[RACE BRIEFS] Weekend Double: Putting the Boots to ALS 5k & CASA Superhero 5k

If you've been following, you know that I've become recently frustrated with my 5k times. The last PR I set was way back in late October of 2013. I have come close twice this year to breaking my 5k PR, once at the Easter Egg 5k in April, and the other at the Jazz in the Woods 5k last weekend (although, as far as the Jazz in the Woods 5k goes, the course was actually short of a 5k; so my 20:44 finish time, though close to PR for a true 5k, was nearly 15 seconds off pace for a PR if you consider the shorter 3.08mi distance that it actually was). As harsh as last week was on my legs (hard mid-week sessions, nasty two-a-day race day on Saturday), I decided to take a couple of days off going in to this week to let my body recover. I had not one, but two opportunities on the horizon to finally shatter my 5k PR (this time on separate days). Some rest, followed by a few high-quality training miles, should give me the boost I needed to finally achieve it.

The following are race briefs for both the Putting the Boots to ALS 5k in Kansas City, Missouri, and the CASA Superhero 5k in Leawood, Kansas.

Saturday, June 28th, 2014: Putting the Boots to ALS 5k, Kansas City, Missouri
3.11mi @ 20:53 (6:43/mi); 3rd of 13 in age-group, 10th of 234 overall.

This has been one of my favorite 5k's to do, and is a go-to every racing season. I have been racing Putting the Boots to ALS since my first year competitively running in 2011, and am a huge supporter of the cause as well. I've always gotten family to run this one with me. The event isn't very large-scale, but the coordinators and volunteers are always well-organized and extremely friendly.

The 5k Route, with the extra-long Climb #1 highlighted. (Image courtesy of Google Earth)
(TrainingPeaks course profile HERE)

I am very familiar with this course, not only because I am a long-time participant of Putting the Boots to ALS, but also because I am a long-time participant of Rock the Parkway. The Putting the Boots course is almost identical to Rock the Parkway; the only differences is that it starts/finishes at Rockhurst High School (instead of Burns & McDonnell) and turns around at Summit St (instead of Wornall) on the south end of the course, and 81st (instead of 83rd) at the north end of the course. Elevation changes are nearly identical, with its well-known straight-up-straight-down course profile. The second half is always fast, and granted you are a seasoned hill-climber, PR's are easy to come by.

The packet pick-up would take place on Friday afternoon at Gary Gribble's Running Sports in the Ward Parkway Shopping Center -- same as last year. Quick, easy, and the added benefit of shoe porn afterwards.

The weather forecast for this 5k weekend.
(Image courtesy of NOAA)

Going in to the weekend, the weather looked like rain possible for both Saturday and Sunday's races, with rain chances higher for Putting the Boots to ALS, at 50%. Temps in the low- to mid-70's with very high humidity would be a huge factor for both of this weekend's races (80 and 90%, respectively). This may be a wet one. Either way I was excited. I was ready to nail a PR, all on familiar running grounds (for both days!).

A quick few words before start time. Sponsors/vendors on the left in the tents.
(Photo courtesy of Ben McCall Photography)

As always, the race is small, yet large enough to be competitive. The event foregoes all of the bells and whistles of larger races (medals, huge start/finish line banners) in favor of the cause -- raising money for ALS research (which I am an enormous advocate for). Volunteers and organizers, as always, are incredibly helpful and dedicated. There's a reason I decide to come back every year -- besides the cause alone -- and they are it.

Toeing the start line. (Photo courtesy of Ben McCall Photography)

This race I tried to hold back off the start line, but was able to only just barely (6:05 first half-mile). Cadence and stride felt good for the first mile, but I had trouble finding a good breathing rhythm (very humid). I eventually got it.

And their off! (Photo courtesy of Ben McCall Photography)

I crested the first-half hill(s) and rounded the turnaround with good pace and in 7th place, but felt cooked. I was able to maintain 7th place through the turnaround. Even on the downhills on the way back in I was tired. Posted a negative mile-2-to-3 split by only a touch despite being all downhill, losing 7th, 8th and 9th to a small charging group. Almost grabbed back 9th, but was pipped in the final quarter mile. Crossed just short of 21 minutes at 10th overall and 3rd in my category.

Crossing in 10th overall. (Photo courtesy of Ben McCall Photography)

Now on to CASA.

Sunday, June 29th, 2014: CASA Superhero 5k, Leawood, Kansas
3.16mi @ 21:10 (6:42/mi); 9th of 635 overall (no age groups).

This is my first time racing the Superhero 5k, but am a huge supporter of CASA. The event seemed fun also, and runs in an area I was super-familiar with, thanks to the Mustache Dash 5k.

