Starting this year, the Jay Dix Challenge to Cure run was now part of the Ultramax Series. This is the race series that I won in it’s inaugural year, 2004 and after several years of helping produce it, had returned to take second in 2007. Success in this series is a high priority for me, so naturally the Jay Dix 10k became an early focal point of my season. [Read More!]

With this race being just one week out from my marathon, I wasn't really sure how my legs would feel and what kind of pace I could run. It wasn't until about 15 minutes prior to the start of the race that my friend Mike Denehey suggested I run as a gorilla since his gorilla suit wearer hadn't shown up. Mike was running as a chicken and had several races lined up in which he was having the "Chicken vs. Gorilla Showdown". Surprisingly, the idea of dressing up like a gorilla and running a race sounded like fun to me... [Read More!]

I'll try to write some recaps in the next couple of days but can't promise anything as I'm pretty busy! Gotta do taxes yet and I"m buying a house, those kind of things tend to take priority over updating my blog... :)


April 5th - Cigs 4 mile run, 6th overall while dressed as a Gorilla

April 12th - Jay Dix 10k, 4th OA, 38:08, 6:09 per mile

April 13th - John Howard New Town Duathlon, 1st OA

I learned today why it has been 4 years since I ran my last marathon! I hadn’t been planning on running one this year but in early February I decided I would give the Olathe Marathon a shot. Probably the result of watching the Olympic Trials Marathon at the end of last year plus moving back to Columbia and hanging out with so many other marathon runners, but I got bit by the marathon bug and completely forgot about the utter torture you go through in the typical marathon.


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I knew I would do this race, in fact this was an "A" race for me so I actually tapered slightly for it. I had started doing this race back in 02' and for the past 3 years I had placed second overall, so I was gunning to win this race and get that second place monkey off my back!

Like I did in 07', I went up on Friday and spent Friday evening hanging out with some friends. Then, once again I woke up to snow on the ground Saturday after going to sleep with no snow! By the time we were lining up to start, the snow wasn't coming down anymore, but it was a little windy and kind of cool. Not quite certain what I should run in, I opted for my usual shorts and tank top which felt cold but I knew I would warm up quickly.

The course heads north for about one mile before making a few turns and heading back south. After running a bit of the course earlier, I had decided I would tuck in behind whoever took the lead initially until at least the first mile marker. As soon as the race started, two runners took off and were in the lead. One of the runners looked like the winner from the previous year so I decided to tuck in behind him and follow him. The other runner, Allen Goans who I would later meet, started to pull away slightly. I started to doubt the runner I was behind was the previous year's winner, but since Allen wasn't getting too far ahead I decided I would stay where I was at until we turned out of the wind. By the time we reached the turn and the first mile marker, Allen had about a 5 second lead on me. The first mile had felt quite comfortable and I was quite surprised when I heard 6:04 for my time, I was expecting it to be slower. But I knew I could run faster so I picked up my pace and pulled past Allen into the lead. I tried to make this move decisively and then maintain a decent pace to discourage any attempts by Allen to go with me.

Unfortunately, the course which had been considerably short in the past, was now the correct distance so I knew it was going to be just about impossible to PR, especially since I had gone out so slow for the first mile. Once I knew I was solidly in the lead, I settled into a pace that I knew I could maintain without risking blowing up towards the end. I ended up finishing with a time of 18:34 which meant I had run the last two miles at a faster pace than the first mile, which I'm pretty sure was a first in a 5k for me!

Wasn't real certain about doing this race and decided the night before I would set my alarm to get up and check the conditions outside in the morning. Things looked decent so I decided I would go, I figured the money was going to a good cause and it would be a good paced training run at the least!

Wasn't sure what to expect for the turn out as this was a first year event, but it is Columbia so it isn't like there aren't plenty of runners who could show up. Looked like about 50 or so at the start and as usual I surveyed the runners trying to single out who the competition was likely to be. None of the known speedsters were present and I couldn't single out anyone in particular who stood out as being fast.

Once the race had started, one person I didn't know surged to the front and set off at a pretty fast pace. Turns out this runner was Bill Stolz, a former collegiate runner who does a lot of the local races only I hadn't met him before. I kept hoping he would slow down, but since I didn't know who he was I knew I couldn't count on that happening, so I ran right off his shoulder. After about a mile at sub six minute pace, I figured he would slow down and I moved to the front hoping he would drop off. But he stayed right behind me. Since I realized I wasn't going to drop him, I slowed up a little and eventually he moved back in front of me.

I'm not sure if the course was a bit long or it was just a slow course, but I'm pretty confident we were probably under six minute pace for the whole run, but our times didn't reflect that. Anyways, we stayed together and were heading back on the trail with just over a mile to go. I think Bill tried to surge on one of the final hills but I managed to stay with him and work on preparing myself for one final surge myself. With about 300 yards to go, I started my final kick and fortunately Bill didn't match it. I pulled ahead winning by one second! Final time: 18:42

It was a late addition to my race schedule and I really didn't head there thinking of winning, but I managed to come away with the victory at the Have a Heart 10k in Moberly MO this past weekend. I actually haven't raced many open 10k's, but since I had done one in February I figured this would be a good opportunity to gauge how my training is progressing. When I got to the starting line, there were only around 20 people lined up and I couldn't spot any that had that "fast" look to them. I had made sure to study the map but I was relived when a police car showed up to lead the race.

My typical race strategy is to pace off someone about my speed for about two thirds of the race and then pull away if possible, but once the race started I quickly found myself alone heading away from the rest of the runners. So I resolved to running a solo tempo run while being escorted through Moberly by a squad car! One of my goals on the day was to go under 40 minutes, my 10k in February had been 41:49, however, the miles weren't marked so I had no way of knowing if I was on pace or not. As the time approached 40 minutes, I realized it was going to be close and tried to sprint it in but I had too far to go and ended up running a 40:25. Disappointing to miss it by 25 seconds, but I'm confident I could have run a minute or two faster if I had known my pace or had someone to pace off of.

All in all is was a fun experience and hopefully one that I can build off of. I could get used to running behind a police car like that!