And Just Like That.....My Runnin' Days Was Over

Any other Forrest Gump fans out there?

50 States Recap Index

I've spent the past year or so recapping races that I've run in the 50 states.  A state by state alphabetical index follows:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Okahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Washington DC
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Rhode Island

Order in which state was run: 50

Order in which state was admitted into the union: 13

Placed on a white field is a circle of thirteen gold stars representing the first thirteen states. The stars surround a gold ship's anchor. The state's motto "Hope" is on a blue ribbon below the anchor.

 

Date: May 4, 2014
Race: Blackstone Valley Half Marathon

City: Pawtucket
Cost: $43.00

 

Once again, I entered a race weekend severely undertrained.  Nagging injuries the past 3 years have kept me from training.  My race goals have been to stay within an hour of my half marathon personal best time and to stay ahead of my personal worst half marathon time at Wyoming.  Wyoming was an incredibly tough course running down and then back up a mountain at altitude. 

 

Up next: Rest

 

 

 

Crescent City Classic 10k

The Crescent City Classic 10k fell on the weekend of my week 10 half marathon training plan.  At the start of my training for my May half marathon, I revised the plan to include a 10k race for week 10.  My training plan failure was doomed in week 7 when I continued having pain in my right outer calf and achilles tendon. 

I started week 10 training with 25 and 30 minute rowing sessions Monday and Wednesday.  I volunteered to work packet pickup from 2:30 to 8:00 at the CCC expo Thursday afternoon.  I arrived at the expo around 1:00 and picked up my race number and T-shirt without any lines.  I walked around the rest of the expo and then headed outside the expo hall to chill before checking in for my volunteer position.  I signed in at the volunteer check in area before 2:00, picked up my volunteer T-shirt and then reported to registration around 2:00.  I was assigned to work Late Registration. 

The number pickup and late registration area was well organized.  For registered entrants, volunteers would pull up the participants information on a computer and based on their estimated finish time assign a bib number in one of 8 corrals by scanning the next available corral bib.  The first 3 corrals were reserved for seeded runners.  In order to be seeded, runners needed to provide a proof of time from a 10k that was under 45 minutes.

For late registration, there were at least 10 computers available for participants to input their registration information.  Late payments could be made in cash, check and credit or debit card.  Once information was entered, my job was to assign a bib number based on the participants' estimated finish time.  Seeded corral positions were available with proof of time as well.

 Chilling by the Hyatt's glass elevators before starting my volunteer position.

 Carbo loading at the 2013 expo.

 CCC expo free red beans and rice.

 CCC expo free Michelob Ultra.

 CCC expo vendor.....first time I heard of this site.

 2013 CCC expo Late Registration and packet pickup. 2014 had same layout.

Zulu king at CCC expo.  You don't see that at every expo.

 



Volunteer bib for free entry into the post race festival Saturday.

 

After being on my feet six hours Thursday, I took it easy Friday resting up for Saturday morning's race.  The course is a point to point course with the race starting in New Orleans' Central Business District and finishing in City Park.  Free buses started running at 5:30 Saturday morning to bring participants from the finsh line to the start area.  Most locals opt to park at the finish and ride the busses to the start as parking is free around City Park. 

 

 I arrived at the finish area around 6:30 and was able to get onto a bus without any waiting.  The bussing to the start was very well organized.  The start area wasn't as nearly organized.  Other than corraling the seeded runners into the first 3 corrals, there was no attempt to corral the last 5 unseeded corrals.  The race website clearly stated that strollers and wagons would be placed in the last corral.  However, this didn't happen.  It seems that race organizers should adopt the method used when I ran the Chicago Marathon in having seeded corrals and then one big open corral with everyone else.  This is in effect what occurs every year.

 

While waiting for the race to start, a drone with a camera took video of runners all lined up.  I also saw the drone around mile 5 when I was running near the City Park area.  I went online after the race and saw a pic of the drone and its operator.  This was a race first for me....I haven't seen any video yet.

 

 Drone camera

 

 

The course was crowded the whole way for me but based on the start corrals not being enforced I wasn't surprised.  The course goes through the Central Business District through the French Quarter and then takes Esplanade Avenue all the way to City Park for the finish.



 No parking on the race course

 To celebrate the race's 35th anniversary, race medals were given to all participants for the first time in 2013.  The medals returned in 2014 athough the medals were smaller and less detailed than the 2013 debut version.

 2013 medal above 2014 medal below

Waldog showing off the 2014 medal

 

After the race, there is a post race festival with lots of food and beer as well as bands appearing on stage.  I usually go to my car after the run and change into dry clothes before entering the festival.  I opted not to make the walk back to my car this year.  As a result, I got red beans and rice and jambalaya and a bag of Elmer's Chee Weez and left the festival early.  I iced my right achilles a few times the rest of Saturday.







