6 hour Run/Race in Rhode Island, Nov 15, 2010

I ran a 6 hour race yesterday. Did my goal of about 33 miles. Slower than last year but I am on the comeback trail. Here are some pre-race pictures of the beach area. It was slight drizzle and cloudy in AM and for half the race. The lens on camera was not wet. "Bubbles" in pictures duw to rain drops reflecting sunlight as they came down.

Our Bird Herman 17 years old- More Experience than Obama

Check out our bird Herman. He speaks softly and has a sharp beak. Is a good runner though we cannot find running shoes to fit his unique stick legs and toes. He is a frequent flyer and has crashed only a few times. Herman believes that the trillions spent by our govt are stealing seed from his tray.

My Race Schedule Oct 13, 2009 - March 27/28, 2010

This is my likely race schedule now, through end of March 2010. I am getting back in running shape and will set as a goal to be 15-20 pounds lighter, leaner, with more muscle mass and very high mileage training. part of the strategy is to run an ultra/trail (sometimes a road ultra) at least every 4 weeks, sometimes even a week or 2 apart. Cutting out junk food, and getting proper rest is key.

Races upcoming:

Sun, Oct 18, 2009
Six Hour Sixtieth Birthday Run
Kings Park, NY 8:30 AM
Scenic 2.1 mile loop in Sunken Meadow State Park, primarily on dirt paths, with several rolling hills and one bridge crossing. Time limit (hours): 6. Field limit: NA. Fee-pre:$ 30; $25 for those born in 1949. Fee-post:$ 40 after Oct. 12. Hi quality sweatshirt to every entrant; post race food and beer party. Annual: 10th
GLIRC, c/o Myron Bellovin, 101 Dupont Street, Suite 24, Plainview NY 11803, 516 349-7646 (w) Email: mybellovin@aol.com Web: http://www.glirc.org

Sun, Oct 25, 2009Sun
Bimbler's Bluff 50k
Guilford, CT 8:00 a.m.
The Bimblers Bluff 50k is an off road foot race through several woodland preserves in southern Connecticut. Consisting entirely of single track or forest roads. Time limit (hours): 10. Field limit: 150. T-shirts to registered entrants and finisher award. Annual: 2nd
Jerry Turk, 806 Durham Rd, Guilford, CT 06437, 203 376 2893
Email: jerry@mrbimble.com Web: http://bimblersbluff.com

Sun, Nov 15, 2009
Rhode Island 6 Hour Ultra
Warwick, RI 8:00 a.m.
Wooded, paved bike path with slightly rolling hills. Time limit (hours): 6. Fee: $40 before 6/1/09, $50 before 10/1/09, $60 before 11/13/09. Long Sleeve technical shirts, Awards to 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place M/F. Annual: 1st
Robert Jackman, 1038 West Shore Road, Warwick, RI 02889, 401-477-3173 (h)
Email: ri6hour@yahoo.com Web: http://www.ri6hour.com


Nov. 28 or 29 : Run from Brooklyn NY to Franklin Lakes/Oakland NJ- 50-60miles Nov 29th

Sat, Dec 19, 2009
Seashore Nature Trail 50K
Virginia Beach, VA 7:30 a.m.
Flat dirt/hard pack sand trails, except about 1/2 mile pavement at start and finish. Tree lined, half jeep road and half 2 track. Time limit (hours): 9. Field limit: 250. Fee-pre: $75. Fee-post:$90 after Nov 29.
Tech T-Shirt to all entrants. Finishers award to be determined. Annual: 1st
Mel Williams, P. O. Box 2121, Chesapeake, VA 23327-2121, 757-531-9220
Email: ProfRunner@aol.com Web: http://www.tidewaterstriders.com

Sat, Jan 2, 2010
Phunt 50K
Elkton, MD 9:00a.m.
90% single track trail through rolling terrain, both forest and meadow.
Three aid stations. Time limit (hours): 8. Annual: 7th
Phil Nissen, 55 Knight Island Rd, Earleville, MD 21919, 800-949-1003 x5422 (W)
Email: philnissen@intergate.com Web: http://traildawgs.blogspot.com

