stopped giving trophies. My time this year was actually slower than last year’s time by 20 seconds, but there were fewer runners so that helped me get second. This year’s race was scheduled the same day as the “Race for the Cure” in St. Louis so I don’t know if that made people not show up for this one. My overall time was 20.50. I maybe could have been faster but there was not a lot of incentive because there wasn’t other runners pushing me from behind and I knew I couldn’t catch Marvin so I just maintained. Like usual I liked this race and think more people should run. I think the coordinators should advertise more. My brother-in-law said he searched it on the internet and could not find it. They should probably list it on some of the running sites. Again this year they gave quite a few attendance prizes. I was lucky enough to win a $10 Best Buy gift card. Also my sister Paula and her family were there to support Marvin and me so that was nice. Overall it was a good race.

Bulldog Dash 5K Germantown May 16, 2009

2009-05-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

Marvin, I think this is the fourth time that I ran the Bulldog. Usually the weather is beautiful for this race; however this year it was damp and overcast with a cold front moving through. The temperature didn't bother me. I run better in the cooler air. Even with the weather overcast there was a record turnout of 500+ people. I wasn't feeling my best during this race, but was able to finish 6th overall with a time of 19:17 1st in age 34-39.

This is still one of my favorite races. It always draws a big crowd and this year was no exception. At the beginning of the race Marvin noticed the line of runners went around a corner and down another road. As usual the start was pretty congested. Why do little kids think they have to start out front? It is hard to get around them. Throughout the whole race I didn’t feel too bad, although the two mile mark seemed awfully far. Toward the end a guy went by me pretty fast. I tried to speed up but didn’t have it in me. My final time was 20.54, a little faster than last year. I came in second for age 40-44 and 18th out of 131 for men. Two weeks ago I was a little over 21 minutes, so this time I knew I could get under 21. Overall I think I did pretty good considering the amount of training I have been doing. Like usual the after race layout was great. Free hotdogs and hamburgers, plus water, Ski soda, energy drinks, and other kinds of food always make this a great race. I plan on making it back.

Love Thy Neighbor 5K DuQuion IL May 2, 2009

2009-05-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Marvin, This was the first (I don't know if it will be annual) race at the DuQuion Fair Grounds. The purpose of the race was to raise money for abused kids. The coarse is similar to the Marshall Browning 5k except that the coarse runs backwards and the hill section was eliminated. This made a lot of people happy. I finished with a time of 19:29 3rd/38 overall 1st in age 35-39. They had door prizes and plenty of food. A very good spread cookies, fruit, and pizza!!! A very nice race.

Well, the good news is I came in 6th overall. The bad news is I was 3rd in age 40-44. It's my own fault though. I have not been training like I should. Also, a guy passed me with about a quarter of a mile to go. I tried to keep up with him but he finished six or seven seconds ahead of me. Of course that was the guy that came in second in our age group. My final time was 21:13. I guess that isn't too bad, but oh well. Overall, it was a good race. They had a good spread of food and I got to talk to quite a few friends and other runners.

Marvin's 2009 What's been going on summary

2009-05-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted any races online. It's not that I haven't ran any, but that life came to a crossroad, and I had to go a new route. I recently divorced on March 20th. This all came out of the blue for me. I had a hard time running after that, but I struggle through, and running helped to relieve a lot of stress.
Three races that I did in that time were the Fly With The Eagles, Crab Orchard 1/2 marathon 1:36:14 16 16th/97 overall and third in age 35-40, The Nutrition Fair 5K Carbondale 19:22 9th/103 3rd in age 30-39, and SI 10K Crab Orchard 40:46 4th/86 overall 1st in age 35-40.

David's 2008 Summary

2009-03-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it is March 2009. I guess it is time for me to write up my race summary for 2008. I should have done this in October or November, oh well. With it being so long since last year’s races I am not sure what to write.

Overall it was a good race year and I accomplished the last of my running goals. However, I’ll start with a couple negatives. The main ones I can think of are the three races I missed. The “Murphysboro Applefest 5K” was one of these. The flyer I got said it started at 9:00 in the morning. I wake up, get ready, and just leave the house when Marvin calls me from the race a little before 8:00. He tells me the flyer was wrong and the race was going to start in a few minutes. He was lucky and left right after work. He would have had to wait a long time before a 9:00 start but barely made it for the 8:00. That was very frustrating. The next two races I missed were because of work. I work the 3 to 11 shift and was mandated to work the midnight shift the night before the races. I guess technically I could have ran them, but it would not have been good. The really bad thing is I had preregistered for them. The first one was the “DuQuoin 5K” I really liked this race and was not happy I missed it. The next one was the “Tunnel Hill 10 mile”. I was upset I missed it, but also a little relieved. After all, it is 10 miles. It is a nice race with a great course, but it’s 10 miles. One good thing for the last two races is I did get the t-shirts.

Last year did have many positives. I set a new personal record in a 3K and a 5K. My 3K PR. is now 10:56 and my 5K is 19:18. I did run faster in quite a few individual races too. One of my best races was “Steeleville Firecracker 3K”. I accomplished a lot at this one race. I set my new PR, finished in the top10, and I finally beat Marvin in a legitimate race. I don’t think I can do any of those three things again. I placed first in age group at “Union County Colorfest Biathlon”. Also at Union County I won the $165 bicycle seat. I am not sure if that is really an accomplishment, but it is pretty cool. I placed third in age group at “Millstadt Biathlon”. I posted my best times at our weekly summer ½ mile interval training. That may have been the day the high school band was practicing at the football field / track where we run and I didn’t want to look bad. The last big positive was Marvin and me winning age group at the “Quincy Regional Crime Stoppers Midwest Monster Adventure Race”. It was a long exhausting day but I would do it again. If you look at the results overall we came in third and the two teams in front of us were from Quincy. I think that makes our win, and third place overall, even better.

Here are a few totals for 2008.
Mileage ran: 305
Exercise bike mileage: 937
Mountain bike mileage: 34.34, not sure if I added estimated Adventure Race in there
Road bike mileage: 2029.9
I’m kind of proud of my road bike mileage. I had a couple rides over 50 miles. My farthest ride was 56.81. I would like to do a century sometime.

I’m not sure what my goals are going to be for 2009. I think my job is going to interfere with my training and races. We are very shorthanded so the overtime is getting worse and screwing up our personal lives. Anyway, I would like to do better in races this year. I am moving up in age group so I think the competition is going to be worse. It seems the older one gets the more the hardcore guys participate. I haven’t even started running or biking yet this year and it’s the 10th of March. By this time last year I had been doing stuff for a month or so. Wow, I’m starting to feel bad. Well, I better finish this so I can go do something. See you on the road!

Tunnel Hill 10 miles November 1 2008

2009-02-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

(Marvin) What! It's Febuary and I'm first getting around to blog about the Tunnel Hill run! After the Tunnel run it becomes my off season for racing. Anyway the race was beautiful as always with good weather. I started off running the first two miles talking to my fellow runners. That was a mistake because I was running faster than I could talk causing me to get winded. I wish I had more training to be faster, but that is always the case. I finished with a time 1:09:39 1st in age 30-35 with a 6:58 pace.

Pinckneyville Fall Classic 8K Oct. 25 2008

2008-10-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) Year number 3 since I took over as director for the Fall Classic 8K Run 5K Walk. I would say that this year it was a success. We set a new PR of 72 participates. The weather turned out great despite that it rained the two days before. I couldn't do this race without help, so I would like to say thanks to David my co-director who handles door prizes, and many other duties, his sister Paula who even though had twins still made the fancy cookies and had the customized bib numbers, Jenn my wife for doing the registration and tallying the results "a very big responsibility there" Jeremy for taking pictures and doing anything else we would ask, his wife Rachel for typing up the results (I was feeling lazy), Sara for also bringing cookies, our sponsors who help fiance the event (If you get a chance and are patronizing there business; thank them for sponsoring the race.), The NHS students for traffic control and water station, and thank you to anyone else that I might have missed. The biggest thank you I can give out is to all the runners who participated; because without you I couldn't have the race at all. See ya next year!

(David) This race turned out well, again. It seemed like this year we pulled in more local people to participate. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There were a lot of friendly runners and spectators. Putting on this race can be challenging, so it is nice when it goes well and people leave happy, and maybe a little tired. Marvin changed the walking course a little, which seemed to go very well. He incorporated the fairground's walking path, which I thought was a good idea. Overall it went well and I hope we even more participants next year. If anyone has comments please let us know!

Marshall Browning Hospital 5K DuQuion IL Oct. 18 2008

2008-10-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) Here is a race that I haven't ran in several years because it always fell on the same date as the Colorfest Biathlon. Not this year though, and I was able to attend. I'm the tall guy in the back of the picture. The thing I like the most about this race is the course. It's in the DuQuion fairgrounds, the roads are secluded, and the scenery is nice with hills and lakes. I also like to get flyer's to this race to promote the Pinckneyville Fall Classic 8K that Dave and I host, and is a week away. When I woke in the morning it didn't feel bad outside, mid 50's, but at race time the north wind picked up and made it feel real chilly. I didn't mind this one bit. I looked at my run time from the Colorfest a week before and told myself that I would run around a minute quicker than that time with the cool weather. That is what I exactly did. Sixty seconds better than last week with a time of 19:18 1st in age 30-34 and 6th overall. I think I could have shaved off a few seconds if the wind was not so strong that day, or told myself to do two minutes better than one. I won a door prize of a rather nice first aid kit. This will come in handy for any adventure races in the future. I would also like to give a shout out to my sister in law Sara Tanner who was at the race. She had fun and a good run. Her dad was also there, Mike Chapman, and he placed 1st in age 60-64 way to go!

Union County Colorfest Biathlon Oct 11 2008

2008-10-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) The Anna Colorfest Biathlon is the end for my bicycle training for the season. Every year I always reflect and wish that I would have done more bike training. Colorfest Biathlon puts on a very good race. There are so many high quality door prizes I don't know how they do it. This year's race wasn't the best for me though. I knew it was going to be harder on with me with a south warm front passing through. The temp was in the 70's, and I was feeling uncomfortable on the run. I ran conservative for the muggy day (20 seconds slower than last year). Then I only spent 59 seconds in the transition area. (14 seconds better than last year!) On the bike after the first two miles I started getting into it and feeling better. As always, I feel like I am going super fast and along comes another competitor that cruises on by making it look like no effort. I didn't let this bother me too much. Overall the biking was good (4 seconds faster than last year). My legs didn't cramp, and hills weren't as difficult this year. I had a time of 1:15:33 the run 20:18, transition 59 seconds, and bike 54:16 2nd in age 30-34. I missed tieing my PR for this race by 2 seconds, a little bit of a let down for me. I didn't win any door prizes either, but Dave on the other hand made out very well.

(David) One of my long term racing goals at this race was to place in the top three in my age group. I did that last year, placing third. This year I was not expecting a whole lot; but I got first in my age group. I was actually surprised. I wanted my run to be in the 20’s. It was 20:46, 28 seconds faster than last year. I caught up to Marvin in the transition area, which I never do. My transition time was 1:08 more or less. I felt I was faster there. Once I got on my bike I didn’t feel so good. My legs were tired and I couldn’t catch my breath. My bike time was 56:11. This was over two minutes slower than last year. Last year I averaged 19.3 MPH, this year 18.4. My overall time was 1:18:05, one minute 25 seconds slower than last year. If I had that time last year I would not have placed. This year though I got first in 35-39. I think there were only five racers in this group. Usually this is one of the bigger groups. I think the real strong competitors either didn’t show up or moved to the next age group. The top three in 40-44 all had times of 1 hr. 10 min. and something. That was eight minutes faster than me! I’m in that group next year. Maybe it’s time to take a few years off.

Like usual the event was well organized. They changed the bike route a little so we didn’t have to go through two intersections. This was good. I just wish they would have announced it before the race. The support at this race is super. All the volunteers are nice and helpful. The police controlling traffic are well organized and do a very good job. The motorcycle club that escorts the riders along the highway do a great job also. Last year there was only one or two, probably due to weather. But this year they had quite a few to help out. They ride along on the highway with us to help control traffic. All the volunteers help make this a better race and are appreciated.

Now for the important part: the door prizes. This race gives out a lot of quality prizes. This year was no exception. I was hoping to win a jacket. They had hoodies and what looked like water resistant jackets. I would have been more than happy with either kind. Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t get one, because the very last give-away was a $165.00 bicycle saddle (seat) and I won! This year I was kind of disappointed because I haven’t won any attendance drawings; this more than makes up for that. I was very happy. It’s the nicest attendance drawing I have won. Although, the Gilster – Mary Lee box last year was pretty cool.

What can I say, this turned out to be a great race. I had some doubts before the race. The last couple weeks I haven’t been real motivated. Also, two weeks before the race I got my bike tuned up and I think it worked better before I took it in. They only halfway fixed the problem I brought it in for, plus now the chain is rubbing. Because of this I didn’t have a lot of confidence. But somehow I got first in my age group, something I never thought I could do at Anna. Then my luck continued when I won the saddle. Throw in a warm sunny Octoer day and this will probably be my best race ever at the Colorfest Biathlon!

Midwest Monster Adventure Race, Quincy IL

2008-09-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) Second time that Team Dumb competed in this race on the 2 man long course. Last year we came in second, and this year we came in first place! If you were to ask us during the race if we would win we would have said no way. A lot of errors were made, but as adventure racing goes I imagine that other teams made their own amount of errors.

For me this year the race was a better layout than last year. The disciplines were broken down over the course instead of all in one area. There was more trail running than road, and more mountain biking this year. The race starts off in South Park 7:35 am for the long course, and like last year everyone is on there bikes, then the announcement is made to dismount and run down a large hill to the ball diamond, and find a tag with the teams number, and secret code word. (Last year when we did this it was to retrieve a code word and to get an egg to baby sit, but no egg this year.) Next it was to run back up the hill to the bikes about 1/4 mile total. Dave and I were almost the last ones to leave the park, but we knew it was a long day ahead, so we were pacing ourselves. We received our map that morning at check-in that showed the route. We didn't have to follow this route, but it was suggested because there are various check points that need to be punched on the *passport. (*Passport is a list of check points that need to be punched at key locations that the team needs to go. Failure to miss a punch is a time penalty added to the teams time.) We bought bicycle seat post racks to transport our running shoes. (lesson learned from last year). I had a bungee strap, and Dave had a bungee net. When I went over some railroad tracks the bump knocked out my shoes! *@#@!! is all I could say. We were catching up to some of the bikers. Next Dave hit a bump, and knocked his shoes out. I didn't feel so bad then that mine came out. We were worried about our shoes but we just double tightened down the bungees and they held for the rest of the race.

The first area we arrived at was Moorman Park. There were three disciplines, Tandem Board Walk (Two people, Two 2x4's, walking together on the same boards like snow shoes in unison), Water Carry (Barrel with mark height that must be filled with various buckets of water retrieved from a nearby lake), Ladder Crawl ( ladder that is extended between two saw horses. Must crawl on the underneath side without touching ground.) The only one we had trouble with was the Tandem Board. Last year we were able to go fairly quick, but this year it was slower. The other two disciplines gave us no trouble. Next came kayaking; we had to run to the other side of the lake to put the kayak in. This was a one person discipline and Dave did it. (Dave will go more indept on the kayak. I just stood on the bank eating and drinking) After that back on the bikes.

