May was a busy month for Anneliese's Road Racers for Research. We pulled our efforts together to race the Illinois Marathon
in Champaign, IL on May 1st and then conquered the 5k at the Indianapolis Minimarathon a week later. Here are the stories:
Saturday, May 1, 2010, Champaign, IL.It had been over 5 years since I last stepped foot in Chambana (the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana). Champaign is where Liz and I lived when we were first married. Champaign is where we rescued our dog Lucy from doggy jail. Champaign is where our little NF Hero, Anneliese, was born almost 6 years ago. When my friend Brad mentioned on facebook that he was running a marathon in Champaign I offered to give him advice if needed about getting around, restaurants, or whatever he may have questions about. He replied on facebook to my message by suggesting that I enter the race too.
Lucy
My original plan for spring was to work on speed. I had signed up for the 5k at the Minimarathon (more on that later) and was planning on running shorter, faster workouts. Having just come off of a marathon training cycle in November, however, I decided that I would piggy back the Illinois Marathon on that training and take advantage of the endurance that I had built up. I told Brad that I was in for Illinois.
After packet pickup at the student center I grabbed a quick bite at a restaurant Liz and I used to eat at called Za's. I polished off a plate of spaghetti and some iced tea then headed to the Fairfield Inn where I'd be staying with Brad. As I cruised from place to place in Champaign I realized that not much had changed since we were last there and I was able to get around easily. I got in to the hotel around 9pm CT. Brad and I caught up with each other for a bit then it was lights out for the early wake up call.
The temperature at 6am was 68* with high humidity. I had a pretty good sweat going just walking from the car to the staging area. Brad and I stretched out together and hung out until a few minutes before the start when we went to our starting places. The sky was overcast which kept the start from being a scorcher.
The race course was as flat as I expected. There were plenty of aid stations along the way as well. Fan support was great considering how small the towns are. Many of the 5k runners stayed after to cheer on the 1/2 and full marathoners. Around mile 6 was when the sun broke out for me. It went from muggy to balmy. I ran a good race until the half way point and then I decided to enjoy the course and my visit to Champaign by taking the second half more easily. I finished in 5:19. The race finished at the 50 yard line of
Memorial Stadium, home of the Fighting Illini of the Univeristy of Illinois. I thought about taking an Ohio State flag with me and laying it in the middle of the field but decided better against it. (Illinois and Ohio State are Big Ten rivals). I fully recommend the
Illinois Marathon to anyone looking for a good/fast spring race.
Saturday, May 8, 2010, Indianapolis, INFor the 5th year in a row Anneliese's Road Racers took part in the
Indianapolis 500 Festival Minimarathon and 5k events. This time the team included me and a second member-- Austin Yoder. We opted to run the Finish Line 5k instead of the half-marathon. Race morning was not even remotely close to the weather of the previous weekend. We had temperatures, when adjusted for windchill, around 40*. That doesn't tell the whole story...it was
COLD.
This year the 5k was scheduled to begin prior to the start of the 1/2. We arrived early for a picture with some of the other NF Endurance team members.
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Photo By: Liz Hahn
There was one other order of business to take care of at the photo op. Our team captain, Joe Gunn, lost a wager with team captains from three other fundraising events. He was one of three team captains who would receive a pie in the face! The pie thrower would be none other than---Anneliese! Video here.
Without much further adieu, Austin and I, along with our new friend and teammate Sandy Liang, made our way to the start line. I was in the preferred start coral based on sending in a previous race time to the Race Director. Somehow I managed to get within a few steps of the starting line. I even ended up being on tv for a few minutes as the WishTV crew broadcasted live from the event. Video here.
The 5k race started and we were off. Joe caught up with me on the course before mile one and we chatted as he took a shot at me:
Photo By: Joe Gunn
Shortly after I passed Joe came across Austin:
Photo By: Joe Gunn
We finished the race in times of 24:15 (Don) and 26:10 (Austin). Sandy came across the finish shortly after and we all grabbed some refreshments before heading for a group picture. Sadly, the group photos taken by Brightroom never showed up on their website. I bet they were really cool though.
Ladies and gentlemen, Meb Keflezighi. A 2004 Olympic marathon silver medalist and 2009 New York City Marathon Champion came to town. Meb was in Indianapolis for a book signing at my favorite running store (formerly Running Company now BlueMile). We were fortunate enough to be second in line to have our book signed. Meb was a true gentleman. He was friendly to me and Emmeline and spoke to us by name. Emmeline was all too happy to let Meb hold her for the photo. I'm about 50 pages into his book as I type this and amazed by his family's story. 
