Spring Redux

It was a busy spring in the Harmon running clan. I kicked it off in April by running my alumni race at Georgia Tech. The Georgia Tech Pi Mile Road Race had its 40th installment in 2012. It was the fourth time I've been privileged to run the 3.14159265... miles; okay it's really just a 5k but you get the point, they like math at Tech. The race itself is a nice course, though it deviates slightly from the Tyler Brown Pi Mile Course that I frequently ran around campus as a student (see the Nike Run map image below). 

It starts flat, to downhill as it circles around west campus on Ferst St. Following a loop around Fowler & Bobby Dodd Way, the incline picks up on 5th St. Techwood is slightly uphill and leads into uphill sections on North Ave. and Tech Parkway. Tech Parkway is about where I traditionally feel like gearing down the pace. Still, my third mile matched the pace of my first mile and I ended up with a course PR of 22:55. Here's me sweating out the finish.-  

Back in WV, Mike and I gave the Great Greenbrier River Race a first attempt. Unfortunately for us, there was a steady ran lasting for nearly an hour prior to the race. All we could do to stay warm was huddle in a tent and try to steal some body warmth from the other participants. The race start was pushed back about half an hour, but we stuck it out and made our mark. I was pumped to get running just to warm up out of the gate. My 5k flew by, but the kayak down the Greenbrier River proved difficult. Some shoulder stiffness aside (possibly due to poor form) I survived and kicked up some mud on the bike. The bike path was soaked, muddy, and narrow making passing very difficult. I managed to fall down at one turn around point when I couldn't clip out of my cycling cleats fast enough. This made me have to pass a number of riders again. But I struggled on and rode into Marlinton triumphant. My final split times were: Run - 21:29, Row - 54:20, Bike - 38:30. Mike's splits were: Run - 29:17, Row - 56:26, Bike - 41:41. Celebrations were had by all at Snowshoe.

In early May, the Triana Energy crew took part in the WV Komen 5k. It manages to draw the largest crowd for any road race of any distance in the state with probably around 5,000 participants, runners and walkers. Our yearly epic struggle places Mike against Drew. The story of that battle is long and may or may not involve breast cancer survivors being pushed out of the way near the finish line. It's complicated. This year's victory was decidedly won by Drew who edged out Mike by a good six or seven minutes. I slogged through another rainy race relatively well, posting a time of 21:10 on the flat, fast course that is the Kanawha Boulevard in Charleston, WV. Below are pictures of Drew (face agape) and myself.

Late May saw one of my local favorite events come to pass again. The Poca River 15k boasts being the oldest road race in WV. It certainly is one of the more scenic ones. Approximately 9.3 miles of looping and winding roads, with car dodging a hazard, has some beautiful open land to ease the leg pain. I ran substantially better than two years ago and posted a time of 1:09:26 which is around a 7'30"/mile pace. The picture shows how much fun I had cruising along this year.

Lastly, the greater Harmon running clan made its first 10k foray of 2012. We ran Cleveland in the Rite Aid Cleveland 10k at the end of May. Mary, Mike, Emily, Krystle, Jess, Stacey, and Kirsten joined in for the fun on this one. It was a hot day for Cleveland, especially in May with the wind offering surprisingly little relief. The course snaked from Browns stadium and through downtown on Superior and Chester Ave before turning on E 40th St. From there the course looped back around, mostly on St. Clair Ave before hanging a right on E 9th St. and ending around the stadium. I posted a respectable, though not PR chip time of 45:19. Mike struggled in the heat but finished with his signature sprint timing in at 1:06:20. Emily took slightly longer with a time of 1:18:46. And Mary did some walking as her training for the year isn't up to full speed quite yet; she stopped the clock at 1:35:29. I got a nice mid-air shot near the finish in this one.

As the summer wears on, I hope to add each race as it happens and provide a more detailed look than I gave to these past events. The schedule is not set in stone, but our next family 10k might wait until the fall and is likely to be located in Pittsburgh.