North Dakota

Order in which state was run: 49

Order in which state was admitted into the union: 39

North Dakota's dark blue field displays a bald eagle holding an olive branch and a bundle of arrows in its claws. In its beak, the eagle carries a ribbon with the words "One nation made up of many states". The shield on its breast has thirteen stars, representing the original thirteen states. The fan shaped design above the eagle represents the birth of a new nation, the United States. The name "North Dakota" appears on a red scroll below the eagle.

 

Date: May 18, 2013
Race: Fargo Half Marathon
City: Fargo
Cost: $53.75

Trip Report

 

The Fargo area got much needed rain early in the morning before the race began.  By the time the race started, the rain was pretty much done but we were left with warm and humid conditions.

 

Up next: Rhode Island

 

South Dakota

Order in which state was run: 48

Order in which state was admitted into the union: 40

The South Dakota flag features the state seal surrounded by a golden blazing sun in a field of sky blue. Letters reading "South Dakota, The Mount Rushmore State" -- the official state nickname -- are arranged in a circle around the sun.

 

Date: May 11, 2013
Race: Brookings Half Marathon
City: Brookings
Cost: $38.48

Trip Report

 

47 states complete and I had a first time experience for states 48 and 49.  I ran half marathons on consecutive Saturdays in the Dakotas.  With a week to kill in between, I visited National Parks, Monuments and State Parks in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

 

Up next: North Dakota

 

Weeks 8 and 9 Training Recap

Still dealing with pain in my right Achilles so as predicted I did not run the past 2 weeks.  I kept up my conditioning by rowing.  I upped my longest row to 25 minutes in week 8 and had a couple of 30 minute sessions in week 9.

I will be running one of the two remaining races on my calendar a week from today.  The Crescent City Classic was one of the first races I ran that was longer than a 5k distance.  I'm looking forward to running the new course for the second year in a row.  I'll be working packet pickup at the expo Thursday afternoon.

Three weeks to go until my half in Rhode Island and I booked my rental car last night.  Hotwire had its lowest rates in a year so I went ahead and booked.  I normally don't wait this long to book but rates had not moved in almost a year.

I'll be flying into Boston Thursday morning and driving to Bar Harbor, Maine to sight see in Acadia National Park for a couple of days before driving down the Maine coast to Rhode Island for the Sunday race.

Last May was the last time that I traveled through an airport.  Its been at least ten years since I've gone this long without flying.  I'm looking forward to this trip!

Oregon

Order in which state was run: 47

Order in which state was admitted into the union: 33

The flag of Oregon is the only state flag with different pictures on each side. On the reverse appears a beaver the state animal. Both sides have a field of navy blue with design in gold. The front picture includes a heart shaped shield with an eagle on top,surronded by thirty-three stars. (The number of states in 1859.) The scene on the shield shows the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean, mountains, forests and a covered wagon. A plow, wheat and pickax represent farming and mining. Of the two ships: The one leaving is a British ship and the one arriving is a United States ship representing trade. The eagle represents the United States. On a banner are the words "The Union" representing support for the United States. Finally the flag is emblazoned with the words "State of Oregon" above the picture and the date of statehood "1859" below.

 

 

Date: August 11, 2012
Race: Crater Lake 13.0 miler
City: Klamath Falls
Cost: $75.98

Trip Report

 

While my May 2012 state race was a fly in, race and fly out one night stay, running the 13 miler in Crater Lake was my vacation with a race thrown in trip. 

 

 

Up next: South Dakota

Kansas

Order in which state was run: 46

Order in which state was admitted into the union: 34

On a navy blue field is a sunflower,the state flower. Also, the state seal and the words "Kansas". In the picture of the state seal are thirty-four stars representing the order of statehood. Above the stars is the motto "To the Stars Through Difficulties". On the seal a sunrise overshadows a farmer plowing a field near his log cabin, a steamboat sailing the Kansas River, a wagon train heading west and Native Americans hunting bison. Flag adopted 1927.

 

Date: May 20, 2012
Race: Five Trails Half Marathon
City: Leavenworth
Cost: $50.00

Trip Report

 

Once I complete my trip to Rhode Island in less than 5 weeks, Kansas will be the only state that I did not complete an overnight stay.  I flew in and out of Kansas City, Missouri and stayed at an airport hotel near the Kansas border.  Packet pickup was race morning so my only time to date in Kansas has been for around five hours race day.

 

Up next: Oregon