Terstriep Tree Farm run was the next stop. This is where Dave was getting aggravated. I wasn't for sure where the tree farm was and I was looking for a sign that would say Terstriep Tree Farm. There was never a sign and I knew if we hit another road we went to far. Well we hit the other road. Bad thing was we just went down a rather large hill, so we turned around, and started climbing back up. We went about 1.25 mile round trip out of our way. What made matters worse was there was a lady sitting in a chair at the tree farm (that looked like a normal house out in the country) that waved at us as we went by. Dave pointed this out to me when we went by, but I discarded it. I thought for sure it was further up the road. I know this bone head move frustrated Dave. Once at the farm we ran on the outside of large Christmas tree field looking for a check point. It took awhile, but we found it without incident.

Next we rode out to Maas road. Last year we ran on the road for about 5 miles. This year however it was a creek run! The creek is usually dry this time of year consisting of gravel and sand, but Quincy had lots of rain the past week and the creek was filled with water. The deepest the water was about thigh high with sink holes all about. The trick was to run on the sand banks and wade through the water. I felt that we made good time in the creek, catching about four other teams. The distance was about 1.75 miles in the creek. At the end we sat down to empty out all the sand in our shoes. The sand was so packed in my left foot that it was killing my big toe because it kept pushing my toe back. I don't think Dave was very excited to do the creek, but for me it was my favorite part of the race. Once back on hard ground we hooked up a bungee strap between us to finish the run. This helped to equal out our pace. The total run came to about 4 miles.

Goehl's Farm aka "The Wilderness" This is a private 300 acre farm that is opened for the Crime Stoppers Adventure Race. Out here there are numerous check points with trail running, trail riding and orienteering. When we arrived at the transition we received our orienteering coordinates, and was told that anytime we could do orienteering. The starting points for orienteering were these large power line towers that were nowhere near the transition area. We decided to do the run first hoping the trail would take us near one of the towers. We never did come near to our tower on the run, so onto the bikes. Trail riding at this point in the day was becoming challenging for me. I fell off of my bike several times, but didn't get hurt. As we rode we wondered if we would ever find our tower for orienteering, especially since we were off the trail and back riding on the road. It turned out however that the road circled us around to a dirt road that took us to the towers. There we found our tower and a 3 person team the Mudslinger Misfits. This is a team that we met last year at the race, and this year also. We even joked at the beginning of the race to wait for us at the orienteering, and there they were which made it very funny. Our two teams had the same start points so we made a pact to find the points together. It didn't take long for the orienteering, and then it was back onto the bike trail riding. We circled back to the transition area, and had our orienteering checked out. It turned out that our 2nd answer was wrong. It's not that we didn't go to the right point, but that we wrote down the wrong number. They called in the person in charge of the orienteering and he was generous to give the stamp and send us on our way. He came to the conclusion that if we went to the wrong point we wouldn't have been able to finish the orienteering. After we got our stamp it was off to South Park.

At South Park we had to start off with the 40lb sandbag carry for two miles. I came up with the idea of putting the sandbags in a duffel bag and insert a pole between the strap for Dave and me to carry together. Good idea on paper, but didn't work out to well in the end. Half ways through we ditched the duffel bag and carried the sandbags individually. After that we had three disciplines left to do. Fetch The Ladder (Running to one end of the park to be told to go to the other end of park and bring back a ladder. Then climb a tree and find the code word that matches the code word we received that morning. Next take the ladder back, and finally return to have passport stamped.) Walk The Tight Rope. (Two ropes strung between two trees. One high and one low. Walk across the bottom rope while holding the top rope without falling.) Lower The Bucket (One weighted bucket on ground with rope attached to empty bucket hanging from a tree on a pulley. Throw various weighted sandbags into empty bucket until it touches ground and hoists other bucket into the air.) This one was easier this year because they lowered the height on it, and I'm 6'5 so I didn't have to jump very high to get the weights in.

Finally to finish with a 1 mile run around the park. When we turned the corner to the finish we saw that they put up a ribbon for us to run through for being the first two man long course team. Tough ribbon though. Couldn't break it. I was very thrilled and excited. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. We each received a 1st place medal, completion ribbon, and a picture of the two of us at check-in. We also were reimbursed the $200.00 we spent to race.

_
(David) Last year was our first attempt at The Monster Adventure Challenge. We learned some lessons and thought we had other problems solved. This year we learned some more lessons and hopefully we will solve other problems. To me the first part of the race was not good, but the second half turned out well.

The event started the night before at the pre-race meeting. This year the meeting seemed more organized. Also, we got to it with plenty of time to spare. We sat at a table with a team we met last year, the “Mudslinger Misfits”. It worked out good because once we got the maps and passports we all worked together to try and figure out where we would go. They did not give us the actual map, just a generic city map. Overall, it gave us a rough idea of what to expect. After looking at the information, I got the idea that we would probably travel a greater distance but have fewer obstacles to perform. I think this was true.

That night we stayed at a hotel. Just like last year I had a horrible night’s sleep. I think I slept three to four hours, about an hour at a time. I don’t know what my problem was. I didn’t feel real anxious or nervous about the race. Anyway, I think my lack of sleep carried into the race.

After waking up Saturday morning things seemed to go smoothly. We got our stuff packed up and made it to South Park ok. We got checked in and organized what we needed. As time got closer I started getting nervous and didn’t think we would be ready. The short course left at 7:30 and the long course at 7:35. We did the long course. Just like last year they had us run down a hill to get a tag. When we got back to our bikes we were the last team out. This didn’t bother me because I knew it was going to be a long day. However, once the race did start I was in a bad mood. This continued for most of the morning. Also, within the first 20 minutes I was already worried we missed the first checkpoint, we didn’t. Later Marvin’s running shoes fell off his bike rack. This did not make me happy. Then my shoes fell off my rack. This made me more mad because I knew I couldn’t be mad at Marvin, so I was even more mad at myself.

We made it to Moorman Park where we had three obstacles and the kayak. Two of the obstacles were the same as last year. The new one was the “Ladder Crawl”. It was pretty easy. The “Tandem Board Walk” was not so easy. Last year when we did this we passed up people. This year something was off and it was a struggle. The “Water Carry” was easy. I think the coordinators were assuming a team would use one bucket each. There were a few buckets sitting there so we both used two and filled the can in one try. The kayak portion was not too tough. We were both kind of worried about it before the race. The goal of this discipline was to punch your passport using four different kinds of hole punches: heart, diamond, butterfly and star. There were eight stakes positioned throughout a pond. Some called it a lake but I don’t think it was big enough to be called that. Each stake held a punch. Only four punches had the right shapes, the other four were circles. The kayaker would paddle to a stake, see if it was a right shape, and punch the passport or go on. It turned out every other stake had a correct shape. It wasn’t too tough. It would have been better on a lake or on the river. It did get a little crowded out there. I think it would have been better if there was a way to incorporate the rest of the team. Maybe how they did the inner tube last year. After this I felt I was in a little bit better mood.

Next we headed to the Christmas tree farm. We totally missed it. It was as much my fault as it was Marvin’s. I should have looked at the map better. I did this last year too. I would get a general idea of what we were doing but not read all the directions. It wouldn’t have been so bad but when we turned around we had to up a big hill. I think we lost 15 minutes or so. Once we got to the tree farm I found out I had lost my pocket knife and pen. This upset me. It was a cheap knife, but I have been carrying it around almost everyday for 10 years or so. I didn’t know where I had lost it. I assumed it fell out of my pocket while riding the bike. I think it was the next day when Marvin said I may have lost it on the “Ladder Crawl”. I didn’t even think of that. That makes the most sense, since I was upside down at the time. I called the race director and no one had turned it in. Oh well, what are you going to do? At the tree farm we had to follow a trail through the farm. It wasn’t too bad. We caught up to another team. We went straight once when we should have turned left. The other team went the right way which looped around back to where we were. We asked if there was a check area there and they said no. I felt kind of bad that we didn’t go that way and the other team ran farther. Later that same team went left when they should have gone right. We hollered at them that they turned the wrong way and they turned around. This made me feel better because who knows how long they would have been running if we didn’t stop them.

We rode to Maas Rd. where we did a run. First it was along a road and then we had to run in a creek. Before the run I said something to Marvin about taking off our regular shorts and just wearing our tri-shorts. He said the water was supposed to be about thigh high. Well, the water may have been that deep but you sunk into the sand another foot or so. I had water get up to my hips. This whole experience was pretty rough. I had sand packed in my shoes that hurt my toes. Also the sand rubbing in my socks was scratching my ankles. It was not pleasant. I do believe it was a moral victory for us because we never gave up or slowed down. We caught up to and passed other teams. This made me feel better. Once back on the hard road we hooked a bungie strap from Marvin to me. I think this really helped because it made me go faster and slowed Marvin down a bit.

Next, onto “The Wilderness Area”. This is the part of the race that I think we really made up some time. It seemed after we were done here we were ahead of quite a few teams. The first part we did was the run. It was not too bad, more trails, and a little more sand. After that we did the biking. This was tough with the hills and the recent rains. Also, we thought we were lost when we got to the public road. I think there was some confusion with the coordinators about this. I don’t know if they didn’t mark it right, didn’t map it right, or what. Anyway, we made it to the orienteering part where we ran into our buddies “The Mudslinger Misfits”. We had joked that they should wait for us at this point and there they were. We were also lucky that they had the same starting point as us so we worked together. As soon as I looked at the orienteering directions I suddenly realized I had forgotten how to do this. I was a little nervous but once I settled down it came back to me. It also made me feel better that Marvin and I found three out of the four points needed. After that is was back on the bikes. Again it was rough going. Some hills we had to walk up. We missed one of our turns but only lost five minutes or so. When we checked in they said we had missed one of the points on the orienteering. We thought this was impossible since it was the third one and we got all the others right. We appealed and they called in someone who agreed with us. We had written down a tower number wrong. It should have been 768 but we wrote 769. When we made it to that tower it was only me and one guy from the other team. The sun was in my eyes, plus I don’t see too well, so when he said 768 I thought, “yea, that look’s right”. Anyway, when we checked in I knew what we had done wrong. If they didn’t let us pass I was going to have them let us do it all again and once we got the sheet back I was simply going to write the correct number down and turn it back in. I’m glad they let us go. Next part: going down to “South Park”.

Once we got here we did the “sandbag carry”. We had the idea of putting the sandbags in a bag and carrying the bag with a long pole. This is one of those things we should have tried at home before we went to the race. It did not work out well. I felt like I was carrying about two hundred pounds. It was not fun. About halfway through we gave the bag and pole to Jenn and carried the sandbags. I put mine on my shoulders and it felt like I was running. Also, about this time, I started getting more energy. Maybe it was that I sensed the end of the race or maybe it was the gel pack with two times the caffeine that I had taken. When this was over we had three more obstacles. “Fetch the ladder” is annoying because after running and biking all day we had to run up a hill to get a ladder, run down to get a card out of a tree, run the ladder back up a hill to give it back, and then run back down the hill to get our passport stamped. I’m not sure what the total distance was for this, but it felt like it was over a mile. “Walk the tightrope” was not too bad. “Lower the bucket” seemed easier this year. The bucket seemed lower. After all this we did the mile run to the finish. I’m not sure what we ran it in but I think after a very long day we still did it around seven minutes 30 seconds, which I think is pretty good. Finishing was pretty cool. We thought we had it won, in the two man team division, and when we saw the tape across the finish I told Marvin to hold up his hands when we crossed. It was pretty cool.

Overall, it was a good race. Our final time was seven hours and 49 minutes. We got first in the two man long course. We guess that we probably rode, ran, and walked over 50 miles. I figured I went through about 90 ounces of water, 80 ounces of Gatorade, six gel packs and one energy bar. I tend not to eat a lot when I do stuff like this. It was all pretty exciting. The second place team finished 11 minutes behind us. Some of the teams we were worried about finished quite a bit behind us. I still think the “Wilderness Area” was where we made up a lot of time. Go to http://monsteradventure.com/index.php for more information and results. I wish someone would have been taking pictures like last year. It’s a good feeling knowing that all your hard work of running and riding can pay off in a challenging race against very strong teams.

Murphysboro IL Apple Festival 5K

2008-09-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) This is the second time I ran the Applefest 5K since it's rebirth 3 year's ago. It used to be a well organized event until the race director passed away. The new director has been trying really hard to bring back the race to it's former glory, but still is not quite there yet. The one thing was a misprint on the flyer's that said the race start at 9am when in fact that it started at 8am. This caused Dave to miss the race. I was able to call him, so he wouldn't have to waste a trip. The turn out was still good, but I wonder how many people showed up an hour late. When I was registering it seem that the volunteers were bickering at each other. Other than that everything else went off without a hitch. The morning was in the mid 60's with high humidity, and warming up quick. The wind was out of the south blowing hard from hurricane Ike that was making it's way across the Midwest. I started off with a good pace, but around the second mile going up the hill my strength was zapped. There was no wind and the sun was beating down hot. By the time I finished the run it look like I had been swimming with all the sweat on me. I finished the race with a time of 19:58 2nd in age 30-34 and 8th overall. I was pleased to finish under 20:00 minutes, but I lost a dollar bet to John Jones who beat me in the last mile. I will reclaim this dollar back from him at another race. One where it is a cool day. I really didn't want to go to this race, but the Pinckneyville Fall Classic is coming up, and I need to get to as many races as I can to promote the Fall Classic. The awards were good this year. I like the medal I received it had more substance to it than some of the other flimsy medals I received. The top three overall trophy comes with a medal apple on top which is cool. They used to give smaller ones for first in age, but I'm sure that would run up the expense. They also gave $100.00 to overall male and female. Not many races do that. Next year they made the announcement that a gentleman is donating prize money for the top 3 overalls male and Female. 1st-$200 2nd-$100 3rd-$50 ($700 total!) that is very generous for this area! I'm sure this will pull in tough competition. I'm going to mark that on my calendar, train hard, and see what happens.

Millstadt, IL Biathlon 9-07-2008

2008-09-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

(David) What to say about this race? I like this race but never really expect to win anything because of the stiff competition. The day before is the Popeye 5K and I try to good in that so I know I won’t do as good in this race. The day before any race I rest. Running a 5K race one day and then the next day doing a biathlon where one runs five miles and bikes 22 is hard to do. I have the philosophy of, “just try to do what you can and see what happens”. Well this year I think I lucked out. I never thought I could place in my age group because it is very tough. However, this year I got third in 35-39. I was actually surprised. Before the race, volunteers write your number on your arm and leg. With that number is a letter representing what gender and age group you are, I was in “d” group. When running and biking I kept my eyes out for that letter. I did not see anyone pass me with a “d” on them. Apparently I did miss one while riding, check the results. Of course that was probably one of those guys that was just a blur when he passed me. Anyway, about 10 to 15 miles into the ride I started getting excited thinking I have a shot to place. I just tried to maintain and hoped something didn’t go wrong. When I got in Marvin and I checked the results, yea they are that fast, and I was listed as third. I actually thought they made a mistake and would change it, but that never happened. I got third out of 26 in my age group and 20th overall, out of 210 or so. My overall time was two minutes faster than last year, 1:40:06. My run was faster, 33:43, but my bike was slower, 1:06:23. Overall I was 18th on the run and 25th on the bike. In age group I was 2nd in the run and 3rd on the bike. I improved my transition time by 40 or 50 seconds. I always have a problem with that. Although my age group had 26 participants in it, I think they were not as good as last year’s. I was two minutes faster than last year and moved up four spots. I don’t know if the competition was there. Oh well, I’ll take it. It makes me wonder if I would be faster if I didn’t do the Popeye race the day before.

