Blue Moon Wicked 10K

Blue Moon Wicked 10K
October 30, 2010
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Allison participated in the second annual Blue Moon Wicked 10K held in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She did not miss her starting wave (first wave!!) this time and was able to cruise along the flat, coastal course at a 7:54/m pace and notched herself a new 10K PR.

Allison “beat the train” (a group of employees from a local running store holding up scaffolding as a group making it look as if they were a train) but did not realize that she was to receive a prize for this. The technical socks would have been nothing, though, to the hand carved, tiki head trophy that Allison’s father won after placing third in his age group. The event was well organized and plenty of spectators lined the course to cheer on the (mostly) costumed racers. The registration fee is high for a 10K ($55 plus registration fees) but runners receive aluminum water bottles, tech tees, skull caps and, get this, medals…that double as bottle openers. Absolutely, positively the coolest and most useful medal received to date.

Now for a little downtime from racing (save for a few races scattered here and there) in preparation for the Shamrock Marathon in March!

Race Results

Net Time – 49:00.22
Pace – 7:54
Overall Place – 516/6,128
Female Place – 117/3,913
Age Group Place (25-29) – 26/747

Army 10 Miler

Army 10 Miler
October 24, 2010
Washington, DC

Allison ran 9.95 miles of the Army 10 Miler on October 24, 2010 while skidding the remaining 0.05 miles.

30,000 runners registered for the race with 21,669 crossing the finish line in the allotted time. The course takes runners from the Pentagon, across the Arlington Memorial Bridge and circles the Lincoln Memorial before heading up Constitution and Virginia Avenues. The course then heads back down toward the Kennedy Center where runners meet the obstacle course portion of the race as they hurdle jersey walls to avoid the construction equipment blocking the course. Runners are cheered on along Independence Avenue before looping around the Capital and heading back up Independence along side of the Smithsonian (family of) Museum(s). A sharp left onto 14th Street and two miles along I-395 and the 14th Street bridge (bridges can have ‘rolling hills’??) leads the runners back to the Pentagon for the finish.

The race is the largest 10 mile race in America and it shows! Allison was placed in the first wave of runners but was not able to make her way to the starting coral due to the large crowds and narrow starting area. She spent the entire 10 miles weaving in and out of runners (and a crazy amount of walkers) and had a nasty wipe out after her foot fell into a sunken sewer grate on Independence Avenue after trying to make her way around a tired runner (no worries, we’re all good). After falling, hitting the asphalt hard, skidding across the road 10 yards and having the wind knocked out of her, Allison was hoisted up by four or five runners (‘angels’ in her book!) who carried her along until she could start breathing and moving her legs again. If it was not for those runners, Allison would have had to bow out of the race (she has had two other nasty falls in two separate races that stopped her breathing and she was forced to drop out). She opted to stay in the race and, thus, avoided being a pansy a**.

Despite the fall, Allison’s finishing time fell in between what her training program predicted and what she thought was a realistic time.” It was an honor for her to run along side wounded soldiers and those back from fighting overseas. The support teams were great, aid stations were easy to navigate and the medal people were really nice when Allison wanted to switch her finisher's coin with one that was a bit shinnier (pansy). As long as one doesn’t mind the crowds, this race is a wonderful experience for those looking to support the troops and veterans while touring some of the most scenic portions of our nation’s capital.

Results
Allison Tully 11884
Net Time – 1:22:41
Pace – 8:16 (I calculated the course being 10.14 miles long and, thus, an 8:09 pace)
Overall – 4,519/21,669
Sex – 872/9,594
Division – 228/1,944

Army 10 Miler logo from http://www.armytenmiler.com/

Freedom’s Run Half Marathon

Shepherdstown, West Virginia
October 2, 2010

http://www.freedomsrun.org/


Allison participated in the 2nd Annual Freedom’s Run Half Marathon in Shepherdstown, West Virginia on Saturday October 2. Despite two absolutely torturous hills followed up with 6 miles of rolling hills (not as cute and cheery as one may suspect), she was able to clock a 4 ½ minute PR while running through arguably one of the most well-known Civil War battlefields.

