Grandpa Runs

I ran in a few interesting 5k's this fall. In September it was the Ohio Swiss Festival Cheese Chase in Sugar Creek, Ohio. I managed a 23:54 gun time, which would have been faster had I not been leaving against a food truck trying to stay warm. But, I beat a few Yoders, placed 21 of 169 and 1st in my age group. I got the custom wood medal I was hoping for. Then in early October it was the New River Gorge Bridge, Bridge Day 5K. This one of my favorite races because you get to run over the 3000 foot long 876 foot high bridge before 100,000 people get there to watch parachutist jump from the bridge. I run right on the guard rail to view the river below. I placed 22nd of 207 and 1st in my age group for another cool medal Again in October it was off to Charlotte to run on the Charlotte International Airport runways. It was a flat, noisy and airplane fumed run.  I ran a personal best 23:17, good for 79th of 1043 and 3rd in my age group. A wood medal

First 5k in $15 shoes and all the clothes I could find because it was cold Picture from TriState Racer of starting line  I began running at 51 years old, in January of 2015. Co-workers had talked me into a Komen Race For The Cure 5k coming up in May. Before then I was a hiker and swore that I would never be a runner. I down loaded the Couch to 5k app and used it from January until March when I ran a small 5k in 27 minutes. I swore that I hated every minute of that winter, I was running in hikers around a field at my home. The only reason I stuck to it longer than a day was because my wife is a 14 year survivor of breast cancer and I really wanted to do this race. After the March 5k I found out that I hate stress fractures in both knees from lousy shoes and preparation. So I took a couple weeks off, bought some Hoka Bondi 4 shoes and came back for the Komen  race which I finished in 25 minutes.           So 2 1/2 years , 20+ 5k's, and a few 5 mile a

I have been visiting the Smoky Mountain National Park for over 30 years. When I saw this marathon advertised I jumped at the opportunity. It was put on by Vacation Races , an organization whose  by-line is "Run Somewhere Breathtaking." They have half marathons, ultras and trail runs near National Parks. While a little pricey, there were a lot of extras with the signup and you can save considerable by signing up very early. Great Smoky Mountains Half Marathon Course           This was to be my second half ever and I was hoping to finish in under two hours after finishing my first one in 2:02 on a downhill course. This course was net 727 feet uphill but I had ran a lot on hills getting ready. My wife recently went to be with The Lord and is buried nearby and I often run there and back which has 429 feet of ascent in the four miles.         We had to be at the finish line by 5:30 AM to catch a bus to the start. At 7 AM 1400 of us lined up on a beautiful cool morning to be

I ran this years Crazy 8s 8k in Kingsport, Tennessee for the second year in a row. It is billed as the worlds fastest 8k, having the current womens world record and had the mens for many years and are paying $10,008 prize to break either record.              This year 2245 people finished the race and the winner finished in 22:4, a little short of the 22:03 world record. I finished in 42:29 which was almost a full minute faster than last year. That was good for 32nd in my age group and 488th overall an improvement of 118 spots over last year. I had not planned on doing this again because it is a two hour drive but I had planned on spending several days in Charlotte, NC and noticed that I could drive there in three hours run the race and drive on home in time to be at church the next morning. Stadium and Finish Line          The event is well planned and organized. It starts on time and has great pacers. A lot of attention is payed to the elite runners and it is fun to see them r