(Marvin) I really enjoy doing this biathlon. The distance is challenging, and when I'm done I feel spent which is a very satisfying feeling. I tried to run the Popeye 5K conservative the day before, but probably went faster than I should. Oh well. I started the Millstadt run by not going all out, and finding a comfortable pace. The run is an out and back over hilly terrain. When I came to the half way turning and headed back I could see how many people were participating (210 to be exact). Dave yelled that I was number 15. I was just trying to maintain my pace when another runner came up behind me and started pacing me. Then it turn into taking turns of pacing each other. I would lead then he would lead all the while pushing our pace faster than if we were alone. When we finish the run portion I came in next to him and they rank me as 10 and him 11. My transition went fairly smooth even though it felt like I was wasting a lot of time. On the bike I head out of town and saw a ambulance coming into town with sirens on. Later that day I heard that one of the cyclist was hit by a car. I looked online at several news sources, but never found out anymore detail. I hope that it was not very serious. When riding my bike I could feel that most of my power was suck out of my legs from all the hills that I ran the previous day and then today's event. I kept my pedaling cadence high and was making good speed. There are two killer hills in this course and on the first one I was caught in my high gears and almost had to walk, but I shifted and it sounded like my gears were going to explode. Everything shifted to it's proper place, and I was able to complete the climb. The second hill I made it to the top, but my legs were killing me. I started cramping around 15 miles, and had to slow down. This is a issue that I keep have coming up at race. I need to find a way to stop the cramping. At the end of the race heading into town two other racers caught me. I was able to keep up and sprint to the finish. One finished ahead of me and the other behind. Last year I finished 12th and this year I finished 12th, but improve my time by 00:03:28 I had a time of 1:37:28 2nd in age 30-34 and 12/210

Popeye 5K Chester IL 9-6-2008

2008-09-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) This year we got the picture with Popeye and Olive unlike last year when it poured down rain after the race. The weather was great 65 degrees in the morning and a north wind. I had the Millstadt biathlon on my mind because in was the next day, so like last year I was apprehensive of running Popeye before Millstadt. I went ahead and ran the Popeye 5K just like I will in the coming years because it is in the same town that I work in, and it happens right after I get off of work. The course is a hilly one, and I was feeling the lack of hill training when I was climbing the last hill of the race. I guess now I'll start running hills again in my training. This is a race where I see a lot of familiar faces. I talked to so many people afterwards that I had a hard time listening to the awards and attendance prizes being announced. I was lucky with the attendance prize, and won a cartoon drawing of Popeye as a STL Cardinal hitting a baseball out of the park. As for the awards I came in first in age 30-34 6th overall and a time of 19:25. Pretty good race this year, I'm pleased with my time and I like the shirts with the theme this year being pirates.

(David) I really like the Popeye race. They always have a big crowd, give out nice trophies, have good t-shirts, and give out a lot of attendance prizes. It is a decent course, hilly but not horrible. I wish the day was different. It is always the day before Millstadt Biathlon, oh well. I put more emphasis on this race than Millstadt, I’ll write about that in the next blog. This year I wanted to beat last year’s time of 20:36. I felt I could have done better. This year I wanted to be in the 19’s. I wasn’t sure if I could, considering the hills. They are not huge hills, but hills none the less. I tried to keep up with Marvin but he lost me after mile two. I think a lot of my problems are mental. I start thinking I am hurting or that I can’t run as fast. I think this started happening before mile two but really kicked in when Marvin started pulling ahead of me. I think I could have been faster but in the end I did accomplish my goal of getting in the 19’s, barely, with 19:56. I also got first in age 35-39 and seventh out of 138. I was happy with that but thought I should have been closer to Marvin’s time. I did not win an attendance prize this year, unlike last year when I got a really nice prize from Gilster’s. This year’s race was special because we got our picture taken with Popeye and Olive Oyl. We had talked about this the last couple years but never got the chance.

St. Libory IL, Run for the Son 5K

2008-09-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) This was the second time I ran this race, and like last year the weather was cool in the morning, but quickly warming up in the afternoon. I wanted to run hard this year hoping to get under 19:00 minutes. I ran hard and strong, but my time was 19:43 slower than last year when I was struggling on the last mile. After the race another runner saw that I was wearing a Garmin gps and asked me what the distance was. He had a Garmin too and wanted to compare distances. My Garmin showed a 3.2 mile and his showed 3.18 miles. I looked up my results from last years Garmin and it showed 3.08 miles. I think that the course was not accurately mark compared to last years. My average pace was showing 6:10 minute mile and that would of put me under 19:00 minutes for the 3.1 miles. Oh well. This course is flat with out and back. I came in fourth overall with 19:43 first in age 30-39. I'll have to remember next year that they give out top 3 overall trophy, so I can try for third or better. I won an attendance prize of $25.00 gift certificate to Target, so I came out ahead of money on this race.

(David) This is a pretty nice race. Last year I signed up too late and did not get a t-shirt. This year I got one. The course is pretty flat and is almost an out and back. Starting off I thought I was doing o.k., first mile 5:49. The second mile I still felt good but thought I was slowing down, time 6:54. The last mile I knew Marvin was getting farther ahead of me. I finished one minute behind Marvin and over a minute behind my last’s year’s time of 19:24. My time this year was 20:33. Looking back I don’t think I was pushing myself as hard as I should. I did this at a few other races this year. I run at a hard pace but know I could push harder.

I almost didn’t do this race. However, it worked out that I could and Marvin was doing it so I figured “why not”. I got second in 30-39, behind Marvin. I still don’t like the big age groups. That was one reason not to do the race.

Like last year, they gave a lot of nice attendance prizes and like last year I didn’t win any. I haven’t had much luck with that this year. Overall it is a good race, but not one of those that I really feel excited about.

Waterloo Optimist 5K Run August 23, 2008

2008-09-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

It seems whenever I write about these races I focus on the negatives. Well, this race will be no exceptions. There are two main points I want to complain about. The first is, slower runners should not start in the front of the run. For the first tenth of a mile I was trying to get around people. I had one kid start walking right in front of me and it was less than 10 seconds into the race. I almost ran over him! The second thing I want to complain about was the time it took to give out the medals. I’m not sure what the problem was but I was getting frustrated. The race started at 8:00. A little after 9:00 they announced they would start giving out awards in five minutes. About fifteen minutes later they started with the female runners. They gave the overall female trophy, waited a minute or two, gave female 14 and under, waited a minute or two, gave 15-19, etc. You get the idea. It was about 10:10 when they got to the men’s. Other than those two things the race was pretty good. I started out at a good pace, but not too fast. My first mile was 6:16. A lot of times it is under six. My overall time was slower this year but I was still able to get 1st in age group 35-39, time was 19:45. I was sixth overall. I probably could have been fifth, but with two tenths to go I passed a high school kid, gave him words of encouragement, and he passed me in the final stretch. I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut.

Don’t get me wrong. I do like this race. There are a lot of runners, the volunteers are nice and helpful, and my sister Paula was able to see the race. They changed the medals this year and I like them better than last year’s. Overall it is a good race that I hope to run again.Marvin did not run this race because of work. Also, Paula took the picture of me after the race, thanks.

Evansville Days, 5 Mile Run August 9, 2008

2008-08-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) First place!!! This is a nice race with a challenging course, but it doesn't attract a lot of people. I don't know if it is the location of Evansville or that it is not advertised well. I would say there was twenty people at the most there. When the race started Dave and I ran together with only one person in front of us. He was a teenager and he took off like he was going to a fire. Dave told me that he talk to him and found out he was only doing two miles, but still we didn't let him pull to far away from us. At the first mile the teen turnaround to head for the finish. After that the race was a relaxed pace. There wasn't any real challengers. Dave and I had a very comfortable lead from the next runner. I had all intentions of running with Dave and even letting him cross the finish first, but at mile 3 we were talking and he told me to go on. I was hesitant, but he told me he didn't want a win where I let him. I would feel the same way, so I picked up the pace and finished first overall with a time of 34:27. This was 15 seconds slower than last year, but this was not an all out effort. I had plenty of energy left over after the race. Maybe next year there will be more people.

(David) I still think more people should run this race. However, they did change one thing that I liked; last year they gave out trophies and this year they gave medals. I guess you can’t really blame them because they don’t have a whole lot of runners and trophies are more expensive. I’m still not sure why they don’t draw more people. It is a good race. I think Marvin has it right when he wrote that it may be location and lack of advertising. Or maybe it is because the town of Evansville is slanted and that scares people, see picture. My time this year was 35.09, over a minute faster than last year’s. Like Marvin said, we ran together for the first three miles. Our times were 6.36, 6.38, and 7.35. I knew he was running slower because of me so I told him to go on. I was able to keep him in sight most of the time though. I finished 42 seconds behind him. The next person in was over three minutes behind me. It was a good race but with so few challengers it didn’t feel quite right. I got second overall and first in age 35-39. This was the best overall finish that I have had in a race. It is a challenging course with quite a few hills. They are not real tall but a couple of them are steep. Just like last year the volunteers and the other runners were real nice. I just hope they go back to trophies next year.

Hoyleton Hobraufest 5K, July 12, 2008

2008-07-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

(David) I’ve been waiting to write about this race because I wanted to find out how I placed overall and it took awhile for them to post it. You can see the results at: http://www.runningstartsports.com/results/Hofbraufest5k--2008.htm. Overall the race was good. My time was 20.27, seven seconds faster than last year, and I placed 1st in age 35-39. Last year Marvin and I talked to one of the people running the race, suggested five year age groups and this year they did it. That was pretty cool. Overall I got 12th out of 138 men. I think I could have done better in this race if I did not start out so fast. My first mile was 5.35. That was way too fast for me and may have messed me up. The race is an “out and back” and when I hit the turn around mark I was pooped. I didn’t hit my watch to find out my second and third miles but I bet they got progressively worse. My first mile should have been 5.50 or so. Oh well, I did what I did. I didn’t win any door prizes this year. The prize drawing was slow like last year and the awards presentation was equally slow. They should speed both of those up. It also seemed unorganized. This being the second year of the race may explain that.

I wish I could figure out why my finish times are so inconsistent. Less than a month ago I finished at 19.18. Two months ago I was 21.08. I’m all over the place.

Marvin couldn’t run this race because of work.

Steeleville Firecracker 3K, July 04, 2008

2008-07-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

(David) Well, I can retire from running now. With this race I have completed my last goal. I finally beat Marvin in a race. It took many years and a bunch of races, but now it’s done. Thank you, Steeleville Firecracker 3K.

I have always liked this race. I think it’s the atmosphere. They consistently have over 200 runners and you potentially get to run in front of thousands of people. It’s just a nice race to do, and it’s only 3K, 1.86 miles. The competition is tough, but the runners are all nice. This year was no exception. The morning started off rainy. By race time it was sprinkling. The good news was it was cooler, but higher humidity. I felt decent. My right calf was still sore from Tuesday’s intervals, but not too bad. I never know how to start this race. This year I decided to try to go almost interval speed. I kind of knew how fast that was. Due to a whole bunch of people, Marvin started to the left but a little behind me. This messed me up a little because I’m used to following him in races. He quickly caught up to me and I think we ran side by side for awhile. Actually, I don’t remember a lot of that first mile; I was focused on a couple runners in front of me. My one mile time was 5.40 or 5.42. I know Marvin was a second or two in front of me then. Right after the one mile mark we ran around a barrel in the road and headed back west, we started the race going east. Due to the rain the road was wet and I could tell Marvin slowed down going around the barrel. I caught up to him and I think we ran side by side again. Actually, this part of the race was also a blur. I do know we had to run up a couple hills and it seemed like Marvin did really well on them. At one point we were running together and I realized I was running through water because of a low spot in the road so I moved to my right. This put me behind two other runners. Once I reached the top of the last hill I got this spurt of energy and sped up. I passed the two runners on their right and then started thinking that taking off like that wasn’t too good of an idea. The finish was farther away than I thought; I do the same thing every year, in the same spot. Toward the finish I heard people yelling and knew someone was right behind me. I thought they were yelling for Marvin. I just tried to keep going. I crossed the finish line without being passed. Once in the chute a runner did pass me but a volunteer quickly told him to get back. It turns out that runner was one of the two that I had passed. We ended up with the same time and Marvin came in right after that. I finished the race with a time of 10.56, 15 seconds faster than last year. I didn’t think I could get under 11minutes. I got first in age 35-39 and 10th out of 231. I’m pretty proud of being in the top ten with that many runners. You can go to http://www.egyptian.net/~minton/race/ for the results. Overall, it was a good race. I’m a little bit more excited about running races now. I now know what Marvin meant when he wrote about endorphins earlier this year.

(Marvin) Well after waiting so long Dave finally did it. He gave me the BIRD!!!

Fred Bird that is, along with my daughter Mollie. Dave was able to capture a picture of Fred Bird and Mollie at the parade that follows the run. Thanks Dave.

As for the race it turned out to be one of the more cooler 4th of July, but it still was muggy. I can't really say that my heart was into this race. As a matter of fact I would have rather stayed home and gone to bed after work. This is a sprinters race and I'm not into that mentality of racing. I even told myself that Dave would beat me at this race, so I already beat myself there mentally. The race started out with Dave ahead of me at the start, after awhile I passed him feeling good. I was 5:38 at the one mile and at the turn around barrel I almost had to come to a stop to go around it because the road was slick and wet. After that pause I couldn't recover my speed. Dave came up next to me and I kept on pace with him. There are a couple of hills and they didn't bother me a bit. I actually had to hold back not to surge up them. On the last hill Dave took off, which I thought was a mistake because I thought he would run out of gas. At this point in the race I didn't care, or have the energy to pick up speed and held my pace. I was running pace with the number 2 overall women. We were slowly gaining on Dave and then I heard foot falls behind me. A young guy I passed early started to sprint for the finish. I started sprinting too. He was able to catch me and out kick me finishing between Dave and I. I should say he almost knocked Dave down. I finished one second after Dave 10:57 2nd in age 30-34 and 12th/231. Eventhough I was not in the mood for doing this race I did set a PR for it. Two seconds better than 2006's race.