Sat, Jan 9, 2010
Watchung Winter Ultra 50K and Marathon
Springfield, NJ 8:00am
3 loops of the White trail (10.3 miles). Time limit (hours): 8. Field limit: 100. No amenities, no awards, no dinner, self supported. Annual: 2nd
Rick McNulty, POB 127 Mount Tabor NJ 07878, 973-627-2575 (h)
Email: rmcnulty13@gmail.com Web: http://sites.google.com/site/wwultras/Home

Feb 2010:
Maine- Sandy Neck beach 50K Feb 2-4
Feb 15-17 : Run from Brooklyn NY to Franklin lakes/Oakland NJ- 50-60miles Feb 15-17

Sat, Mar 6, 2010
Seneca Creek Trail Marathon and 50K
Damascus, MD 8:00 a.m.
Fairly benign single track dirt trail with some hills, The March weather tends to be the major factor. Time limit (hours): 8. Field limit: 350. Fee:$ 20. Annual: 7th
Ed Schultze, 516 Paradise Court Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877, 301-258-0281
Email: edschultze@comcast.net Web: http://www.senecacreektrailrace.com/

March 13th: 30-40 mile training run (adventure run) venue TBD with buddy(s)

March 27-28 2010: Pinelands NJ 100 Mile Race
First ever 100 mile trail race in New Jersey! Need family participation (crew) and friends, as this race is un-aided!

History of My Running in Brief:

When I was 28-34 years old, I raced 5K in 15:35, 10K in about 33:10, 13.1 miles in 1:14, 15.5 miles (25K) in 1:28+ and marathons, well I don't even want to post the times.

Priot to that, In middle school, high school and college I was a track and cross-country runner, emphasizing the middle distances where I had some regionally competitive times in the NY/NJ/CT/PA regions. I am running for 43 years and my legs still work OK.

Needless to say I had to take different paths and though I always ran some, by the time my 2 kids were born (son when I was 31 years old and Daughter when I was 33), I was already on "maintenance". By 40 my times began to decline as I got involved much more in our kids sports and other family things. That was great and the cycle of life requires it I feel. By the time I was 50, my "kids" were in college and I began to take interest in running more again. I decided to try ultra-running.

I trained for 3 weeks after about 10 years of running only maybe twice a week, upped my mileage instantly to about 60 per week, and ran the JFK 50 in a relatively slow 11:34.

Business drivers also have played a role in my racing and training. So it has not been all roses since I began my "comeback". I am 57 now and have gotten over a 2.5 year long problem with "heel spurs"...that "plantar facia" thing. During that time, I hobbled through races on trails in pain. Then one day, 2 years ago, it left me!

I was fine! Last year, I ran a race every month and sometimes only 1-2 weeks apart, and ran a 9:41 for 50 miles, and also under 5 hours for 50K. I was 2nd in USATF 50K in the over 55 years age group.

This year, I have not raced much but that is now changing. I had a dismal July and August of almost no serious training (business needs and work anxiety) and ran the Northface 50 in DC in a slow time on almost no training. Now I am back for sure.

I am pointing for a 100 mile race at the end of March. Also inventing the term "adventure running"-as these can be very long (30-60 mile) training runs with a friend/buddy or two where we take a whole day and go inter city/town/state just for the fun of it. I would like to try a few of these in place of actual races leading up to a 100 mile run.

Signing off for now- Rich

Nancy Pelosi After Cosmetic Surgery Under ObamaCare

My 50K/31 mile Race (Sandy Neck Maine) on sand dunes and beach in 2008

This race was very interesting and fun. All 31 miles was run on soft sand. Could not get footing. 40 mile per hour winds on beach that day (Feb. 2) - Great post race food, and nice bunch of fellow runners. Great workout.

Superman 1964 - Values of a different era, and an example to follow now.

See a photo of an icon of my childhood. The 1964 Aurora edition of the actual model that was sold in hobby stores- "Superman Breaking Through The Wall". I lost long ago the model I built as a 12 year old. I have regained this model, an actual professionally assembled 1964 model- the real thing! One like this now sells for over 200 times what it cost in 1964 (it cost $0.98)- yes, 98 cents back then.

Why is this important?
1 Old Superman Comics- we're talking 1936 - 1968 presented a strong set of values to kids of right and wrong.

