Kirkwood-Webster Turkey Trot(s) - November 22, 2018
I again did the Double Helping, both the 3-mile and 6-mile races. I managed to get a course PR on both legs!! I even talked Josh into doing the 3-mile race with me this year.
3-mile: 24:15
6-mile: 51:11
St. Patrick's Day Parade Run - March 16, 2019
I tried again for a course PR... didn't happen. I could blame it on extreme neck pain that I've been experiencing since December 31st... sucks. I also didn't do the Run for your Beads 5k during Mardi Gras and I LOVE that race. Anyways, I didn't start fast enough to get a course PR.
Mi 1 - 8:00
Mi 2 - 8:09
Mi 3 - 8:33
Mi 4 - 8:24
Mi 5 - 8:08
I know, not bad and this is such an improvement from 3-4 years ago.
2019: 41:40
2018: 41:17
2017: 41:16
2015: 45:37
2014: 46:19
2012: 1:01:09
London Landmarks Half Marathon - March 24, 2019
Now this race probably deserves it's own post... I LOVED THIS RACE. Everything about it. I got in on a lottery. I guess they didn't think someone from St. Louis would go to London for a race. They mailed the race bib and shirt a week or so before the race. There was no expo, which I liked because I didn't want to add that to the list of things to do in London.
Obviously, we walked a ton around London the days before the race. There was also a huge Brexit protest the day before the race... roughly 1 million people out protesting. The night before the race, there were still a lot of people in Trafalgar Square, which was where our hotel was and where the race would start the next morning. The morning of the race, it was like a new day. The trash was all cleaned up, a big blue sky (which was the first blue why we had seen in London. Luckily, we didn't get rain during our entire trip!).
The race start was a bit different for me. We all kinda hung around Trafalgar Square until it was our time to go. I was in wave 3: the Mexican wave. I didn't quite understand the Mexican part... the other waves included things like cheetah, diamond, chocolate, etc. Anyways, they called the Mexican wave and off I went to the start line.
I thought there would be different start times since there were 7 waves all with its own start times. Nope... there was one start gun and off we all went. The race course zig zagged all around London. I absolutely loved this course. There were so many people out cheering for the runners, mainly because this is a huge charity race, but I never once got bored. Also, the route was pretty flat so it just felt easy. Plus there was so much to look at! I went into this race telling myself to not push it. It's a vacation race so there was no need to go all out.
I ended up finishing with a time of 1:56:55, which is not a PR but I feel a very good time for a vacation race.
I would love to do this race again, but the lottery is quite competitive.
MoDOT Work Zone Awareness 5k - April 13, 2019
5k's are incredibly tough. If I could pick between a half marathon and a 5k, I'd pick the half marathon. I went into this race wanting to place. The route is super hilly and well, rather boring. It's along the I-64 outer roads. However, the roads were closed exceptionally well being a MoDOT run race and all. The race started at the MoDOT Transportation Management Center so that's pretty neat for people that have never been there (lots of cameras showing road conditions across the region).
The first half of the race was glorious. Mainly downhill and I was flying!
Mi 1: 7:27
Mi 2: 7:52
Then... we had lots of hills to climb. Ugh, I wanted to give in and walk but I also really wanted to place.
Mi 3: 8:34 (blah, but at least I was still in the 8s).
I ended up placing first in my division (F 30-39)! 1/15, so I'm super proud of myself. I finished with a time of 24:53, which is also a 5k PR (previous PR was a 24:57).