Sesser Homecoming 5K, June 21, 2008

2008-07-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

(David) This was the first 5K race Sesser sponsored, and you could tell. I won’t go into all of the details, but I may mention a few. The most important parts of the race were ok. I guess that’s all that matters. The race started five or ten minutes late, due to fog. That was fine, it gave me more time to prepare, i.e. run warm up, stretch. You had to be on your toes for the start though. If you weren’t paying attention you could have missed it. The race started at the custard stand and then went west onto some back roads. There were a few hills but the majority of the course was flat. I just tried to keep Marvin in sight. We started off close but then he took a little lead. I felt pretty good but wasn’t sure if I was pushing too hard or not enough. There were no mile marks, so I couldn’t really tell how far I went, or had left to go. I looked at my watch a few times but that couldn’t really tell me how far I had gone because I didn’t know how fast I was running. Once I looked and my watch showed 11 minutes. All that told me was that I was somewhere along mile two, maybe the beginning, maybe the end. Through most of the race I heard someone right behind me. Finally the guy passed me. I was still feeling ok so I paced him. After less than half a mile I was almost right behind him so I passed him. This actually got me a little closer to Marvin. We were getting back into town and the guy was still on my tail. I still didn’t know how much farther we had to go so I just maintained. We turned a corner and I could see the finish. Apparently the guy behind me also saw it because I could hear him speed up. I tried to pick my legs up and go faster but it was tough. I could still hear him behind me. I think I ended up beating him by two seconds. My final time was 19:18, a new personal record. Marvin beat me by eight seconds. I’m not sure what made this race so good. I think one reason was that I paced Marvin. When he doesn’t run I’m not sure how fast to go so I just kind of run. When he does run I know he will run in the 19’s, sometimes 18’s, so I try to keep him in sight. I do know I have been very inconsistent this year, last week’s time was 22:04. Marvin finished third overall and I finished fourth. He finished first in age 30-34 and I finished first in 35-50. Yea, you read that right. Marvin had a five year age group and I got a 16 year age group. I hope that changes. They only gave out first place medals. They did have quite a few attendance prizes, we didn’t win. Also, the goody bags were good. They did some good stuff for the race. I just hope they improve on other stuff.

(Marvin) I wasn't planning on doing this race because of work, but I was able to leave work an hour early to make the start time. The bad thing was that Friday evening I went out and did my training run. It was 3 miles easy pace. This day was cooler with lots of fog which meant that it was muggy..yuck.. The course was not too bad to run, mostly flat with long slight incline hills. I started out not too fast, just fast enough to see how the postions were going to fall. I fell into the third postion overall and knew that would be about the best for me at this race. With it being Sesser's first race I was hoping to strike gold for first place overall, but that was not the case. My legs were feeling very heavy during this race and I was feeling physically tired from the training run earlier and working third shift. Near the third mile on a turn in the road I could hear Dave give a runner an encoraging word to "catch him" (meaning me.) "Thanks Dave" >: ( The coarse turned into a gradual incline climb about 1/2 a mile or so. I could hear the runner getting close behind me. What I didn't know was that Dave passed the runner who he encouraged and was making a surge for me "Good strategy Dave break the guys spirit" : ) When I was running up that hill I had a weird feeling come over my body and not the good kind. I had a funny tingling in my chest up to my head that I never felt before. I slowed my pace to recover and after a while it went away. I think that it was from being tired and as the day drew on the sun was heating things up. I had a couple of bouts with heat exhaustion in my youth and it doesn't take long for a warm or hot day to effect my performance. That's why I hate summer time races. As I drew closer to the finish I could hear the guy behind me (Dave) trying to catch up, but when I knew it was almost over I poured it on. To my surprise there was Dave eight seconds behind me. I had a finish time of 19:10 3/100 overall First in age 30-34. I was surprised that I ran that well and wonder how fast I would have ran with proper rest.

Roll on the River 5K June 14, 2008

2008-06-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

(David) Will I run this race again? I don’t know. There were bad and good things about it. Some bad things were: My time was not very good, I did not place in my age group, they had big age groups, they did not have my preregistration, the race is about a 1 ½ hour drive for me, the course was hilly, the start was rushed, and I wasn’t feeling too good. Some of the good points were: I finished 15th overall, my first two miles were decent times, the course was easy to follow, it was downtown St. Louis, there was a lot of volunteers and support people, everyone who finished got a ribbon, it was easy to get to and get out of, I knew people there. By looking at my list it appears this was a bad race. However, overall it was pretty O.K.

My main disappointment was my time. I finished with 22.04. I had wanted to get in the 20’s. I felt alright while running and at the end I felt I didn’t have much left so I don’t know what happened. After the start and everyone fell into their spots I didn’t pass anyone and no one passed me. If I was doing something wrong one would assume I would get passed. Maybe subconsciously I get behind certain people and just pace them. I need to figure out how I did sub six minute miles last year. The guy who finished before me, who was in my age group, beat me by 23 seconds. If I had a sub six minute first mile I could have beat him and placed third. Yea, I got fourth in age 30-39. I don’t like the big age groups and it surprised me that a race in St. Louis would have them. Actually, I can’t really complain about the 30-39 age group, all three finishers in front of me were 38 or 39. I can complain about my preregistration. When I went to pick up my race packet they did not have my name listed. I had entered online and paid through Paypal. I’m glad the lady took my word for it so I didn’t have to pay again. It was too long of a drive not to be entered. That leads me to another negative. The race was about an hour and half drive for me. At this time with gas prices so high I debated if I should have went. I already skipped three races this year because of gas prices. The drive also caused me to wake up earlier, which I never like. The race itself wasn’t too bad. The start was one of those where out of nowhere the announcer says, “ready, go”, and everyone is just kind of confused for a second, then take off. The course itself was: run 1 ½ miles west, go one block north, and then run 1 ½ miles east. Actually I think this may have screwed me up a little. I like to focus on one thing in the distance and run towards it. While running east I focused on the American flag that was held up by two ladder trucks. It felt like the more I ran, the further away it got. I should have focused on something closer. Also, I didn’t know St. Louis had so many hills. They were not steep or tall, but they were long. Going up I could feel I was pushing harder. But on the way down I could not feel gravity helping me. My last complaint, or excuse, was that I was not feeling too well. I think it was sinuses. Tuesday my throat started hurting. Wednesday and Thursday I was congested and Friday I could hardly talk. Saturday I wasn’t feeling really bad but my head felt stuffed up. Oh well, maybe I’m in a complaining mood.

There were some good points. I did place 15th out of 204 and 4th out of 34 males. Some of those in my age group probably walked. You can see the results at: http://www.paraquad.org/rotr/docs/ResultsRunwalk5k08.pdf , there are also pictures if you go to the main page http://www.ewrollonriver.com/. My picture is number 76. Although my overall time was disappointing my first two mile times were not real bad, 6.34 and 6.45. My first mile could have been faster, but overall it was not bad. I do kind of wonder if they had the two mile marker in the right spot. I assume it was the two mile mark. There was no one there, but there was a giant “2M” spray painted on the road. It could have been for something else. The course was easy to follow: go west, go north one block, and go east. It was also pretty cool running through downtown St. Louis. They had the streets all blocked off so you got to run down four lane streets with no cars around. At every intersection there were volunteers. There was a bunch of support. A motorcycle club was there to help out and also police. It was good seeing that many nice people volunteering. The race was easy to get to and also easy to leave. Being from a town with no stop lights I always worry about finding my way around cities. One of the things I really liked was the finishing ribbons. Everyone who finished the run or walk got a ribbon. I thought this was a good touch. Just having something to show that I ran made me feel better. I think it is something Pyramid Running Club may want to incorporate into the Fall Classic. Lastly, it was good knowing people there. I probably would not have gone if it were not for Paula, my sister, and Brad, her husband. They both entered the run and their friend Kenny entered the quad race. Because of them it felt like a good race to do.

Will I do this race again? I don’t know. My two main reasons not to do it were gas prices and waking up early after getting off work at 11:00 the night before, stupid work. There are a lot of reasons to do it again, one being to run a faster time. However, two things I do not like to do are: spend money and wake up early. So, yea, I don’t know.

As a side note, I talked to Brad the other day and he said Kenny had his gps on during the race. It had a final reading of 3.5 miles or so. That may explain my time.

Highland IL Memorial Day Biathlon & Lions Runs 5 Mile Run May 26, 2008

2008-06-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) The Highland Biathlon: 5 mile run with 15 mile bike ride. Dave was unable to do this one because of work. I was looking forward to doing this one and trying to score an age group win this year. Unfortunately that morning on the trip there the clouds were dark and rain was pouring from the skies. When I arrived at Highland the it was sprinkling, but a heavier rain was on the way. There was a flash flood earlier that morning and some roads were under water. The bike part of the race was canceled although I would have been willing to do it, but from a safety stance I could understand why. When I found out that the bike part had been canceled and the race would be delayed for one hour I just wanted to go home. I stuck it out and did the race. If I knew that the biathlon was canceled I would have went to Herrin for the 10k and been able to talk with my fellow running friends. I haven't ran the Herrin 10k in 3 years. Now for the Highland race I was prepared to run a conservative 5 mile to have energy for the bike, but I had to switch gears to race 5 miles. I felt that I ran well until the last mile where I started to slow down. It was starting to get hot and muggy with the sun coming out. There is this other runner name Tom who is 51 years old. We are about the same speed and talked a little before the race. During the race I knew he was there behind me pacing me, or you could say stalking me. About the last half mile he passed me when I started to slow down. The bad thing was I didn't care. Usually I would have that competitive juice kick in, but not this time. Kudos to Tom then. I hope when I'm in my 50's I still can run that fast. My time was 32:38 first in age 30-34, and 13/155 I shaved off almost 1 minute from my run time of last year. I must say though my heart was not into this race.

Bulldog Dash 5K Germantown, IL May 17 2008

2008-05-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) I was hoping to do better at this years Bulldog Dash, but I didn't even beat last years time of 19:08. Instead I came in 19:11, 2nd in age 30-34, and 9th/242. I was hoping to get under 19:00 minutes, but knew it was going to be hard after getting mandated for overtime at work on Friday. My sleep, and eating schedule was thrown all out of whack. The bad thing is overtime is always going to be an issue now, and will be something I'll have to work around. This race keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. It also draws some really good runners. The winning time of the race was 15:23! I don't even know if I could run one five minute mile.

(David) I didn’t have a lot of confidence going into this race. Last year I had a time of 20:10 and I didn’t think I could do that again. I was hoping for the mid 20’s. I started the race off conservatively. I felt pretty good for the first mile, time was 6:49. While running I kept thinking that this time could put me around 20 minutes total. Well, I was wrong. I felt good the second mile too and my time was 6:59. I was a little concerned about that time but was afraid to start pushing harder. I had enough energy to pick up my pace and pass two guys at the end. One of my philosophies is; if I have enough energy to sprint at the end of a race, then I didn’t try hard enough the rest of the race. My final time was 21:07, almost one whole minute slower than last year. During the race I wondered why I felt good running. I guess the reason was I wasn’t trying hard enough. I should have been able to at least meet my time of 20:30 from the Waterloo race a couple weeks ago. This all falls back on me not training hard enough. I ended up getting third out of 10 in my age group and 22nd overall. Actually I got fourth in age group because they give top three overall and one of them was in my age group. The results are online at: http://www.runningstartsports.com/results/Bulldog20085krun.htm One thing I need to work on is knowing how fast I am running, i.e. how fast is my seven minute mile. I need to be training more. Last year around this time I had rode 595 miles on my road bike, this year only 302. I am still blaming the weather and lack of motivation for that. I also blame work. But that is a whole other story. I am starting to like the Bulldog Dash more. There were some parts that were not as good, but overall I liked it. The atmosphere is good. There are a lot of runners. The course is fairly flat and the support from the fire department is really good. Plus, everyone running gets a free hamburger or hot dog. Also, a hello to our friend that if she were on our team we could add an "as" to the back of our name...Hi Ashley! Wait, I don't know if that would sound good.

Violence Prevention 5K Waterloo, IL April 26, 2008

2008-05-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) Wow! 18:53 and 2nd overall. I wasn't going to do this race, but Dave reminded me that last year he came in forth and myself in third overall. I decided to go even though I wasn't feeling it, and not having my one day of rest from training. This race starts out fast because of the big downhill start. I held back and watched who the leaders would be. It wasn't long into the run that they started dropping off except one runner. I kept a good striking distance of him until we had to run down a sub division that is out and back. When he turned around he saw how close I was he picked up the pace. As for me I just maintained my pace. I wanted to keep up just couldn't. The whole time I was running it felt like I was going slow, but when I saw my time I couldn't believe it. It seems like when I race it is a dice roll if I'm going to run strong or weak (if only I could get that +2 speed bonus roll). This is a nice race to go to. It's small, the people are nice, the competition not too tough, and they have good attendance prizes. Last year I didn't win a prize, but this year I won a nice bird house from Kohl's. I'm more excited about my time than placing second overall. It's the first sub 19:00 5k for 2008. I hope that I can do it again.
(David) My goal for this race was to get in the 20s. Last year I set a P.R. here with 19.58. I knew I wouldn’t do that this year. I have not been training like I should. Although I started earlier I still haven’t been motivated. Also, last year I was fourth overall and this year hoped to get third. They give top three overall runners nice trophies. Well this year my time was 20.30 and I was fifth overall. I did place first again in age 30-39, because top three got overall. Starting off I just kind of went with the flow. Since the first part of the race is downhill I didn’t want to go too fast. Before the one mile mark I kept my eye on the three runners in front of me. If I could pass those three I could be in third. I came up on two and passed them. The third kept increasing his distance on me. Before the two mile mark one of the guys I passed went by and almost caught up to the other guy. In the end they were probably 30 to 40 seconds in front of me. I guess I am comfortable with my 20.30 time because I have not been running or biking too much. It seems like this spring has been cold or rainy and I just don’t feel like doing anything. I’ll ride my exercise bike, but that doesn’t seem to prepare me for races too much. This year at the race they gave away more attendance prizes than last year. I didn’t win one but Marvin did. They drew for prizes and then announced the number of the winner. It was fun because we joked about getting certain “girly” prizes and when they didn’t call our number we were relieved. Too bad we didn’t get a gift card for the sandwich shop across the street, it seemed like they gave away a half dozen or more of them.

Mito-What? 5K Belleville, IL April 19, 2008

2008-04-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

(David) Last year at this race it was cold and windy. This year it was in the low 50s and raining. I’ll take this year’s weather over last year’s. My last year’s time was 23.23. This year I wanted to at least get in the 22s. The course is hilly. Like I said last year. the hills aren’t huge, it’s that they are continuous. There is no flat spot anywhere. The course is two loops and then a shorter loop, so one of the worst hills you have to go up twice and another one you go up three times. Last year I felt I started out too fast so this year I wanted to be more conservative. My first mile time was 6.43 and I felt pretty good for the whole race. My other splits were 7.40 and 8.00. My final time was 22.23, exactly one minute off last year’s time. I got first in age 35-39 and 14 out of 47 in male category. The plaques were the same as last year which is good because they are more unique. Plus this year they gave you a piece to screw in the back so instead of hanging it on a wall you can stand it on a table or desk. My brother-in-law, Brad, was also in my age group and got third. We also both won attendance prizes. I won a $20 gift card for Fleet Feet stores. They also sold chances for various prizes. I was lucky enough to win a basket from “Our Lady of the Snows”. It had a bunch of good stuff in it: $30 gift card, sweatshirt, rosary, and a wood cut out “hope” wall hanging, plus the basket. It was kind of funny because I had just gone to the gift shop, bought some items, and later I find out I won a $30 gift card. So I went back and bought more. Even though I complain about it, I actually like this race. It is a tough course but after it is over one feels like they did something. My sister, Paula, and brother-in-law were both able to be there. Paula took the picture of the beginning of the race. I am kind of in the center in the blue shirt and Brad is to the left in the white long sleeve St. Louis Marathon shirt. Also at the end of the race there are free hot dogs, hamburgers, and bar-be-qu. I think I ate two hamburgers and two hot dogs. I just wish the weather would cooperate. This year at the start of the race it was a hard drizzle and then toward the end it was raining. Maybe next year it will be better.