2 Super heroes came in all sizes, nationalities, planetary origins, male, female- and abilities. They were all equal to the readers who loved the simple stories of heroism, compassion, honesty, bravery, and respect....the wrong doers always faced justice....ie., "The Justice League of America", or the "Legion of Super Heroes".

3 Superman in this model broke through the wall! Something long distance runners speak about doing in marathon and ultra-marathon races!

In any case, I was lucky enough to pick this model up at a fraction of what one would pay for it now in 2009. It is a 45 year old memento and brings back memories of childhood heroes, though fictional characters. What they stood for was very real.

PS: I still have about 100 copies of various DC Comics of that era, preserved as well as possible in plastic sleeves. I was the original owner of these and still keep them. Most are 45-50 years old.

If Congress and President Obama ran a footrace or were race directors..What would happen?

What would we have if our current Government in power were runners? Or were race directors?

1 If Nancy Pelosi ran a footrace, say of 10 miles, she would call everyone who finished in front of her a Nazi.

2 If Charlie Rangel ran a footrace of 10 miles, he would "jump" into the race in the last 100 yards hoping no one would notice that he does not appear "taxed".

3 If MSNBC, CBS, CNN published race results, they would publish the last 10 runners finishing as the first 10 and call everyone in front of them "cheaters".

4 If the NY Times published race results, they would realign results to depict those who trained, adding time to their finishes based on amount of training, and subtracting time from those who did not train, to even the playing field.

5 If Barney Frank and Harry Reid had oversight of the race, they would permit widespread cheating, taking cars, cycles, getting a lift, cutting the course, and claim that those who did not cheat did not understand the purpose of the race.

6 If Barbara Boxer was race director and a runner asked, Ma'am, can you help me with my number, she would yell, "I have spent years working to be addressed as "Madam Race Director".

7 If President Obama was Race Director, he would charge extra race fees to all runners finishing in the top 30%, on a pro rata basis, the better we finish the more we pay, stating that he is trying to level the playing field for future events so additional less competitive runners will run for free and the top runners pay for all expenses.

8 If Nancy Pelosi was a runner in the 10 mile race, she would arrive 2 hours late and claim that the race officials lied habitually about the starting time, after receiving a published venue about the time, rules, and process for the race numerous times prior.
Had to do one on Nancy 2x!

9 If Acorn officiated the race they would invite off the street non-runners/ strangers, assign each a runner's name and number, and provide the post race meals, trophies, shirts, prizes to the non runners who assumed the identity of one of the actual runners.

10 If White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs were announcing race results for Obama, he would first profess no knowledge of the race, then when pressed, say, the President feels that we all won the race. He would also claim that Obama encourages race directors to allow medical marijuana as a finisher's prize.

11 If Tax Cheat Sec'y of Treasury Tim Geithner had to organize the race results he would completely mix up all finishing times from runner's names and later claim it was an accounting error. He would also claim that the Runners Code is like the Tax Code- nobody can understand it even with a Harvard degree.

12 If Ex Green Jobs CZAR, disgraced radical bigot Van Jones were in charge of the race, he would claim that some ethnic groups expend more oxygen and excrete more CO2 and other waste when they run and should be assessed damage payments when they ran through specific inner city residential sites.

13 If Katie Couric, News Anchor and had to discuss highlights of the race, she would interview the winners and ask if they knew about the "Race Director Doctrine" that the previous administration had created. When pressed that there was no such thing, she would quickly turn to baseball.

14 If Dems in Congress all were in the race running, they would "spend" all of their energy, carbs, in the first 25% of the race, running too fast, spending too much, and also jump, dance and tumble (things that do not get you to the finish line), leaving no energy left in their budget to complete the race, hoping that future generations of runners will take up the burden of finishing their run.

15 If Dems in Congress, Al Gore, and Global Warming nuts were organizing an inter nation race say against China, Japan, India, and other industrialized nations, they would force our USA runners, each to wear 10 pound weights on their ankles, give them no water, and make them start 10 minutes after the race gun was fired, condemning all USA runners who could not keep up with the the competition.

If you have more you would like to see, send in your suggestions. No promise that I will publish them but will consider them.
Rich