The 13.1 (I mapped 13.22) mile course leaves West Virginia shortly after the race’s start on the grounds of Shepherdstown University, crossing over the Potomac River and looping onto the C&O Canal towpath. At about the 3 mile marker, runners make a sharp left onto Millers Sawmill Road for a brutal 1.25 mile climb (0.75 miles at 3% and 0.50 miles at 2%). The climb leads into historic Antietam National Battlefield which is littered with rolling hills and another menacing climb around mile 6 (leaving one runner (not me) violently ill on the side). The course leaves the battlefields around mile 9 and continues along Shepherdstown Pike through the town of Sharpsburg and back to the University campus.

A note on the timing set up: I was not aware that the start of the race was a gun start while the finish was chip-timed. Thinking that both the start and finish was chip timed (crazy, right?) I kept to the back of the pack at the start in order to avoid the mass of runners up at the front. As a result, my finishing time of 1:52:24 was officially recorded as 1:55:30. Dagger. My results are as follows:

Official Results

1:55:30
168/657 overall (male and female)
20/95 (females, ages 20-29)

Actual Results

1:52:24
137/657 overall (male and female)
13/95 (females, ages 20-29)

Freedom’s Run is a (relatively) small yet exceptionally well run event (even with the confusion about the chip timing). I tip my hat to those who ran the full marathon; I have no idea how anyone made it through those climbs after 13 and 16 miles! I highly recommend the Freedom’s Run for anyone looking to really (really, really) challenge him or herself or who may be training for the JFK 50 (a good portion of the race covers the JFK’s course). Civil War buffs, too, will get a kick out of running through Antietam, Bloody Lane, passing the Observation Tower and racing by General Lee’s Antietam headquarters.

Photo credits and thanks to http://www.freedomsrun.org/ and http://www.shepherdstownvisitorscenter.com/

Steven L. Completes Diamond in Rough

Hello Norsaites - I did the Diamond in the Rough for the 3rd year in a row. This year it was converted to a Duathlon because the race began in the middle of a brutal thunderstorm, canceling the swim portion. The race began with a 2.7 mile run (replacing the 1-mile swim), and continued with the typical 27-mile bike and 5 mile run. It never stopped raining throughout the entire race, resulting in my hands being thoroughly pruned and my ankles bleeding from chaffing. Fortunately, it was summer and still quite warm outside. Despite the weather, I improved my bike time over last year (which I attribute to finally getting clipless pedals) and also improved my 5-mile run time (which I attribute to the cooling effect of the rain). Few things are more fun than running in the rain; in all, it was an A+ day!

Rockville Twilighter 8k Race

On Saturday, July 17, NORSA runners gathered in Rockville for the annual twilight 8k hosted by the Rotary Club. Several thousand racers toed the line near 9:00 PM on a hot, humid Saturday night. Among those runners were Matt White, Steven Long, Allison and Sean Tully, Emily Paladino, and Tom Saffell. The course takes the runners from downtown Rockville through some neighborhoods of Rte 355 and through Montgomery College's campus before shooting the racers down 355 toward the finish. Although the heat made this race fairly brutal, the runners were refreshed with free Gatorade and Michelob Ultra afterward.

Bib # | Full Name | Age | Location | Gun Time

1174 | Steven Long | 27 | Bethesda MD | 40:18

1862 | Allison Tully | 27 | Falls Church VA | 43:44

1863 | Sean Tully | 26 | Falls Church VA | 48:42

1446 | Emily Paladino | 27 | Washington DC | 55:02

1940 | Matthew White | 27 | Arlington VA | 55:42

1610 | Thomas Saffell | 27 | Silver Spring MD | 64:31

This race has long been a NORSA staple and frequently has numerous NORSA members as participants.