River To River Relay April, 19 2008

2008-04-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) The River to River Relay is a 8 person team running from the Mississippi to the Ohio river for 80 miles. Each team member runs 3 to 4 miles 3 legs a piece. This was my forth time I ran the relay, and third time with the team called The Pub Crawlers II. I tried to get in my own team but miss the dead line. If you don't register in the first ten minute you will not get a spot, so I hope next year I'll snag a spot. The best thing about this relay is the scenery. The worst thing is the hills. It's a challenge no matter what leg you run. I pick leg six this year which on the last leg has one of the worst hill in the relay. I wanted to conquer that hill, and I did. I passed seven people on that 3.8 mile leg. I check the elevation on my garmin gps and I climb 375 ft for 1.25 miles. I average a 6:52 pace for that whole leg. This year was one of the best runs I had at the relay. I felt that I could do another leg after my last one. Here is the team picture.

Back row left to right: JP, Jimena, Karen, Thara, Leslie, Lauren, Front left: John and Me Marvin

One of the best thing about the race is the atomsphere. It is all about fun and at the end of the race it turns into a party at Golconda, IL

Southern Illinois 10K Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge

2008-04-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) TeamDumb's first race of the year together. The S.I 10K is one of my favorite races to do. The race starts out with running on a road over the lake and then into the wildlife refuge woods. It was cool that morning with heavy fog, but the temp was warming up. It was perfect weather for running 55-60 F and no wind. I started out faster than I should have, but was able to run a good pace. By mile two I fell into the fourth place position and was keeping a steady distance from third. I was hoping that the last mile I would be able to overtake the third spot, but I ran into trouble climbing the last hill, side stitch. This happened to me the last time I ran the race, and I even slowed down for it this year. The stabbing pain was too much and I had to take a walk break. Third slipped away from me, but I was able to retain 4th place with a time of 40:22, 1st in age 30-34, and 4th/65 overall. This race really pumped me up. The endorphins were kicking in on high and now have me motivated to train harder. This feeling that I experience is the reason I run. This might be why others don't understand runners.

(David) Endorphins? Isn't that what parentless Ewoks are? Anyway, one of my plans for this running year was to start exercising earlier. I did that, started January 28th. However, because of the weather and lack of motivation I have been mostly riding my exercise bike, and not a whole lot of that. One of my goals for this race was to beat my last year's time, I did that by 15 seconds. Last year when I ran this race I wasn't too sure of myself so I decided to pace Bill Freeman who was going to run seven or seven and a half minute miles. I felt good the entire race and even kicked it up a notch about a mile to go. For some reason this year I was thinking, I am still in great shape, so when we started I took off trying to keep up with Marvin. Of course that didn't last too long. This race became a race where I helped a lot of people feel better about themselves, because between mile one and three a lot of people passed me. After the first mile I felt like throwing up, quitting, or both. I kept going and at one time the lady in front of me was pretty far away and behind I didn't see anyone. About 3/4 of a mile to go someone caught up to me and I decided to pace him. In doing this I felt better. He got a little ahead of me but I passed him and barely beat him at the line. We actually had the same time. And do you know what else? Bill came in 20 seconds later. If I had just paced him like last year I may have felt better. In the end my time was better. I quess that is all that matters. This year's time was 46:59. I came in second in 35-39, like last year, and 16th out of 65. I think about 10 or more people passed me. You can see the results at: http://rrr.olm.net/results/si10k08oa.html Unlike Marvin this race did not invigorate me too much. I think I am just waiting on warmer weather. Oh ya, Ewoks live on the planet Endor. Therefore, Ewoks that have no parents are orphans. . . Endorphins. Get it?

2008 Race Season

2008-04-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) It's 2008 a new year for new goals. It has been awhile since I updated the blog. I have already run two races this year. The year been starting off rough for me. The first race was the Fly With The Eagles Half Marathon at Crab Orchard refuge, IL. The week leading up to the race my kids were sick with the stomach flu which I was hoping not to get. The day before the race I was not feeling well and only ate a few bowls of rice. During the race everything went downhill. I struggle just to finish it with a time of 1:52:13 8th in age 30-39. The next day I had the flu one of the worst in a very long time. It took two weeks for me to recover, and get my strength back. That pretty much sunk my marathon training for the St. Louis race on April 6 2008. The next race I ran was the Nutrition Fair 5K Carbondale, IL. I was not really wanting to do this one, but my kids wanted to do the kids race. The weather was cold and windy that morning, and I was feeling tired from working the night shift. I finished with a time of 19:53 2nd in age 30-39 and 8th/101. I was hoping to get around 19:20 or lower, but it didn't happen :( On the other hand I'm proud of my daughter Mollie (5 years old) for running the kids race. She was able to complete the whole thing without walking. I think the distance is a quarter mile not for sure will have to look into it. Adam (3 years old) my son wanted to race, but when around all the people he was a little intimidated, and daddy had to carry him all the way. Maybe next year he'll make it.

Mollie is in the red coat. You can tell how cold it was by the way she is bundle up. Nothing like a warm spring day : )

David's 2007 Summary

2007-12-28T10:53:00.000-08:00

(David) I thought I would give a summary of this year’s race season. Here is a picture of the t-shirts I received this year from races. As you can see I participated in many races. The picture shows 20 shirts. The shirt on the lower right is from the Pinckneyville Fall Classic 8K which I do not run, but help put on. I also did not receive a shirt for the St. Libory 5K. That was one of my best races too. My t-shirts are placed in chronological order of the races starting in the top left corner. The t-shirts / races are: “SI 10K” @ Crab Orchard (47:14) made me realize I need to start running earlier in the year; “Mito – What” 5K at Our Lady of the Snows (23:23) a tough, hilly race; “St. Clair County Law Day 5K” @ Belleville (21:23) one of the bigger races; “Waterloo Violence Prevention 5K” (19:58) only my third race and already beat my last year’s best time; “Bulldog Dash” 5K Germantown (20:10) hope to do this one again next year; “Highland Biathlon” (1:21:45) my run and transition times were bad; “Belleville Althoff” 5K (19:55) got confused last tenth of mile; “Care For Kids” 5K Freeburg (20:46) hot; “Steelville Firecracker 3K” (11:11) always a good time even though I wanted to throw up; “Hofbraufest” 5K Hoyleton (20:34) probably the flattest course; “COSLHS 5 mile” Evansville (36:15) small race that I think more people should enter; “Tour de Red Bud” 18 miles (55:01) I hit a car, Marvin got lost, nuff said; “Waterloo Optimist 5K Run For Youth” (19:31) some of my family got to see me run this one; “St. Libory” 5K (19:24) they ran out of shirts but a good race; “Popeye 5K” Chester (20.36) over a minute slower than last week’s time; “Millstadt Biathlon” (1:42:23) very happy with my bike ride on this one; “Midwest Monster Adventure Challenge” Quincy (8:53:57) ya that 8 means eight hours, probably my biggest racing accomplishment; “Nashville Optimist Club” 5k (20:20) still recovering from the adventure race; “Union County Colorfest Biathlon” Anna (1:16:25) accomplished one of my long term goals by placing third in age group; “Tunnel Hill 10 mile” (1:13:49) hope to do this one again, but with more training; “Pinckneyville Fall Classic 8K” a race everyone should enter. That is my list of races for 2007. My favorite shirt is the “Mito – What” shirt. I also really like the “Tunnel Hill 10 mile” because it is long sleeve and dry release. Actually I like most of them and am often seen wearing one, or one from previous years.

I still like the Steelville 3K and Anna Biathlon races the best. Others that are at the top of my list are: Germantown, Hoyleton, Evansville, St. Libory, Chester, and Quincy. I also like most of the others and will try to race in them all again, maybe not Red Bud. My best 5K time was 19:24. I would like to get under 19 next year. I’m not sure how easy this will be, I’m not getting any younger. I hope to run more next year and do more run and ride days. I hope to go back to Quincy and do better there. The worst part about that is just trying to get off work. I may extend my running season and do the Turkey Trot in Herrin next year, since the Tunnel Hill 10 Mile this year I haven’t ran or rode. Also, I think the interval training I did this year really helped me.

Here is a list of odds and ends stuff for 2007:
Total distance ran (+/-) in miles: 275
Total distance biked (+/-) in miles: 2070 (road bike)
Total distance exercise bike (+/-) in miles: 393
Total distance mountain biked (+/-) in miles: 112 (I hope to do a lot more of this next year)

Tunnel Hill 10 miles November 3 2007

2007-11-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

(Marvin) This has become one of my favorite races. It even made Runners World Magazine "nations top 10 of 10 mile races." The field can only support 200 people, so you have to register about two months in advance. The four years that I have been running it the weather has been perfect (cool and sunny). Packet pick up is in Vienna and the race starts ten miles up at Tunnel Hill. Take a bus or in my case my wife drives me to the tunnel. The course is an old railroad that has been converted into a trail. The tunnel is at the beginning of the race and is 500 feet long. It would be bad if you had to finish through the tunnel because it is very disorienting in the middle. I can only imagine how tough it would be to run straight, being tired, and not falling down. I knew that I wouldn't break my last year time, so I went out with a more conservative pace. Dave and I ran together for the first 3 miles before we settled into our own paces. When I pulled ahead another runner kept right behind me. After a mile I slowed a little to get side by side and had the silent understanding that we would use each other to keep pace. This has always been a great strategy for me to run my best. Towards the end I was making ground and passed two people in the final mile. My pace partner had more gas in the tank towards the finish and pulled ahead of me, but I was happy with my time. I finished 1:08:35, 6:52 pace, 1st 30-34, 15th/189. My paces were as followed 1-6:38, 2-6:54, 3-7:23, 4-6:43, 5-6:41, 6-6:53, 7-6:56, 8-7:00, 9-6:52, 10-6:43. I feel relieved after this race because the race season is winding down for me. Marathon training is about to begin, my knee is fully healed, there are not many races to do, and it feels like I should come out of this winter faster than before.

(David) Why did I let Marvin talk me into this run? I have never run 10 continuous miles before. We did run over 10 miles for the Monster Adventure Race but that was not continuous. (Check out the blog for that one, it was tough.) As I said in Anna Colorfest Biathlon blog, I usually quit running by this time of the year. Somehow Marvin talked me into it, or I talked myself into it. I figured up that since Anna, three weeks ago, I have ran three times, mountain biked twice, and rode my exercise bike twice. I don’t think I was ready for this run. My goal was to run with Marvin for the first two or three miles and then run eight or nine minute miles after that. I ran with Marvin for the first three miles, he said that third mile was his slowest, sorry. Once I slowed down I had quite a few people pass me. After a group of five passed me I decided I would try to pace them. It seemed to work. One of the group slowed and I passed him, the only one I passed the entire race. I kept the rest of the group in sight and ended up with a time of 1:13:49, 5th out of 17 for age 35-39, and 27th out of 189. I was very happy with this time. My goal was to get under 1:20, and run eight minute miles. My mile times were: 6:39, 6:54, 7:23, 7:23, 7:37, 7:39, 7:31, 7:44, 7:34, and 7:30 so I was pretty consistent. However, I ended up paying for it in the end. I am writing this on the Monday after the race and I am still very sore. The bottom of my feet started hurting about mile seven and still hurt. My thighs, hamstrings, calves, etc. all hurt. I called in sick for work yesterday because I have to walk around a lot there. After the race I had to leave early so I could get home and go to work. I probably should have called in sick that day too and soaked in ice water all day. I don’t like leaving races early because one of the fun things to do is talk to the other runners and swap stories. There were quite a few people that I wanted to talk to, I guess that’s how it goes. This is a pretty good race. I like the Tunnel Hill Trail, Marvin and I biked it once down and back, about 93 miles. They limit the run to 200 runners and it is apparent why at the starting line. We were packed in there pretty tight. I started with Marvin and probably should have started farther back. Being on an old railroad bed it is pretty flat. Running through the tunnel can be pretty disorientating. I just tried to keep my eyes on the back of the guy in front of me. There is a point in the middle of the tunnel where you can see both ends but everything else is pitch black. It is easy to start running at an angle and not realize it. The run is very scenic, but I never really looked around. I just kept looking straight ahead. I will probably run this race again. I know now that I need to train a lot more for it. I guess I need to extend my running / riding season.

Pinckneyville Fall Classic 8K Oct. 27 2007

2007-11-04T19:17:00.000-08:00

(Marvin) This is not a race that we run in, but a race that we host in our home town. The Fall Classic has been around for many years and was dying and absent in 2005. Dave and I talked about doing the race ourselves. The reason for the decaying race was that the previous race director moved out of town. He still was hosting it but having a hard time not living in town anymore. We talked to him about what needed to be done. The next thing you know the 5 mile race had been resurrected in 2006. We have had many complements and thanks for bringing and keeping the race going. This is still a learning phase for us, and we are making the race the best we can. This year we attracted more people than last, and hope it continues. We had great door prizes this year. The only problem was that we received them late and were not able to advertise it. If you are interested in running the race it is always the last Saturday of Oct. more information can be obtain at http://www.pyramidrunningclub.com/

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(David) I really want to run this race one year. However, that is probably impossible because there is so much to do before and during the race. Marvin pretty much runs the whole thing and I help him a little bit. I have been doing the attendance prizes. I think this year we had some pretty good stuff to give away. My sister Paula somehow got in contact with ASICS and they gave us certificates for two pairs of running shoes and two 3 pack of socks. They also donated visors and key chains. Also, local merchants were very generous. The local eye doctor gave a certificate for sunglasses, a bank gave a $50.00 savings bond, sporting goods store gave $25.00 gift card, local restaurants gave coupons, and the list went on. I also tried to take pictures of the runners during the race. I say “tried” because they didn’t turn out too good. I think the race turned out very well. We had more participants this year than last. Also it is still a learning experience so it will get better and better each year. I know on my end it was quite a bit of work, and I don’t have too much responsibility. I don’t think I would want to do all that Marvin does. This is a nice race. Also remember that there is a 5k fun walk that draws in quite a few people and they are eligible for attendance prizes and also receive t-shirts.

Union County Colorfest Biathlon Oct 13 2007

2007-11-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

(Marvin) This is my 4th time doing the Anna IL biathlon. The first time as a team in 2004. I ran and Dave rode the bike. After that it's been individual competition. Every year I do better and better. This year was my best time yet. This is also the second year riding my rode bike instead of the mountain bike. The distance is a 5K run with 17.5 bike ride. The weather was cool and fairly calm winds. The run starts off going downhill, but near the 2 miles there is one big hill to climb. Other than that hill the run route is pretty good. On the bike ride there are two hills that are extremely tough to climb. The first is at the beginning and it is a tricky one. When you think that you reach the top of the hill it then grows to a second steeper climb. At least the downhill is long and fast ride. After that it is up and down many hills until about over half way you hit another steep hill. This hill puts the thought in of pushing the bike uphill, but I kept struggling through. I played leap frog with many other cyclist during the race and fended off an attack to the finish line. I had a total time of 1:15:31 Run: 19:58 Transition: 1:13 Bike: 54:20 2nd 30-34. One of the best things about the race is the attendance prizes. They have jersey, jackets, hats, bike gear, etc.. This year I won a water bottle..yeah.... I have been wanting to win a jersey, so maybe next year. The other cool thing about the race is that Anna has Colorfest celebration going on. On part of the run route you'll see many different dioramas using pumpkins. There are many creative ones, and if your in the area it is worth checking out.

