BRS members experience success and just plain, good, old fun!

BRS members experience success and just plain, good, old fun!

Caesar Rodney Half
By Barefoot Ramzev
I ran the Caesar Rodney 1/2 marathon in Wilmington, DE yesterday. It was a chilly day and the course was very hilly, but I managed to run a PR by almost a minute. Previous PR was 1:46:50, yesterday I ran a 1:45:58. This is the oldest continuously run road race in the United States, it was the 50th running.

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Pic from the race, I'm in red.

I had some great comments during this race. Funny how people assume you are deaf if you're running barefoot, and you can't hear them talking about you.

One guy said that he felt like a sissy wearing shoes.
A women said that it's guy like me who can ruin her business, I assume she sells shoes.
A guy said that at least I don't run naked. Kinda of an odd comment, but ok.

Probably around 7 - 10 people asked me about it, why I was barefoot and how long. A couple asked about the transition. Basically, all positive conversations.

One of the volunteers yelled "There's Barefoot Dave!" I guess I'm getting a bit famous around here?

I really didn't have any cold issues with my feet. I did about a one mile warm up jog barefoot, then I put on socks while I waited for the race to start. At the start the road felt really cold, but as I warmed up so did my feet.

I was concerned a bit on Saturday, we had a lot of rain and I didn't want a cold AND wet road surface for the race. Luckily, even though it was cold, the sun was out so the road dried up fairly well before the start. There were a couple areas in the shade where the road was still wet, that was cold, but mainly on the top of my feet from the splashing puddles.

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Some Sort of Shamrock 15K
By Paraganek

15k, barefoot, easy route (running on golf course), finished in 01:15:47 (my new 15k PR), placed 4th in my AG and the most important - had a blast!! :happy:

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World of Beer Shamrock Run 10K
By Tristan-OH

So I ran today in the World of Beer Shamrock Run 5k/10k. Was accompanied by my friends Amber and Beau. Amber and I went for 10k while Beau who is just getting back into running did the 5k. It was her first and only my second ever 10k, though I have also completed a half last year so not like the distance is new to me. And my first 10k was 2 years ago while I was still shod, and I actually made a wrong turn so don't have accurate time (my GPS had me about 50 minutes at the 10k point though I added an extra mile overall).

It seems I have been plagued with problems the last few runs and this one was no exception. Last weekend I got a sore throat and though I only felt bad for a day, I had lingering congestion, sneezing, coughing, and lost my voice for a couple days this past week. I probably should have cancelled but since I got a couple of my friends to run, was the one carpooling, and already offered food and drink after, well I was committed. Oh I'm a bit stubborn too! Well the last few days I felt pretty much fine just had this cough still. As long as I drank hot tea and honey I seemed fine. I drank a lot of hot tea and honey the last couple days! On to the race...

I was really planning on barefoot, temp was suppose to be up to 50, but as the event grew nearer the forecast plummeted. I think it was around 34 when we left for the race. I could do it but I knew my toes would go numb so hoping my luck with my Bikilis from last time would hold up, I decided to run in them again:

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They did pretty good, but a little over half way I did start getting a little bit of arch cramping that has plagued me this winter (mainly while minishod). By that time I was pretty exhausted and slowing down anyhow, I took it a bit easier for a little bit after feeling the twinges, and tempted fate and tried to alter my form just so slightly to the outsides of my foot. It helped, I never had the cramps get bad like they sometimes do.

And finally, across the finish line with 46:43 for a pace of 7:31 not to bad for being sick, and I think only about 15 seconds slower pace than my last 5k. 13 out of 127 in the 10k was pretty good for me! And my friend Amber made her goal of beating an hour for her first 10k by a few minutes. After the race we got a commemorative beer glass and a free beer, though all they had left when the three of us went in was Yuengling Light, but good enough for recovering a few carbs. ;)

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Garmin lined right up with the official times.

Oh, and I was representing with an appropriately colored BRS shirt (well a custom one I threw together at least):
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The place was so packed though that we gave up trying to have a drink or get any food and went on to find a slightly less packed place. A few appetizers, sandwich, and a Great Lakes Alchemy Hour really hit the spot! We all had a blast!

