Sunday, May 1, 2011

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.


3 comments:

  1. Great job - 4th in your age group is awesome! That pic does make you look speedy. :)

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  2. Great job!!!! Congrats!
    And you totally do look fast because you ARE fast! :)

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  3. Awesome! Your splits look great! I was wondering if they were going to change the route due to the flood. My father in law lives on Shelburne Bay and there was sooo much flooding when we were there yesterday!!!! Worst flooding of Lake Champlain in 600 years!

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