Blair Downtown Mile

This was the fifth annual Blair Elite Downtown Mile race in Blair, Nebraska.  I got an email from the Omaha Running Club that they were going to be nice enough to allow community entrants into the race - normally it is invite-only.  I had never done a mile race before and it was only $10 so I thought - why not?  I didn't practice 200 meter repeats, or go to a track for workouts or anything... just thought I would wing it.

We all rode a bus from the YMCA to the start line, did some warmups and ran the course once (twice for some people).  We waited around a bit more and it got hotter and hotter...  for some reason they have the race a little after noon in JUNE when the temperature is close to 90 degrees.

Then we finally lined up at the start and the gun went off:

I ran pretty much as hard as I could - I saved a little for the end though.  Got passed at the last second (literally) by a high school kid - you can see me laughing in the picture.  He sure snuck up on me - I had passed him about 300 meters before that.  Oh well.  Congrats to him.  Ended up third place - 5:09:44.

I wish I had known that the community registrants weren't eligible for awards - there were some people there that ended up getting money and two awards.  At least I got some pizza!

BLAIR MILE
                         June 12, 2010 - Blair, NE

                          Community Mile Results

Place Sex/Tot  Name                         City                Age Sex   Time   
===== ======== ============================ =================== === === ======== 
    1   1/7    Kevin Bane                   Oakland IA           22 M    4:44.07 
    2   2/7    Mitchell Martin              Milford NE           15 M    5:09.32 
    3   3/7    Nicholas Hanson              Blair NE             27 M    5:09.44 
    4   4/7    Kyle Hoggi                   Milford NE           15 M    5:25.09 
    5   5/7    Sean Fredricksen             Milford NE           14 M    5:25.11 
    6   1/5    Bryli Troyer                 Milford NE           14 F    5:58.68 
    7   2/5    Michelle Hall                Omaha NE             18 F    5:58.82 
    8   3/5    Allison Spath                Milford NE           16 F    6:02.81 
    9   6/7    Jared Bledsoe                Blair NE             10 M    6:08.08 
   10   7/7    Ryan Dibben                  Blair NE             18 M    6:20.00 
   11   4/5    Brittany Gropp               Milford NE           14 F    6:26.76 
   12   5/5    Maria Bledsoe                Blair NE             45 F    6:46.48 

Ashland JWC 5k - first annual!

pictures from Ashland JWC shutterfly page:

ashlandjwc.shutterfly.com/

As the title states, this was the first annual Ashland NE Junior Woman’s Club 5k Fun Run.  Erica and I were tipped off to the event by a fellow member of our softball team.  Neither of us had been to Ashland, and we were free that morning so we gladly signed up.  The weather was nice – about 72 degrees and a bit humid, if I remember correctly…  I decided to wear my blue VFF Classics for the race, because for some reason I had the Velcro strap on my Sprints a bit tight at the CB ½ marathon and they rubbed the top of my feet raw.  They are healed now and I’m back running in the Sprints, which I prefer by far for running over the Classics.  Anyway, this was a very small race compared to the Boystown run on Monday.  I could see a few people looking at my shoes and then tapping the person next to them and pointing…  I’m used to it by now.  I jogged around a bit and did some strides to warm up and then went to wait at the start.  When the gun went off I was a little antsy and went right to the lead.  It felt like I was running pretty fast but it was just so fun that I figured I’d go with it.  After a couple minutes I looked down at my Garmin watch and noticed that I had pushed the wrong button at the start and that it was not calculating.  Rats.  I started the clock there – somewhere before the first mile.  There were two kids that had volunteered to lead everybody on their bicycles – thanks to them!  It was a nice town to run through and nice to do a 5k – I have been doing longer distances lately so 5k felt it went by really fast.  The two mile splits I got were around 6:06 and 6:16 – I finished first in 18:XX so the first mile must have been 5:40 or so.  Afterward the second finisher came up and talked to me – thought the “shoes” were cool.  He did very well, in my opinion, finishing in around 22 minutes while pushing his son in a stroller!  Impressive.  I’d say that’s good for a 2-3 minute handicap.  Overall very fun – they should do it again next year!

Update - Official time for the race was 18:31

Boystown 5 Mile Run

Memorial day was the Boystown 5 Mile Run in Omaha, NE.  It was a very nice day - just a little over 60 degrees at the start.  I got there about 30 minutes early and did some light jogging around the campus to warm up.  I lined up with the 6:30 pace runners at the start line.  While everybody was waiting I fielded a few questions about my "weird" shoes like "are they comfortable", "is there any arch support, because I need a lot of that", and "do you like them?".  The same sort of questions that are usually asked...  One guy mentioned that he just got a pair and had been wearing them around the house. 

Once the gun went off I felt really good and was passing people for the first half mile or so.  I finished the first mile in 6:01.  The course was beautiful - hills, trees, a lake...  I passed the lead female around 1.5 miles.  The miles flew by and it was very enjoyable:  6:14, 6:08, 6:12...  The last mile I felt great- 5 mile races seem short after doing a half marathon the weekend before!  Did the last mile in 6:06 - wore the Garmin for the first time and it hit the five mile mark about 0.09 miles from the finish.  Ended up placing 30th out of 1600.  Very fun race - I recommend doing it!

30 5/92 NICHOLAS HANSON 1339 27 M BLAIR NE 30:56


Next up is a 5k in Ashland, NE...