2010 City of Oaks

The big headline was that two of the best named runners in the country competed in the marathon this year, and they ended up battling head to head.

The result was Horsecow Lonac out-kicking Orinthal Striggles for 4th place.

4  Horsecow Lonac       25 Fort Collins  CO   2:34:05
5  Orinthal Striggles   34 Elgin         SC   2:38:31

Local favorite and past winner, Tim Surface, finished in 6th place. This demonstrates that ridiculous colored footwear isn't going to cut it anymore. To compete, you need a crazy sounding name. Or even better, something Kenyan, like "Kiprotich", or "Kipkoech". Coincidently those were the winners of the full and the half respectively.

David Nash looks tired, but running a 2:48 will do that to you.

In other news, Shannon and I both ran the half marathon which was a horrible financial decision. When we signed up, the half was $85 (which is outrageous). The full was $90. So for another $5 we could have doubled our miles.

There actually were demonstrators at the race protesting the high cost. They were holding signs saying "running is for the rich", and comparing the entry fee to other luxury items such as wine and lobster.
While I agree the price was way too high, protesting it seemed a little silly.

Running is actually free. You don't need to run races, you don't even need shoes.

But while running is free, irrational ambition can get quite expensive.

We ran this race because Shannon had missed qualifying for New York Marathon by 7 seconds. She had run a 3:23:07 Marathon in Detroit, which was a huge PR she should be proud of.
Instead she became obsessed with the fact that a 3:23:00 would have qualified her to run New York with a guaranteed entry.

What if she had not stopped to take a one or two of those pictures in Detroit? Maybe she could have shaved off 7 seconds and qualified! So she immediately started looking around for half-marathons she could qualify with.

Never mind the fact that we had no plans or desire to run New York. Don't try to make sense of any of this.

City of Oaks Half Marathon profile, wildly exaggerated 

Anyway, that's how we ended up running this race. She needed a 1:37:00 to make the cut for New York.
It would be a huge challenge for her.  Her PR was a 1:38:35, and City of Oaks is a somewhat hilly course.  Hills make Shannon upset and angry (usually at me).

We studied the elevation profile and worked out a pacing plan:

Miles
    0-4:  Run a steady, even pace.
    4-8:  Relax, slow down, take the hills easy, don't get upset about them.
8-13.1: Let it rip!

She needed to average a under a 7:24 pace. But the plan was to actually fall behind that pace on the hills, and make it up at the end.

Shannon got serious and left the camera in the car, and focused on running. How did she do?

Miles    Pace

    0-4:   7:23

    4-8:   7:38

8-13.1:  7:04 (her 5k pace!)

Chip time: 1:36:04

She did it! I am proud of her that she paced herself so well, and trusted that she could make up time at the end.

Afterwards we hung out and talked with our neighbor, Guy, and some other friends. Shannon took some pictures after the race here.

So now that Shannon has qualified for New York, there is talk of running it next fall.
However, she has just informed me that the entry fee for the New York Marathon is $196! WHAT?

I am starting to work on my protest signs now...