Champlain Classic Recap

9.3 miles / 78:51

This course was SUPER hilly. I was dying! I am glad that I did it though. My time was slower than I thought it would be and definitely slower than what I wanted it to be. I really wanted one of those homemade medals and was bummed I didn't get it. I thought that I was really far away from getting one but it turned out that I placed 4th in my age group. Not too bad, but made me even more upset for my lackluster performance. I was happy though that I saw a girl I went to high school with was at the race and she ended up placing 3rd in our age group (3o seconds ahead of me). Her and I talked before the race and afterwards and since our pace is so similar we might try to get together for some long runs. I am pumped because I have been wanting to run with people so this will be great!

Alan came to see me finish and got the following pictures. Thanks A-pod for being my photographer!

Proof that I am not a heel striker! Woo hoo! *Alan says this photo also makes me look speedy!

Not sure what my official time is but according to the Garmin it was 1:18:51.

Overall I thought this was a great race. They altered the course due to the flooding and I guess that made it even hillier than it normally is. It is an out and back course which I tend to not like too much but I didn't mind this one. It was very scenic and pretty so lots to look at. They also had a lot of water stops along the way. I think there was one at mile 1.5, 5, 5.5, 7, 8.5 or something like that.

This is the 21st year of the race and apparently every year a local artist makes the medals. Since my friend Kim got one I got to check it out. They were ceramic or something and they were in different shapes (hers was a triangle) but I saw that some people had circles, some stars, squares etc. They were all painted and the triangle one had a scenic lake Champlain picture on it. Very cool. I told Kim to watch out as I would be coming back next year to over throw her title!

After the race and all the awards were given they did door prizes. A lot of people had left by that point so chances of winning were higher. The door prizes were really nice. $50 dollar gift cards to local restaurants, a free pair of New Balance sneakers at a local running store (fleet feet) $25 gift cards to Fleet feet, free running socks etc. I actually won a prize, I never win anything. I won a New Balance bag. The kind that sinches with the rope that turns into the shoulder straps for the back pack. I wasn't overly thrilled that I got that bag, but better than nothing and it will be a good running bag to put stuff in for races.

Post race there were the typical food. Bagels, bottled water and oranges. Nothing over the top but definitely nice. I am not a big post race eater so that stuff never really matters much to me.

Something that I am a huge fan of is the free t-shirt. Again, a local high school student did the design for the shirts for this year which I thought was nice. I am a huge t-shirt race fan. I like to show my accomplishments in my apparel. I hardly wear them but I definitely collect them. I have high hopes of getting enough shirts to send off to a company to turn into a quilt.

So those are the deets on the Champlain Classic. I would definitely run this one again but I would choose my outfit better. I was really hot (long sleeve shirt with a tank under it and capris) I meant to take my long sleeve top off but semi forgot and regretted it the whole time. Another thing I regretted for the full 1:18 min was not going pee once more before the race started. As soon as I crossed the finish line I ran to tell Alan that I would be running straight to the restrooms as I was about to pee my pants!

Below you can see the elevation levels and my splits.