Archive for the ‘Running’ Category

Trail Running – Uig to Bein Edra – Day 10

Sunday, May 8th, 2011


Clare and Fiona Summit Bein Edra!
Around 9am Sunday morning, I met up with some Wee Grumpy Runners, a local running club to do a long trail run. I was hoping for 33 km, or something thereabouts. After posting a note on their bulletin board, and trading emails back and forth with Fiona, I was excited to finally be meeting up for the run!
Vicki and Dennis Ready to Ride
Dennis Near Uig, Isle of Skye

A super fit gal, Vicki, met up with Dennis for a moderate bike ride, while equally talented Fiona and Andy met up with me for the run. The runners and bikers parted ways at the Uig dockside, to meet back around lunchtime. As we watched Dennis & Vicki pedal away, my excitement rose! Where & what would we be running!?!

Andy drove us to the trailhead on the edge of Uig. His mini-cooper is sooooo cool! I worried about all my sunblock rubbing off on the leather seats, but he said it was no big deal. What a guy!

When I saw the trailhead for the run was at a cemetary, I made some off the cuff joke about the morbid location for the start of the run…Which got us off to a fun and light-hearted start!
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Platte River Half Marathon

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

Platte River Half - Mile 2
The Platte River Half Marathon is super fun. We had very gusty conditions, but it didn’t detract from the happiness experienced by this smoothly operated event with a huge & healthy post race feast and the wonderful crowd support. At every mile, there were cow bells and folks cheering us.

At the end, I met up with friends Maranke and Kelly, who both finished with Big Smiles. I also thanked Christopher Gibbons (814), Bradley Hebert (971), and Kyle ? whom I ran with at various intervals, and provided a wonderful pace.

Total Finishers: 2,235.
My Overall Place: 290.

Total Women Finishers: 1,343.
My Place Among Women: 76.

Total Women 30-34: 246.
My Place in Age Group: 25.

My Personal Record Time: 1:44:17 Which is a 7:58 min/mile pace. Totally psyched.

Thanks to Phidippides Track Club for your support in weekly Tuesday sessions!!!

Grand Canyon – R2R The Day After

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

Clare & Rachel at Bright Angel Point Clare & Dennis at Bright Angel Point R2R Runners on Bright Angel Point

Cankle: An ankle of a fat person in which the the ankle and the calf appear seamless. (urbandictionary.com)

On Sunday morning it was very difficult to pull myself up from the camping pad. I was incredibly sore, and my left foot had developed into a very colorful cankle. Barry was feeling much the same way, sans cankle.
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Grand Canyon R2R – Run Report

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Clare & Barry Celebrate R2R Success
After a night of howling wind and frequent awakenings, “Is our tent still on the ground, or have we been hijacked and landed in Oz?”, the alarms ringed in tandem. With the flick of a switch, Barry & I sprung to action. We put our running gear on, making small shuffling sounds, trying not to disturb our tentmates.

I was a brave knight going into battle. First the undergarments, then the garments, then chain mail, and finally the battle armaments. A hushed “I love you, have a great run.” from Dennis sent me out into the cold windy night. With a grunt, I stumbled out of the tent to join Barry & Anne for some middle of the night coffee. It was 3:30am and about 40dF outside. (more…)

Grand Canyon R2R – Video & Technical Data

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

I ran with Barry & Anne from the North to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is 24.4 miles of running with over 10,000 ft of elevation gain/loss. Start: 4am and Finish:12pm (Anne finished at 1:40pm). With 4 bathroom/snack breaks and a stop to tape my hideously sprained ankle, running time was ~7 hours. A most excellent adventure!!!

GPS Elevation & Speed Plots:
Grand Canyon R2R Run GPS Elevation Profile
Grand Canyon R2R Run GPS Speed
Please be aware, there’s error in almost every data point for the ascent of the South Rim. As a result, the speed & elevation profiles show that we went 27 miles instead of 24.4. Dennis & I spent several hours reducing the error (as it falsely reported we had run 30 miles)! I did not feel like spending any more time with it, so please forgive the data innaccuracy!

R2R Video:

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