Ran the 2023 TriSpan 10k this morning in downtown Wilmington. This is my runiversary race as it was the first race I ever ran in (I did the 5k option that year). It’s usually hot and muggy even at 7am. But the crowd and the views are amazing.
2022 Gobble Wobble 5K
I had a happy Thanksgiving which started with a cool 5k in my new hometown. It started at 8:30 and was in the upper 30s by then. I met an IG friend in person which is always cool too. And then afterwards I ate way too much hahaha. As many times as I’ve run a race on a thanksgiving, this is the first time I’ve gotten a medal with a turkey on it. And since I ate ham later that day, this was the only turkey I got!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2021 Badwater Cape Fear 50k
Wow! What an adventure!! The morning began with a quiet and cool ferry ride in the minutes right before dawn from Southport to Bald Head Island which is only reachable by boat. We gathered around the oldest lighthouse in my home state known as Old Baldy and the tiny mosquitoes were already waking up for what I’m sure they thought was a gift of a big breakfast😂. It was already 70° at 7am. I met some awesome ultra runners as we waited, chatted and even posed for a quick appearance on The Weather Channel (I’ll post a pic from the video of us out there in my stories). This adventure actually started way back in March when my younger brother Chris talked me into joining him in this race. My sister-in-law Kim was out there taking pics and got one of Chris and I before the start. I also got a quick pic with @chriskostman , the Badwater race director.
2021 Tri-Span 10k
So proud of this woman!! Lisa ultimately just wanted to beat her training time of an hour and a half for this 10k. The TriSpan 10k is the toughest 10k I’ve ever ran as the course includes 3 bridges, 2 of which are draw bridges with the tough metal grating to run on. Each bridge is like a long hill. And then there’s the heat and humidity as you run on both sides of the Cape Fear river in downtown Wilmington. This strong woman beat her ultimate goal and set a new PR for 10k distance in her first ever 10k race by finishing it in 1 hour and 20 minutes!! That’s ten minutes faster than any of her training runs.
2021 Myrtle Beach Half Marathon
Myrtle Beach Half Marathon done! I didn’t PR but I did much better than I thought I would. It was so great to actually race with other runners! It was a terrific crowd and nearly perfect conditions. I’m not in as good a shape as I was last Spring but the adrenaline kicked in and made up some of the difference. I saw my friend @jim_burrows_runs between my 5th and 6th mile. He had a big smile. This is what a runner lives for! This is a nice flat race. Met my buddy Gary Lee at the finish. He had a great race too. I thank the Lord to get back at some normal racing for a change!
2020 TriSpan 5k
Well… the Scottish poet Robert Burns once wrote, “The best laid schemes of Mice and Men oft go awry, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy!” I thought of this quote this morning. I got up on time at 5am, had my Black Rifle CAF cup of coffee, got to the greenway on time as planned, ran a warmup mile and even had a local running group that showed up for their own training run to cheer me on at the start. Sounds good so far right? I started and was hitting my paces at each quarter mile of nearly the first third of the virtual TriSpan 5k.
McKirdy Mile Race Series
I started out back in May doing this @mckirdytrained McKirdy Mile as a way of keeping a goal in front of me and to have fun since COVID-19 was changing mine and everyone else’s plans. I haven’t trained for just a mile since I began running 5 years ago. And most of my training the last few years has been for really long distances. So my first attempt last month was 8:08 mile. I’ve steadily improved since that first attempt and today was the final of the four race series.
24 HR. YETI ULTRA CHALLENGE
I signed up for something really cool this time! It all started when @hkspence tagged myself and a few others about the @yetitrailrunners Yeti Ultra Challenge (5 miles, every 4 hours for 24 hrs – 30 miles total). That initial idea transformed into a calling up of the #trackstreetavengers ! Once we #assembled we had around 20 runners in our group and we rocked this event!
2020 Johnston Health Champions Virtual 10K
Wow! What a day! You’re looking at two guys that just both PR’d!! Yep! We’re even ringing the bells to prove it (virtually of course)!😎. My coach and friend @jim_burrows_runs agreed to meet me as we both had a virtual 10K planned for today. We both wanted to get a new PR. We did socially distance.
2020 Myrtle Beach Marathon
Myrtle Beach Marathon was awesome even with the wind! It is a scenic course which at one point parallels the ocean. I got to see my friends @kristinrunsmiles and Mikie Pylilo whom I met in Boston last year. Isn’t it cool how runners can relate so easily and became, pardon the pun, fast friends😂. Kristin and Mikie really helped me when I was a newbie last year at Boston and so I was glad to see them again and to meet Kristin’s husband Danny who was running his first marathon. I also was blessed to run with my friends Gary Lee, Tony Southerland and Wendy Boyette, who was running her first marathon too.