No medal with this race, but that's fine by me. This I can actually use...
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Since we're sharing about historic races, here's one I've run three times barefoot. With 50,000 to 70,000 people running together, it's truly a sea of bodies.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K (1970) is a 10 kilometer road race held annually in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4, Independence Day. The Peachtree Road Race is the world's largest 10 kilometer race (an estimated 60,000 participants in 2011),[1][2] a title it has held since the late 1970s.[3] The race has become a city-wide tradition in which over 70,000 amateur and professional runners try to register for one of the limited 60,000 spots. The event also includes a wheelchair race which precedes the footrace. In recent years the race also has a special divisions for soldiers stationed in the Middle East. The race attracts some of the world's elite 10K runners and has served as the USA Men's 10K Championship.

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Since we're sharing about historic races, here's one I've run three times barefoot. With 50,000 to 70,000 people running together, it's truly a sea of bodies.
I had the pleasure of running Peach Tree a few years ago with my son. It was a blast. We were fortunate enough to start near the front. I was surprised at how hilly it was. Great party afterwards.
 
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Not at all. It's really a ton of fun. There's beer on all corners (not that I drink it) and tequila shots, and food booths, and people throwing tee shirts at you, and fireman releasing water hydrants, and it's just crazy fun. There's lots of room to run once you get out about a half mile to a mile, although the pictures look as packed all the way to the finish line. Everyone is dressed like a red, white, and blue clown or whatever because it takes place on the 4th of July. There are bands everywhere. And at the end, there are so many booths giving out free stuff and lots of good food and the best PEACHES you have ever had in your life! Georgia is the Peach State, after all. :joyful:
 
Awesome job Ram and Paraganek!

TJ I can't even imagine that. There was around 400 in my race (5k started together too) and it was a major bottleneck for a while! But I guess as long as your having fun and not planning on a pr it looks like a blast!
 
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The oldest continuously run foot race in North America is the YMCA Buffalo Turkey Trot. It's a great race, it caps out at around 14,000. You can expect to see several BF runners there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Turkey_Trot

The Caesar Rodney must be the oldest half marathon in the US. I looked and found this article on old half marathons. It says, "Granddaddy is the Route du Vin in Luxembourg, founded in 1961, followed by the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon in Springfield, Ill., first run in April 1964. Other venerable continuing American half marathons include the San Dieguito in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (1968), and the YMCA in Phoenix East Valley, Ariz. (1969). These were the pioneers."

However, the CR this past weekend was the 50th running meaning it was inaugurated in 1963, making it one year older than the Springfield half.
 
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One thing that I noticed is the running form of the 2 ladies running beside Dan. The lady with the green shirt has good running form for a shoddie. Looks to have a midfoot landing with bent knees and a forward lean. Now, the lady in black seems to have the classic heel strike posture, leaning back with a straight leg heel strike. Ouch, that has to hurt. I never seen two classic running forms in the same picture show the 2 running styles that clearly. Again Dan congrats on your race, and congrats to who ever took that picture.
 
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One thing that I noticed is the running form of the 2 ladies running beside Dan. The lady with the green shirt has good running form for a shoddie. Looks to have a midfoot landing with bent knees and a forward lean. Now, the lady in black seems to have the classic heel strike posture, leaning back with a straight leg heel strike. Ouch, that has to hurt. I never seen two classic running forms in the same picture show the 2 running styles that clearly. Again Dan congrats on your race, and congrats to who ever took that picture.
That was the first thing I noticed about this picture. Ouch! That has to hurt!
 
Looks like the mess, er uh, I mean the fun here in Atlanta we have. :wacky:
 
Here's the pics from my half. There's a video of the finish too, I'm right at the beginning in the red shirt.
 
In Spain we have San Silvestre 10K more than 40,000 runners.
What do you think?
Notice

And the bulls are at the end of the course. A lot of PR's are set that day.

Seriously though, that is too many people for me. Not saying that I wouldn't like to try a busy race like that some day. I have been in a few in the 7,000 - 8,000 people range. Fun to run in, but not to race in.
 
You should buy some of those pictures, Ram. Those are good!
 
I'll probably get one, I just need to decide which one.
 
And the bulls are at the end of the course. A lot of PR's are set that day.

Seriously though, that is too many people for me. Not saying that I wouldn't like to try a busy race like that some day. I have been in a few in the 7,000 - 8,000 people range. Fun to run in, but not to race in.
Well believe it or not the runners make good times