(David) This is my favorite biathlon. A lot of biathlons are 5 miles. This one is 3.1, which I like a lot better. The toughest part of this race is the hills, and there are a lot of them. I used to think the big hill after you turn off the highway was the toughest, but the more I do this race the more I think it is the hill(s) after the narrow bridge. That hill is steep and once you get to the top it flattens out a little and then you get one or two more bad hills. This is a race that brings out a lot of strong competitors so I never really expect to place. Last year my goal was to get at least fifth in my age group. I did place fifth and was very happy with that. This year a guy at work told me I should be able to get third. I told him my age group is really tough, but decided that would be my goal. I did get third in my age group. I was very pleased with my performance. My overall time was 1:16:25, over four minutes faster than last year. I wanted to be about 21 minutes for the run, I was 21:14. That was slower than last year’s time. I never know how fast to run in biathlons because I don’t want to bonk on the bike ride. My transition time was bad like usual, 1:46. That was 18 seconds slower than last year. I need someone to coach me on that. My bike ride was good, 54:04. I think that was faster than Marvin’s and four minutes faster than last year’s. I think last year there were stronger winds that slowed everyone down. During the bike ride I kept trading spots with one rider. I would pass him and then he would pass me. This went on for most of the ride. It got to the point where we would say something to the other guy as we passed him, not mean stuff. On the bad hill after the narrow bridge he stopped because he had chain trouble and I thought I might be done with him, but a couple miles later there he was again. We talked a little and when I found out he wasn’t in my age group I didn’t worry about him as much. We did change spots a few more times until he got ahead of me and beat me by five or ten seconds. Just like the Millstadt biathlon it seemed like I would pass people on the hills. My maximum speed going down one of the hills was 38.1. During practice rides I have gone over 40 miles per hour down these hills. After the race they give out a lot of quality attendance prizes. The first year we did this I got a long sleeve jersey and the next year I got a sleeveless jersey. I did get a prize this year but it wasn’t that great. I don’t know how they can give away such nice things. They always give away jerseys, jackets, hats, and other nice things. Like many races we had to leave once we received our plaques because I had to get home to get ready for work. Like I said this is my favorite biathlon. My whole year I train for two races: this one and the Steeleville Firecracker 3k. However, this year I ran some other races that I really liked, like the Germantown 5k. This race is also an end to my running / biking season. After this race I really taper off or quit completely until next year.

Nashville, IL Optimist Club 5K, Sept. 23, 2007

2007-10-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) I wasn't for sure if I would be able to do this race because of work, but I got lucky where work had enough people and I got to go home on a turn around. I didn't have high expectations for this race. All week my body had been trying to recover from the Monster Adventure Challenge. Anytime I would go for a run I would have to cut it short for feeling exhausted. After running the race I felt disappointed with myself; like the glass is half empty kind of way. My time from last year would have made me the overall winner, and many of the 5K's I ran this year would have given me the overall male winner. For the overall they give a nice trophy cup; which would look nice on the shelf. I will try to keep this race in mind for next year for scoring that overall win. I have achieved one overall win in my 6 years of running and would like to score another. Hey, maybe the glass is half full instead of empty.... I had a time of 20:15 1st 30-34 and 4th/60 overall. Congratulations to Candace Caveny overall winner 18:57. It is not often in this area to see an overall winner female runner. I always admire competitive women runners even the ones that beat me.

(David) Sorry it took me so long to update my part of this blog. I know a lot of you "dumbites" have been eagerly anticipating it. Well, for starters, I didn't realize until Marvin pointed out to me that this was our fifth race for September. We did three 5ks, a biathlon, and an adventure race. Maybe that adventure race did take a lot out of me because my last year's time for this race was 10 seconds faster. This year's time was 20:20. My first mile was way too fast, 5:51. Marvin and I ran together for the first mile. It was kind of different too because we were in the lead until the one mile mark, then Candace passed us and we never saw her again. I ended up with 1st in age group 35-39 and 5th out of 60 overall. Marvin beat me by about four seconds. I like this race except that the start is about 3 or 4 blocks away from where you sign up and the finish line. It is not too hilly and the support is great. The police do a very good job of blocking traffic for the runners, we cross the highway three times. Also, bagels at the end, a plus.

Midwest Monster Adventure Challenge Sept. 15, 2007

2007-09-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) I knew of this race for about two years that is held in Quincy, IL and have always been intrigued by it. In the first 3 years of its 5 years existence it has always been a 4 person team challenge with a minimum one person being a female. Last year and this year they opened it up to a two person division. Dave and I had talked about it last year, and the next thing I know at the last minute we signed up for this years challenge. I really didn't know what to expect and how to prepare for it. They have required equipment list "too numerous to list" which you can view and learn more at their web site http://www.monsteradventure.com/ . The most important thing you need to finish this race is nutrition and hydration; otherwise you'll bonk out towards the end. We were lucky enough for a cold morning in the mid 30's and a cool afternoon in mid 60's. That helped out with my hydration; otherwise if it was warmer I'm sure that I would've run out of liquid, and be hurting bad. The race was different this year than previous years by breaking up the biking and running. The outline of the course was start at South Park, grab egg, bike to wilderness, run in the woods, orienteering in woods "map & compass", bike on trail in woods, run on road, bike back to town, run through a park, ride bike to Mississippi, ride on the river with hands down challenge "human wheel barrel", bike to Indian Mounds for pool challenge, bike to South Park, 40lb sandbag carry, do obstacle in any order, and finish with cross country run to the finish line. With this being our first time the change from previous years race didn't hurt us except that we ride our bikes with clip on shoes and you had to change into running shoes for the non biking events. The problem was coming up with a make shift way to haul the shoes on the bike. I used two bungee straps to secure my shoes to the handle bars. It held fairly well, but I did have to stop and make some adjustments. I was worried about the orienteering but it was dumbed down. They gave the bearing and how many meters it was, so it was fairly easy to find the check points plus when all the teams caught up everyone was running together telling where each point was. Whenever it was time to run I had no problem doing it. After all running is my strong point. What I found neat about the race is that you had a passport which is a piece of paper that you would have to stop at various check points to get stamped. On one of our bike rides we had to back track to find one. This was frustrating because we would make up a lot of ground on the bike and then would have to backtrack or stop to check the map. At one point we were playing leap frog with another two man team -very friendly but competitive team- and they passed us while we were checking our map. We followed them and the next thing we know is that we all made a wrong turn. We stop together to consult the map and saw where we needed to be. We tried a street that looked like it was going to connect to our course, but ended up being a dead end. At this point we split up. Dave and I rode some more until we came to a clearing that looked down to the road that we needed to be on with the river ride being right there. Against better judgement we ride back to an area that looks like we can go down the hill to get to the road. The problem was the hill was grown up with thick bushes and vines growing through them. I took lead and dragged my bike downhill trying to make a path. I received numerous cuts on my legs, and it felt like forever to make it down. This would have been a good challenge for them to add to the race. When we got back on course we ran into our other team competitors who took the railroad tracks to make it over to the road. Doing the ride on the river took more out of me than I would thought. It is almost impossible to paddle an inner tube, so I swam the tube across with paddle sitting on top. Anytime I wanted to take a break the current would take me fast down stream. It took sometime but I finally made it. The other event that wore me out was the 40lb sandbag carry. I went to the chiropractor the day before and carrying the sandbag was sorely painfully. We carried it for about 2 miles through wood, hills, creeks and roads. There were 10 obstacles which we did fairly well; You can see most of the challenges here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7933784@N03/sets/72157602061560712/ Dave should go into more detail than me. Finally we finished the race with a 2 mile cross country run with a finishing time of 8:53:57 taking 2nd in age and 2nd/11 overall in the two person teams. We never thought that our finish would be that good. We were shooting for finishing in the middle somewhere. I will probably do this race again and as far as adventure racing, I'm hooked. Sorry Jenn... I would also like to thank my wife Jenn for going and being our support team. It was a long day and not a whole lot for her to do, but she was a trooper about it. That's one way I know she still loves me.

(David) I am not sure what Marvin is going to write about the “Midwest Monster Adventure Race” since I am writing this offline. I will probably repeat a lot of what he writes so, sorry. This may get boring. The whole experience started the night before at the prerace meeting. It seemed kind of unorganized and got a little confusing. The worst was when we were told that each team had to carry an egg with them the whole race, yes, a raw egg. We were given a Ziploc bag with cotton balls, tongue depressers, pipe cleaners, and some other stuff and were supposed to make a contraption that would fit in the Ziploc bag to hold the egg. Ya, anyway we didn’t. We also found out that the bike ride was not a continuous 30 mile but broken up by short runs, orienteering, and other events. When I first heard this I was not happy but after finishing the race I was glad they did it that way. One thing I had done while packing my clothes was to individually bag clothes for each event. I had shoes and long pants for the orienteering, running clothes for the run, different clothes for the sandbag carry, etc. This new rule changed all that. But, like I said, after the race I didn’t care about it. During the meeting they gave attendance prizes and we won a gift certificate for Road I.D. That night we stayed at a Super 8 motel. I had a horrible night's sleep.

The day of the race started at 5:15 when we woke up. The race started at 7:30 and we got to South Park, where the race started, around 6:15. Marvin and I ran as a two-man team for the long course. About 7:30 the short course contestants took off. We lined up with our bikes and then were told we had to run down a hill to get a tag, run back up the hill, turn in the tag, get our egg, secure the egg and then take off. All we did was put the egg in the bag, put that in a Gatorade bottle which we had cut the top off, duct tape it shut, and put it in my water bottle cage. We rode about five miles to the “wilderness area.” We ran over two miles on trails. It wasn’t too bad but we had to run through a couple creeks, so my socks were wet the entire day. Also, we had to have at least 70 ounces of water on us, so I wore my Camelbak Mule the whole day. I am not used to doing this. After the run we did the orienteering. Before the race I was really nervous about this part of the race because we have not really done any orienteering. However, we didn’t have to worry too much. We were given a piece of paper telling us where to start and then given a degrees and distance in meters to walk. There were four points we had to find. We thought we would be given a map and told to find the points, but I think this was easier. There were quite a few other teams doing this the same time and they still seemed quicker than us. Marvin saved the day when we couldn’t find the sign for the next point, he said the directions said we should write down the electric tower number. All the other teams were looking for the sign, we did tell one team what to do and the other teams figured it out or heard us. We got back on our bikes and did offroad riding. One spot we had to ride over a teeter totter. We had never tried this before. I was nervous, but once I did it I wanted to do it again. Also, during the entire race we carried around a “passport” and had to get it punched at different times. The passport was a laminated paper and had 20 or so spots that we had to get punched saying we completed an event or passed a certain point. We rode about 6.5 miles, ran 4.2, rode about 5.5, ran over a mile, rode about six and then got lost. Another two man team had passed us so we followed them. They turned a corner and we followed. About a mile down the road we new we had taken a wrong turn. We went down a couple roads trying to get down to the road that ran along the river but couldn’t find the right way. We figured the fastest way down was a straight line. Marvin led the way down a very steep hill filled with dense underbrush of small trees and some kind of crazy vines. The vines were wrapped all around my bike and when I pulled them off I broke the wire on my cyclocomputer. Marvin got all scratched up and I got scratched up a little too. We made it to the bottom of the hill more or less in one piece and rode to the “ride on the Mississippi.” This was also the first transition area so I got rid of some of my clothes that I had started off with, it was 39 degrees when we woke up. The first thing we did here was the human wheelbarrow. It’s when one guy is the wheelbarrow and the other guy holds onto his leg and they walk 70 yards, switch positions and go back to start. It was tough for me and I had to rest, Marvin made it back quickly. Next was the “Ride on the River.” Marvin went first. Using an innertube and paddle he had to swim out to a boat 60 to 80 yards away, hang our team number on a board, and swim back. I then swam out, got the number, and swam back. It was o.k., the water wasn’t too cold. I did kind of screw up by not thinking about the current, so it took me a little longer to get to the boat. We then rode our bikes another couple miles to a public swimming pool. There Marvin waded in to find two plastic Easter eggs, one with our team name and one with our team number. Inside the eggs were numbers which we would use later. After this we headed back to the original start. The whole bike trip was between 32 and 36 miles.

Back at South Park we started the sandbag carry. Of course since this is an adventure race they did not have the sand prebagged. We had to bag the sand, weigh it, remove excess sand, and weigh it again. My bag ended up being about 44 pounds and Marvin’s was 46. We then had to walk about two miles with the sandbags. Other racers had backpacks to carry the sandbags. We weren’t sure if that was legal so we didn’t have backpacks. I think we did o.k. anyway. We did pass another two man team which we had been switching positions with. It was also the team that got us lost before the ride on the river.

