Moving on too another race

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

 

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there.

 

I will go back to doing my regular weekly Sunday training update next week. This week I thought I would share some of the races I plan on running throughout the season. Hopefully I will see some of you at a race or two.

 

May 30th- Whitehall Borough 5K

 

June 4th- Gateway Track Mile: I do this race every year. It's a one mile race at the Gateway Middle School. The race is put on by the Tuesday Night Run group and cost nothing. They usually run about 4 heats and the competition is always good. Winners of each heat win homemade chocolates from Tammy Slusser. She is one of the main people who put on the race and is a former Marathon winner.  Details can be found on runhigh.com

 

June 20th-Wilkins Township 5K: This is a small local race in Wilkins Township. I will have more details later in the week on it. I run this race because I live in the area, so it is always nice to do the home town race.

 

June 27th- Oakmont 5K

 

June 28th- Yelllow Jacket 5K: If you were at the PGH Marathon expo you may have ran into this booth. This race is new to Pittsburgh but I would expect a good turnout after seeing the medal, every runner receives one. 

 

July 25th- Turtle Trot 5K: Another local race but this is a very flat and fast race. If you are looking for a race to PR this could be one. The competition is always good for a small race and you can expect the winner to have a blazing time.

 

July 31st- GNC Liberty Mile: This race is a must do just to come watch the elite runners. The field is always stacked with sub 4 min. mile runners and always come down to a close finish. The course is filled with people cheering you on and is right in the heart of downtown.

 

August 8th- BattleFrog : This is one of the best obstacle races in the game. It is held in Wampum Pa. at the mines and meadow grounds. .8 of the race is ran in the mine shaft. This race will bring in the best of the best for the elite field, but at the same time has a race for everyone and is very family friendly. Remember you can save a few dollars off any race by using my promo code BFByrne for a discount.

 

 

August 22nd- Run Around The Square: This is my favorite race of the season. It's a local 5K that is the biggest small town race in Pittsburgh. It sells out every year. The course is half on the road and half on the trails of Frick Park. The finish area is a big party with free beer and hotdogs from the sponsor D's Six Pack.

 

September 26th- Gladiator Rock N Run: This is the first obstacle race I ever ran and is a great one for people looking to run a shorter distance. It is a 5K course filled with many obstacles. You can also enter as a team so its a good one to run with some friends.

 

September 27th-Great Race



 

DATE TBD-EQT Ten Miler

 

This is just some of the races I will be doing. I am sure I will end up doing more once I find out what races SCRR will be doing. Also if you live in Pittsburgh and are not a member of Steel City Road Runners I would highly suggest you come to one the training runs. The people are awesome and if you decide to become a member you will get race discounts and other perks. 

Turtle Trot 5K Recap

     Last Saturday I ran yet another 5K. This one was a local race called the Turtle Trot. The Turtle Trot has been around for 23 years now and always has some good local runners show up.  When I woke up Saturday morning I questioned whether or not I wanted to run the race, but after talking to my friend Anna I decided I would run the race.  Since I was not registered I had to register before the race. Registration was open until 8:45 for the 9:00 start.  The race was only a little over a mile from my house so I ran down to register as a warm up.  The fee for the race was 20 dollars if you pre-registered and 25 dollars for race day registration. 
     Like most local races all you got was your shirt and timing chip.  This was the second race in recent weeks that I did not have to wear a bib.  I am starting to like this non bib thing.  I also have to say I really like the shirts.  It is a normal T-shirt and is very comfortable. Don't get me wrong I like tech shirts but there is something about a nice cotton T that makes you feel good when your throw it on...No, ok maybe it's just me then. 


Me and Anna

     As I was registering my friend Anna arrived and was registering as well.  It was nice that she actually drove down and we were able to put our shirts and tickets we received for the post race raffles in her Tahoe.  We did some stretching and a light warm up and did a lot of people watching.  I was telling her who I thought would win.  This year the competition was extremely good. 
    
                                               THE COURSE
The course was basically an out and back course.  You started in Turtle Creek and ran down a flat road until you came to a bridge that took you into Wilmerding Pa. You ran under the bridge and made a turn back out onto the main road and ran back down into Turtle Creek for the finish.  There were 2 water spots one at the first mile marker and one at the second mile marker.  They also had a person yelling splits which was nice.    One thing that threw me off during the race was as I made it just past the first mile marker I saw the leader go past me and head back to the finish.  Normally I don't get pay attention to something like that on out and back courses, but his lead was so far that I was amazed.  I ended up finishing with a time of 23:34. The leader finished in 14:32.
                                                                      POST RACE
    Once you finished the race and had your chip cut off you could enter a area that had refreshments. They had the normal water, fruit and bagels.  I am not complaining I ate a few bagels and had a few waters.  They had a board with numbers that coincided with the ticket they gave you during registration and this was your way of knowing if you won a raffle prize. I didn't win anything but Anna won a nice little cooler. They also gave away a weekend trip to seven springs which was pretty nice.  We did not win that either.  After the last walker finished they announced the winners and the age group winners. The top guy and girl won 250 dollars, second won 100 and third won 50 dollars. The age group winners won a trophy. I came in second in my age group so was pretty happy.  2 of the top woman could not accept the money and had to give it to charity in order to keep their amateur status. That is another topic for another time, because I think the NCAA is bullshit when it comes to students and money, I digress though.

Overall this race was well organized and had some great competitors.  There was plenty of refreshment and more than enough raffle prizes.  I think I may have been the only person not to win one.  The trophy's were nice for the age groups and any race that gives money out to the top runners is always nice.  I am giving this race 5 out of 5 stars.  If you live in Pittsburgh and want to run a fast course next year mark this one on your calendar.