Grandpa Runs

I ran the 6th annual  Hokie Half Marathon on September 23, 2018 in 1:52:47 . That is a personal record by 5 minutes.  I was using this race as a benchmark to see if I was doing better on distance as I prepare for the Donna Finish Breast Cancer Marathon in February of 2019, which will be my first full marathon.  I improved my time here by 5 minutes, but even better, I am not sore. My last three halves ended with knee pain that made walking tough for a couple days. Today, no pain, cramps or etc. so, I am getting more confident about a full 26.2 mil es at the Donna Finish Breast Cancer 12TH ANNUAL DONNA MARATHON WEEKEND in Jacksonville Florida.     This race started at 7 am on Sunday morning, so I stayed the night in Blacksburg. I was able to pick up my packet Saturday night and get a good nights sleep. I arrived at the Virginia Tech football stadium parking lot by 6:15 AM and catch the shuttle to the start line. There were plenty of porta potties and buses running to get everyone the t

I ran the 2018 Crazy Eights race in Kingsport, Tenn for the third year in a row. This year I added the Totally Crazy option which adds a 3k race right before the 8k. Website  I shaved another minute off my time this year; 41:28. And that was after finishing the Almost Crazy 3k first. When you do both it’s called Totally Crazy and you earn the special Massive medal in the picture. Seven miles total in 57 minutes in temps that started at 91, but some rain showers helped. Several thousand people are running the streets of Kingsport with a lot of support from the neighborhoods and money was raised for the American Cancer Society.         This race is well run and smooth even though 3000 or so people are running

My race shirt, medal and bib My third half marathon was one I had looked forward to for some time. I had learned that the Donna Finish Breast Cancer races were the largest Breast Cancer in America for raising funds for research and victim support. My wife had suffered from breast cancer for 14 years before going to be with the Lord eight months ago, so these type runs are a priority for me.              My last two half marathons left me with extremely sore knees, on the outside and back. I could run 10 miles with no issues, it was the last three that did it. But I could recover almost completely in 2-3 days. So I kept looking for advise on how to prevent this and had advise from a sports Dr. who recommended strength exercise for my hamstrings. So for the 4-5 weeks before I tried a routine of a couple of exercises and hoped it would help. I flew to Jacksonville, Fl three days before because I have two brothers there. We went to see Manatees one day and then went to the race expo.