We started the obstacle course after this. There were ten obstacles we had to do. We did not have to do them in any particular order so we just looked for the one with no waiting line. We don’t know the names of all the obstacles because we had to turn in the sheet. The first obstacle was throwing small bags of sand into an empty bucket hanging 15 feet in a tree. The bucket was connected to a weighted bucket that was on the ground. We had to throw enough bags into the bucket to counterweigh the heavy bucket. We got pretty excited because the first couple bags made it into the bucket, then we couldn’t make a shot. We eventually got the empty bucket to fall, got our sheet signed off and went to the next obstacle, “the water carry.” Here each carried a 5-gallon bucket down to a creek, filled them with water, carried them up a long hill and then poured the water into a large plastic garbage can. There was a line marked in the can that we had to fill up to. We had to make two trips. After we finished this event the volunteer told Marvin we had been going to different place to get the water than the other competitors. We went the shortest route to get the water, but it was also the toughest. We had to climb down a steep 15 foot to 20 foot bank to get the water. The other teams went a more convenient way. Third was the “tight rope.” This is where they have a strap stretched tight between two trees that you have to walk along. There is also a guide rope about five feet above the strap that you hang onto. Fourth was the “6x6 beam walk.” Volunteers had laid a bunch of 6x6 beams on the grounds in a zig-zag pattern. Each beam was connected to the end of another beam. The teams carried a pvc pipe which was the same length as a beam. Once you held the pipe you could not change it to your other hand. One teammate walked on the first beam to the end and then the other teammate got on the beam. The teams had to walk along each beam until they got to the other end of the zig-zag course. This sounded pretty easy at first until Marvin started walking and he about pulled me off the beam. I had to walk back in order for him to go forward. The whole zig-zag course was like this. There were times when I would have to go backward for Marvin to go forward and vice versa. Most of these obstacles were like this, not too hard, just really time consuming. Fifth was the “milk crate walk.” The team had three milk crates. Using the milk crates the team had to use them to walk about 80 yards around a stake and then back without letting their feet touch the ground. I would put a milk crate down stand on it. Marvin would stand on the crate I had stepped off of and then give me the crate he had just stepped off of. Again, it was just time consuming. Also, after all we had already done, this was not good on one’s back. Sixth was "bucket of sand teeter totter.” On one end of the teeter totter was a bucket with sand in it. On the other end was an empty bucket. The teams had to run about 100 yards to a pile of sand and carry handfuls of sand to the empty bucket and counterweigh the other bucket. The team could only use their hands to carry the sand, no shirts, hats, packs or anything. This was tough and very dirty. While carrying the sand back it would be sifting through your hands and falling in your shoes or on you or all over the ground. Seventh was the “2x4 ski boards.” We had two 2x4 boards. Each four foot board had a seven foot rope attached from one end to the other. The two people would have their left feet on one board and right feet on the other. The team had to “ski” around four pylons to finish the course. When we started there were two other teams doing the obstacle. Marvin and I got in a rhythm and passed the other people. I felt really good about this one. We went a lot faster than other groups. Eighth was the “ladder carry.” We started out at a tree on the farthest end of the obstacle course area. From there we had to run several hundred yards to the other end, get a ladder, carry it back to the tree, I climbed the ladder, grabbed a tag for our team that was on the tree, carry the ladder back to where we got it, run back to the tree and get our sheet signed off. This was hard just because of all the running, again. Ninth was the “5 gallon bucket obstacle course.” This was the toughest obstacle for me. We had a bucket with sand in it. There was a rope running through the handle of the bucket. You picked up the bucket, using the rope, with one hand. Once you picked it up you could not switch hands until a pole got in the way. The team had to guide the bucket around, over, and under obstacles that were set along a chute. The chute was roped off so you could not get too close to the obstacles, but you could lean against the rope. Also, the bucket could not touch the ground. We had to start this obstacle over once. It was really tough for me because by this time my upper body strength was about gone plus the guy who designed the obstacle was right there and apparently he was a real stickler for the rules. Once, I was leaning in, pushing on the rope, and I could tell he wanted to say something to me, but technically I was not doing anything wrong. At the end of the obstacle they had milk crates stacked up in columns. It appeared that they wanted you to go around each column but Marvin said, “Let’s just carry it over the crates.” I said I didn’t think that is what we were supposed to do, but when we did it the guy watching us didn’t say anything. So I guess it was o.k. The last obstacle was the “lock box.” During the whole race we had collected six codes at various times. This obstacle had a box with two locks on it. The codes we collected said things like “lock A 24.” So we had three numbers for lock A and three for lock B. We used these numbers to open the combinations on the locks. We didn’t know which lock was A or B. We sat down and tried it. Just like with Marvin finding our eggs so quickly in the wading pool, luck was with me on this one. I got my lock open on the first try. I went ahead and opened the other lock on the third try. This completed our entire obstacle course. I think we did very well on it. I made up the names of the obstacles. The coordinators had other names written on the sheet, but I don’t remember them. Also, some of these obstacles may be confusing. One can look at our pictures for further explanation or go to http://mnstr-advntr.snapfish.com/snapfish for their pictures. The last thing to do was a run. It was one or two miles.

We finished with a time of 8:53:57. You can see the results at http://monsteradventure.com/index.php. This is one of those races that after it is over you don’t want to do it again because you are so exhausted and wore out. Then a few days or weeks later wish it was next year so you could try it again. This race was on Saturday. I think it was about Tuesday or Wednesday before I wasn’t sore all over. I am happy with our time and our finish. There were a lot of good teams there. I liked the way teams were polite and helpful. There was a four person team that we sat with at the prerace meeting and then ran into numerous times at the race. They always had a kind word and positive attitude. Even the two man team that helped get us lost was always upbeat and nice. All the volunteers were nice too. They should be commended for being out there the whole day and helping us out. Overall it was a good, but tiring, experience. We hope to go back next year. I just hope there’s no egg.

Millstadt Biathlon 9-9-2007

2007-09-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) This could become one of my favorite biathlon events. The course is long and challenging with many competitors; 204 of them to be precise! Starting with a five mile rolling hill run, and a 22 mile bike ride with some rather steep hills thrown in. Last year when I did it for the first time the weather was cool; but this year the weather was 74 degrees with 94% humidity. The humidity is killing me! I went out conservative on the run going a 6:40 pace; last year was a 6:28 pace. I say conservative, but towards the end it was very taxing effort to keep pace. Running Popeye the day before probable didn't help either. After the run I looked like I've been swimming with all the sweating I did. I had some power aid waiting by my bike and I gulped down half of it which was a mistake that upset my stomach, but I felt if I didn't drink I would cramp up like at the Fairview biathlon. On the bike ride it went fairly smooth except that my speed was not up to par. Anytime I would push to make an effort especially on hills I could feel my legs on the verge of cramping, so I would back off and keep cadence. It also felt like it was raining with all the sweat dripping from my helmut. The bike ride is scenic if you take the time to look around. I know sometimes I can get caught up in the race and not remember too much of where I've gone. I did the run: 33:21 biked: 1:07:35 total: 1:40:56 12th/204, 2nd in age 30-34

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(David) Going into this race I said I was just going to do it for fun since I did the Popeye Race yesterday. I’m not sure what I did but I felt good the whole race. Marvin and I got there about 20 minutes before the race and had to scramble to get our stuff together. The run was five miles and I wanted to do seven minute miles. I was pacing a guy in front of me and apparently he wanted to do seven minute miles because my time was 35:28 and my three mile time was 21:09. The guy finished 20 or 30 seconds in front of me so he timed his run well, if he wanted to do seven minute miles. My transition time is never good and this race was no exception with 2:10. I forgot to start my Garmin so I didn’t get any data for the first two miles or so of the bike. The data I did get was average speed 19.7 and maximum speed was 36.9. I was 27th on the run, 17th on the ride and 16th out of 125 males. I got 7th in my age group, 35-39, with a time of 1:42:23. I think one reason why I moved up from 27th was the hills. It seemed like when I passed people it was mostly on hills. On one of the worst hills I passed four or five people. There were two riders that would pass me on flats and I would pass them on hills. With about five miles to go I passed them on a pretty tough hill and never saw them again. I am not sure if I could have done much better at this race. I don’t know if the race the day before affected me that much or not. I maybe could have run faster but my bike ride felt really good. According to the times I beat Marvin on the ride, not by much. A few of the downhill rides were pretty scary because it was a twisty road and a couple spots you had to make a right or left turn at the bottom. I got up to 36.9 miles an hour and I didn’t even realize it until I checked my Garmin later. After the race they had attendance prizes, we didn’t win, and we stuck around for the awards. They also had free soda, which a lot of places don’t have. This is a pretty big biathlon and I hope to go back.

Popeye 5K Chester IL 9-8-2007

2007-09-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) I had myself talked out of running this race because of the Millstadt Biathlon being the next day, but ended up running it anyway. It is the one race that I don't have to rush to after work since I work midnights in Chester; also it is the race that I won my first age group trophy, and Dave was signed up to run and I wanted to give him another shot to beat me, so I had to do it. The weather was drizzly and warm. I checked the weatherunderground.com for that day and the temp was 75 with 94% humidity. The 94% humidity really kicked my butt half ways through the race. It was very hard to breath, and like always I was soaked with sweat. The hills in Chester are very challenging and there is little to no flat areas. I had a time of 20:19 3rd in age and 7th/125. Overall I felt good about the race and didn't want to push myself too hard, so I would have something left for the Millstadt Biathlon. Dave and I ran the together for half the race although he kept elbowing me...:) I was ready to open a can of spinach on him. Jeremy came and ran with us and Bill Freeman was there too. The Popeye race has one of the biggest walking draws for this area; 65 walkers! It just amazes me. The awards like every year take a long time. They have many attendance prizes that they draw for one at a time. I usually don't mind but the monsoon hit and it pour down rain for the rest of the morning. I wish we could have gotten a picture with Popeye and Olive, but the rain drove them away. Oh well maybe next year.

(David) Marvin surprised me at this race by running. I didn’t expect him to run, so I wasn’t going to try really hard. Last year I got first in my age group and figured I could do it again if I ran under 21 minutes. When I found out Marvin was going to run I figured I better try harder. My first mile was the fastest I have run, 5:55. The second mile was slower at 6:40. Marvin and I ran side by side for the first two miles, he actually elbowed me twice. Once I hit the mile marker I started to slow down a lot. I’m not sure if it was the hills, humidity, or the fact that I have never beat Marvin in a race before but I slowed down. My overall time was 20:36 and I did get first in my age group (35-39) and 10th out of 125. Last year my time was 20:43. I thought I would be quite a bit faster, but oh well. After the race it started raining quite a bit. There were quite a few attendance prizes given and I won one. It was a box from Gilster-Mary Lee with a bunch of food products like cake mix, cereal, macaroni and cheese, cookie dough, popcorn, chocolate syrup, etc. It is one of the better prizes I have won. I’m surprised they had all that stuff in there. I had to leave early for a doctor’s appointment so Marvin picked up my trophy. You can see the results at www.popeyerace.blogspot.com. The picture is of me, Marvin, and Jeremy.

Youth Ministry Run for the Son St. Libory IL 9/2/2007

2007-09-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) Dave found out about a week ago of this race. I was looking forwards to not racing that weekend, but it was hard to pass up since it was on a Sunday and I have Sunday/Mondays off of work. The weather was perfect; cool and in the 60's. I thought that this would be a small race, but it had a decent draw of runners. That was the bad thing, it drew the good runners from the Belleville area like Jackson from Tanzania, a sub 17:00 5k runner. My legs were feeling heavy on my warm up runs, but it didn't seem too bad when the race started. My first mile was 5:56 and I wanted to be under 5:50 to strike for a time under 19:00, so this started the mental game for me of not going to make it. Dave was not to far behind me during the entire race and caught up to me on the last stretch. I was going to let him go, but he gave me words of encouragment and I put in more effort even though my stomach said it wanted to hurl. I was able to pull away and finished with a 7 second lead. I had a time of 19:17 three seconds faster than last weekend, 1st in age and 5th overall. It is Dave's goal to beat me at a race this year and he almost did it. I told him that he should be faster than me if he could just train more, and now our speed work on Tuesdays is starting to pay off. Will he beat me in a race this year? Maybe, so stayed tuned.......

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Hey, I already beat him in a race, see the Tour de Red Bud. I felt good going into this race. It is a relatively flat out and back. I felt like I started strong and was ahead of Marvin for a little while, which always makes me think I start off too fast. Of course he passes me later. I keep him in sight and about two tenths of a mile from the finish I make my move. I catch up to him and say, "Let's go." Well, he went and I didn't. I think I made my move too soon and used up my energy. My stomach really started to hurt and Marvin ended up beating me. I did set a new personal record, second time in two weeks. My time was 19:24 and I finished second in 30-39 and sixth overall. I did not pre-register for this race and ended up not getting a t-shirt. They had attendance prizes, but we didn't win. Overall, it was a good race that I hope to do again.

Optimist 5K Run For Youth Waterloo IL 8/25/2007

2007-09-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) A little break from the heat at the Optimist 5k Run for Youth with overcast skies. I knew that some of Dave's relative were going to be there, but was surprised and enthused that Brad (Dave's brother in law) was going to run too. I ran this race a couple of years ago, and it draws in the younger crowds. It is amusing to watch the younger inexperienced runners with their egos and friends to start out sprinting and run out of gas within the first quarter mile. I done this myself and sometimes still find myself going out to fast. I ran 19:20 and first in age 30-34, but I was the only one in my age. I finished in the top 10 and Dave wasn't too far behind me. Thanks Paula for taking pictures and cheering us on. It always helps to have that extra push of someone cheering you on.

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(David) I liked this race. For some reason I felt really positive going into this race. The weather was nice too. Like Marvin said there were a lot of younger runners. About a mile into it I heard one say, "This is hard," and I never saw him again. There were quite a few that started off strong and then walked. I set a personal record here of 19:31 and got first in my age group of 35-39. Marvin was 11 seconds in front of me, maybe next week. My brother-in-law Brad ran also and did very well coming in second in the same age group as me. He is pictured with Marvin and I in the first picture. This race was also nice because some of my family was there, my sisters Paula and Mary, and Mary's girl Sarah. Sarah even made a sign to cheer on Brad and I. Thanks!!! That was very nice of her. She is pictured with Brad and I. Also, they gave out attendance prizes, which is always good. I won a gift certificate to a video store, Marvin won a t-shirt, and Brad won a round of golf or something like that. One item of note; Marvin and I didn't start right in the front and before the race everone was talking, the next thing we knew the coordinator said go and we're all just standing around. I pushed Marvin because I don't even think he was really facing forward. Oh well. This was a good out and back race, not sure if it was a true 3.1 miles.

Tour de Red Bud 20 miles Aug 18 2007

2007-08-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

Tour de Red Bud 20 miles. (Marvin) What can I say about this race. Our faces from the picture tells it all. It was the YMCA's first tour and I was feeling good that day. The race was small with 20 or so competitors, and I was nervous not knowing what to expect with this being my first bike race only and not a biathlon. I started out riding in the front pack with two other cyclists. The leader was way out of everyone's league, and nobody was going to catch him. I rode with two other cyclists drafting off each other. This is the first time that I ever drafted and it makes a very big difference on effort. As the race goes on I pull into the 2nd place with only one cyclist drafting me. I could go faster, but I'm holding back because they oiled and chipped the roads we were on and they were hazardous. Another downfall was coming almost to a stop to cross major highways. At one crossing there were volunteers with water but no one watching for cars. That is when I almost hit a truck that was coming out of a bad blind spot from a hill. I felt that the volunteers could have been watching and giving warnings. Incidents like this kept the number 3 rider close to me. The last few miles of the race was in Red Bud and I was in second feeling good. I saw the lead car coming out of a side street. Thinking that this is where I turn, but she pulls out and yells that I missed the turn because the wind blew down the sign. I have to back track about a block and half and catch up to the number 3 rider that slipped into second and pass him. We then turn onto another main highway and rode and rode and rode until we were leaving town knowing that we had to of missed a turn somewhere. We back track until we finally found the finish. The reason we missed the turn was that a police car parked in front of the sign blocking the view. Later they had volunteers telling where to turn, but too late for me and the other cyclist. I was very mad and didn't care what place I came in. After the awards we talked to the director of the race from the YMCA she was very nice and apologetic and she appreciated Dave and mine input of the race. Overall I had fun riding, and now will be looking for a bigger more establish race/tour to do.

(David) "What a horrible, horrible nightmare." Wait, this race wasn't a bad dream? O.K. it wasn't that bad, but it could have been better. One problem was that we had to cross a highway three times and along it once. Another was they had oiled and chipped about four or five miles of road. Of course this was out of the coordinator's hands. They didn't have enough support people, they needed more in town. The start an finish lines were five or six blocks apart. There were a few other things, but back to the race. I showed up on time but without enough time to warm up. I started the race cold and after a mile or so couldn't even hardly see Marvin. I caught up to two other guys after about eight miles and we rode together until the last mile or so. The oil and chipped roads didn't start until nine miles or so. These were fresh too. Usually there are smoother patches on well used roads, but not these. It must have been just a couple days since they did these. I did enjoy the drafting off other riders. We lost one rider as we went up a hill, later he told me his calf cramped up. It got kind of goofy going back into town. You had to cross a highway, turn down a subdivision, go back to the highway, turn down another road (the one Marvin missed and the one I wish I had), and then turn right and sprint about three blocks to the finish. When doing this last part I had one guy in front of me. I didn't know if I could catch him or not, especially running down city streets. He turned down the last street to head to the finish. The street was narrow and had cars parked on both sides. As I turned there was a car coming up to the stop sign. Since the street was narrow the car was in the middle of the street. I locked up my back brake leaving a long black mark and the lady driving the car stopped too. I tried to avoid her but ended up hitting her left front fender. I scratched up my brake hood and left pedal but did not find any other damage. Her car had scratches and a dent. I asked if we needed to do anything and she said as long as I was o.k. that we could go on. I didn't know what to do so I finished the race. When I got there the guy in front of me asked "where did you go?" I told him I got hit by a car. My stats for the race were: dist.- 18.08, time - 55:01, avg. spd. - 19.7, max. spd. - 30.0. When I got there I did not see Marvin so I assumed he had finished and went back to his truck. After about five minutes I decided I would go too and then he came riding up. He and another guy had taken a wrong turn and was just then finishing. So I FINALLY BEAT MARVIN IN A RACE!!!!! O.K., I wasn't that excited. I don't know what I finished, maybe third or fourth, maybe even fifth I didn't even ask. I think the guy in front of me got first in his age group, that was Marvin's age group. My age group was something goofy like 35 to 49 or something. I was excited about this race at first because it was a bike specific race and I had never ran one. But after it was over I just wanted to get out of there. Marvin and I ended up talking to the coordinator for awhile. She seemed real nice and concerned about our problems. She also seemed receptive of our ideas for future races. It was good talking to her and I hope to do this race again if they change a lot of things. Also, while talking to her, we heard that about another six or so people had gotten lost and three of them were still out there two hours after the start.

Evansville Days, 5 Mile Run August 11, 2007

2007-08-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) This is the first time I did the Evansville run for there were always other races or events to go to. The weather had been in the 100's all week, but the morning had a break from the heat with north west wind keeping it around 90 or so. The coarse was challenging with rolling hills, and a couple of steep ones. There was one downhill that I had to slow myself down because it was too steep of a descent. The race had many turns and twists that would make me ask myself if I was going the right way. Not many runners at this race, maybe around thirty. Felt like I was running by myself. I had a time of 34:12 1st in age 30-34 and 3rd overall.

(David) This was a tough race; five miles, hills, and heat. I am not sure why more people don't run this course? Maybe my first sentence answers that. I think there were more like 20 runners here. I think the coordinators don't get the word out to runners. It was hard to find the race posted on the internet. It was a good race to run, challenging. If anyone wants to see Evansville, IL this is one way to do it. I think we pretty much ran through the whole town. I ran with Marvin for the first 1/4 to 1/2 mile and then he pulled away. My time was 36:15 and I came in 4th overall and 1st in my age group, I was the only one in my age group (35-39). This was the second race this year Marvin came in 3rd and I came in 4th overall. My 3 mile run time was comparable to my 5k times. However after that I slowed down. There were times I could not see any runners in front of me or behind me. The last couple miles I did slow down because I was all alone. Once or twice I got a little confused which way to go because the chalk lines on the road were getting wiped out. The volunteers of the race were friendly. They actually waited for Marvin and I to get back from our cool down run before they presented the trophies. I thoulght that was really nice of them. I'd like to go back to this race, however it always seems to fall on days when something else is going on.

Touring Cyclist Biathlon July 15 2007

2007-08-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) I'm a little late on posting this one. The Touring Cyclist Biathlon at Fairview Heights IL. Dave wasn't able to make this one because of work. We did it last year as a team and was able to snag third place. My biggest complaint about this race is that the distance is not accurately marked. The run is revised to 4.5 miles but is closer to 5 miles, and the bike is revised to 22 but my gps read over 23 miles the same as last years reading. The run starts out downhill, and it is easy to get carried away going to fast. It goes on for over 1.5 miles and then the big hill hits. It is a tough climb almost a walk especially with the heat then it is a gradual grade climb back to the start. The run was not my greatest. I was struggling with the heat. The bike started out great and then my calf cramps around the 15 mile mark. I had to slow down quite a bit to recover and that's when the bikes started to pass me. I was concern about hydration and I didn't have enough liquids with me and thus the cramps. Next year I'll wear the camel bak. Towards the end a Giant TCR passes me with a word of encouragement. That was enough for me to be able to pace him. I finally started to get back up to speed. On the final stretch is one long steep hill, and that is my strong point. I passed the TCR and three others and coming to the final stretch that is about 1/2 of flat ground to the finish. I was yards away from finishing when the TCR out sprints me to the finish to take 3rd in my age group. Very disappointing for me, but a exciting finish. I had a finishing time of 1:41:46 16th/119 and 4th in age 30-34.

Hoyleton IL Hofbraufest 5K July 14 2007

2007-07-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) Hofbraufest 5K was a race I probably shouldn't have done. It was the day before I did the Touring cyclist biathlon. It was hard to pass up for it was the 1st annual race, and that makes for a chance to make for an overall win. Boy was I wrong about the turn out, and competition. The draw mostly came from the metro east of St. Louis with many good runners. I skipped my ritual of drinking french vanilla cappuccino at work for a pick me up. I did this to see if it would make a difference in my racing. The whole race felt like I had weights on my feet with each footfall being a hard effort, so maybe I did need the caffeine. The weather also was turning back to hot humid July weather after several days of cooler weather. When I was running east there was no moving air and the sun made it feel like running in an oven. My time was very disappointing to me. I finished with 20:23, 2nd in age 30-39, and 21/169. I finally cut my hair too and to all the people that said I would run faster with shorter hair the answer is no. The race seemed well organize they had plenty of attendance prizes that was taking forever to announce. We couldn't stay for the awards because I had a chiropractors appointment to keep. I'll run it again as long as it not the same weekend with the Touring Cyclist Biathlon.

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(David) Was this the race I beat Marvin? I guess not. My time here was slower than my other times. I kind of wonder that maybe I am used to being behind Marvin so if I start catching up to him I slow down. I do know that when we ran east it seemed really hot and humid. My time was 20:34, first mile of 6:10. I came in third in our age group (30-39) and 24/169. They gave top three overall trophies, so technically I was fifth in age group. I don't like big age groups. The turnout for the race was really good. I did not expect so many people there for a first time race. I guess the promoters of the race didn't expect that good of a turnout either, they ran out of t-shirts and Marvin didn't get one. They said they would mail him one. Overall the course was good. It was an out and back that was relatively flat. Afterward they had a nice spread of drinks and food. They also had a lot of door prizes. Like Marvin said, that took awhile. I did win something, but we had already left so a guy I work with picked it up and I told him he could keep it. I think it was a little Coca-Cola radio. Before the race I forgot to drink my prerace Frappacino (?). I don't know if that made me slower or not. I do know that my thighs felt very heavy and it seemed like I couldn hardly lift them. Overall it was a pretty good race. The course was good and the people nice. I hope they change the age groups, I suggested it. I hope to go back next year.

Steelville FireCracker 3K July 4 2007

2007-07-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) Past and present. Six years ago Dave talked me into doing our first race and I have been hooked on running ever since. The picture is almost in the same spot as six years ago, a race to the finish.....damn, Dave is getting fast : ) This race is always hot, but short. It is nice to run in front of the parade crowd. I know lots of people there from work that cheer or sarcastically jeer me on. I was wearing clima cool shoes that are fairly thin and my feet felt like they were on fire with each step on the road. I had 5:38 on the first mile which I wanted to be in the 5:20's : ( I finished with 11:10 2nd in age 19th/207. I was 11 second slower this year which left me a little disappointed, but that's the runner's dilemma. Overall I'm satisfied being only 5 months out of knee surgery. It was good to have our friends Jeremy pushing his kids and his wife Rachel run too. It is nice after the race for everyone to get together and tell their war stories.

This is my (David's) favorite race to run. It is short, 3K, and there are a lot of people watching since it is run on the parade route right before the parade. However, I only heard one person yell my name. Also, there are a lot friends that run in the race. Some I didn't have a chance to talk to and others I didn't even know ran it until afterwards. Plus I saw a guy I used to work with six years ago there. When I started running, one of my main goals was to get a trophy at this race. I finally did it last year on the fifth try. This year my time was 11:11, beating last year's time by 50 seconds. My goal was to get under 11:30. I came in first in my age group (35-39) and 20th / 207. This year one of my goals is to beat Marvin in a race, any race. This race may have been my best shot. Marvin doesn't run as well in the heat and I seem to do better, for myself, on shorter courses. Oh well, he beat me by one second. Maybe I should have tried to grab his hair and pull him down. My first mile time was 5:47, nine seconds behind Marvin, so I was catching up a little. I think the interval training Marvin and I have been doing has helped me in races like this. If anyone wants to run a fun race with a lot of participants and spectators, this is the one in Southern Illinois.

Care For Kids 5K Freeberg June 23 2007

2007-07-07T14:49:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) First unbearable hot race of the summer. These races discourage me because the heat slows down my times, but I keep telling myself that I will be faster in the fall. The course was a flat zig zaggy out and back that started behind a mini-mall. There were volunteers at every turn, eventhough on my way back one of the girl volunteers forgot to tell a runner and myself to turn at a street intersection. I had a time of 20:06, 2nd in age, and 11th/109. I do on the other hand feel that I'm tolerating the heat better this year.

I (David) started to get sick the Wednesday night before the race and was still sick Saturday morning. I think it was just sinuses. By Saturday my throat was still sore and my nose was stuffed up. Once I started to run I actually felt better. This race had even goofier age groups than usual. I was in the group 35 - 44. My time was 20:46, I placed third in age group, and 14th / 109. Again the overall winner was also in my age group so I was actually 4th. My first mile was 6:20. There was also a car show in the same parking lot so that was pretty cool.

Crusader 5K Althoff Catholic HS June 9 2007

2007-07-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) This race in Belleville was blessed with really nice cool weather for June. Another race that starts going downhill, but very bottlenecked because it ran along a main road that was barricaded off. I ran a 5:26 on my first mile a PR for me. I was running strong till mile 2 and it felt like a switch flipped and I slowed down. I must of ran too fast in the first mile. Most of my races I have been feeling this way. I finished with 19:31, 2nd in age group, and 11th/102. My only regret is that we didn't make it back for the car wash.

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Ya, the start of this race was pretty congested. We were all packed in pretty tight at the beginning. I (David) set a p.r. here 19:55. Too bad I came in fourth in my age group (30-39). I really don't like the big age groups. I was 18th/102. I made a mistake by running harder at the end thinking the finish was in one spot and then realizing too late that it was another tenth of a mile away. I was tired anyway and this just knocked me out. I probably wouldn't have made up much time anyway. The results of the race were done pretty quickly, a plus.

Highland Biathlon May 28

2007-07-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) The biathlons are becoming my favorite races to do. I did this one for the first time last year and felt like it defeated me. I broke down on the run two miles in, plus the weather was so hot and muggy. I had a time of 1:28:57 and came in 68th I was also riding my Giant mountain bike. This year I felt ready. Only thing that could have been better would have been the weather, it was raining off and on. I had a time of 1:17:06, 21mph bike ride and took 5th in age, 14th/206. Even though I didn't place this was one of the most satisfying races I have done.

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This is the first year I have done the Highland Biathlon. Yes, the weather could have been better. This race you run five miles and bike15. My run time was not that great and my transition time was horrible, 2:33. I just waste too much time there. My bike ride was better: dist-14.63, time-43:25, max spd-29.1, avg spd-20.2. I got 7th in my age group (35-39) and 44th/206 with an overall time of 1:21:45.

Bulldog Dash 5K Germantown May 19 2007

2007-07-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) I really like the Bulldog Dash. One reason being is that I had one of my best 5K times in 2006, 18:50. The coarse is fairly flat and fast. The weather was cool like last year and sunny. I was feeling really tired getting off work and going straight there. Also, one of our long time friends, Jeremy, ran too. I am glad he came along and hope the we can run more races together, even though we're the same age. Well no sub 19:00 this year I ran a 19:08 taking 3rd in age and 10th/230.

Marvin has said how he really likes this race. I (David) now consider this one of my favorite races. The course is pretty flat, however there were quite a few corners to turn. I was second in my age group (35-39) and #21/230 with a time of 20:10. The overall finisher was also in my age group so technically I came in third. At the end of the race you get a free hotdog or hamburger, definate plus. Also, the racers here were real nice. In the photo, left to right, is Marvin, me, and Jeremy. I like the medals given. They are not your standard medal but one in the shape of a bulldog with "bulldog dash" written under it.

End Domestic Violence Waterloo 5K May 12 2007

2007-07-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

(Marvin) At this race the people were very friendly. The course started out downhill for almost a half mile then it turned into long gradually climbing hills. I finished with a time of 19:08 and took third overall.

(David) Like Marvin said, the volunteers and people at this race were really nice. That always makes for a better experience. The race started downtown and we ran along the streets of Waterloo. It was a nice race to run. I was fourth overall with a time of 19:58. I got first in my age group (30-39) simply because the top three runners were listed as overall winners. I think there were 40 or so runners, male and female. I also won an attendance prize, which is always a plus.

Law Day 5k Belleville, IL April 28, 2007

2007-06-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

(Marvin)Law Day run is one of the bigger participating events we go to. With a field of 318 runners it makes for good competition. David ran 21:23 placing 2nd in 35-39 and 27th/318. Marvin ran 20:10 placing 3rd in 30-34 and 11th/318. This race runs through histroic brick laid streets and has gradually sloping hills. After the race there's a pretty nice spread.

I (David) liked this run because there were so many participants. After the first mile there were still runners jockeying for position and trying to separate from the pack. My overall time was two minutes faster than my "Mito-what?" time. My split times were: 6:47, 6:41, and 7:53. This picture is from the newspaper. Marvin and I are towards the right. You can see Marvin's head just below the right side of the start banner and I am to his left.

Mito-What? 5K Belleville, IL April 7, 2007

2007-06-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

Mito-What? 5K April 7, 2007 is the first race TeamDumb participated in for 2007. I (Marvin) ran a 20:43 coming in 2nd for the age group 30-34 & 7th/139.

Dave ran a 23:18 coming in 1st for the age group 35-39 & 19/139

This race took place at Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL and was one brutal course. It was a two loop course through the shrine with numerous big long hills. The day was cold with a strong biting wind. I (Marvin) enjoyed the challenge of it and am looking forward to doing it again. This was my 2nd race after my knee surgery in the end of February.

This was a tough race for me (David). The cold, wind and hills hurt. My time for each mile kept getting worse: 1st mile - 6:37, 2nd - 7:59, 3rd - 8:46. However, the award plaques were pretty cool. Also, if someone at the beginning of a race asks, "Are there any hills?", assume there are a lot of hills. It was not so much that there were huge hills, it's that they were never ending. I don't think there was a single flat area in the whole race. This was our first race at Our Lady of the Snows and we did not know what to expect, now we do. This was the second race I ran this year and the 11th time I ran since taking winter off.