Course details, with the steepest grade highlighted (Image courtesy of Google Earth)
(TrainingPeaks course profile HERE)

The course is also very similar to Mustache Dash, with the key difference being that it skips running through Leawood Country Manor neighborhood and instead runs the entirety of the block, from Nall, to 119th, to Roe, and back to Park Place. The same major hills are still there, though -- particularly the steep incline from Roe to Town Center Drive on the way back to Park Place.

As noted by race day for Putting the Boots to ALS, the weekend held the possibility of being wet, if not by rain showers, by extreme humidity, which was more likely the case for Sunday's CASA race. Temperatures were forecast for mid-70's and a relative humidity of 90% (!!). Breathing may be a bit tough.

Packet pick-up was set for Saturday starting at 9:30am and ending at 4:00pm at the Town Center Panera in Leawood. Given the early start time, and my race on Saturday morning anyways, timing was perfect to grab the Superhero 5k packets on the way home (or to breakfast, as it were) from the Putting the Boots to ALS 5k.

The pickup area was shoehorned in to a back dining area at the Panera, with one individual checking people in, one putting together the "packets" (which consisted of coupons and the envelope with our race bib and chip), and what seemed like four others guarding the t-shirts which, apparently, only went out to those that signed up early (it stated on the website simply that registration included t-shirt -- nothing about early registration), although I didn't see a single person walk away with a t-shirt, including myself (even though I registered three weeks prior). The single-person check-in caused a line out the door. Though volunteers seemed nice enough, packet pick-up was far from organized. Something to re-visit next year -- it is in its first year, after all.

The set-up, minus the children's run course (was behind me in this photo).

Race day setup, however, was impressively organized for a brand new event. Registration was high, and by race time, the crowd looked to be at least 400-large, all donning any number of superhero costumes (even saw a Gumbi and a Ghostbuster). Not to mention the kids and their get-ups -- events for the morning included a kids race and a costume contest following the 5k. Fun!

On to the race itself: No one wanted to lead out the pack, so I ended up right at the start line, which I don't like to do. Once the horn sounded, I lead everyone out for  about the first tenth of a mile, until two made the break. Myself and three others followed, and without luck, grouped up ourselves. I took the rear, trying best to keep up with the rapid pace, in sixth place. I ended up holding a great pace over first 1.5 miles (had a 6:11 first mile). I eventually was dropped from the group, and then passed again from 6th to 9th at around 2 miles by a group of three. I held strong with good hard efforts past the 2-mile marker, almost taking back 8th place. However, I pushed too early on approach, and fell apart during final 1km, but was able to hold off the 10th place runner. STILL no PR, but better than yesterday and last week. Finished 9th overall (no age groupings this race).

My mom and niece crossing the line.

After the race I walked around a bit, grabbed a few goodies from the sponsors (they secured quite a few good ones!), checked out the kids races (check out those kids run in the video!!), and was on my way. By now, packet pick-up was only a minor speed bump in an otherwise well-put-together event.

(I'll get a better-quality video up once I open up a YouTube channel and stream it from there)

Fun weekend.

Race Metrics: Putting the Boots to ALS 5k
Distance: 3.11mi           Time: 20:53
Avg. Pace: 6:43/mi        Max. Pace: 6:06/mi
Climbing: 154ft             Kcal: 378kcal
Avg. HR: 180bpm          Max. HR: 189bpm
Avg. Cad.: 166spm        Max. Cad.: 178spm
Avg. VO: 11.7cm             Avg. GCT: 238ms
Avg. Stride Length: 1.43m
1mi Splits: 6:25, 7:05, 6:50, [0:33]
Weather: 75F/76%hum/Overcast, Light Rain/S15
Placing: 3rd/13 in age-group, 10th/234 overall
TrainingPeaks Analysis: HERE

Race Metrics: CASA Superhero 5k
Distance: 3.16mi           Time: 21:10
Avg. Pace: 6:42/mi        Max. Pace: 6:02/mi
Climbing: 108ft             Kcal: 371kcal
Avg. HR: 178bpm          Max. HR: 188bpm
Avg. Cad.: 168spm        Max. Cad.: 188spm
Avg. VO: 11.2m             Avg. GCT: 237ms

Avg. Stride Length: 1.43m
1mi Splits: 6:11, 6:43, 7:15, [1:00]
Weather: 77F/82%hum/MSunny/SSW9
Placing: 9th/635 overall
TrainingPeaks Analysis: HERE



Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds

~~__o

  _-/<,_

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[RACE REPORT] Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, Pt.II: Background & Registration Process

Home > Race Schedules & Reports > 2015 > Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, Pt.II: Background of the Race & Registration Process

This is part one of my six-part series on the 2015 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. Part two covers the history behind the race series, as well as step-by-step instructions how to register (for the 2015 event).
Part 1 (Introduction) can be found HERE.
Part 3 (Training & Planning for the Event) can be found HERE.
Part 4 (Course Preview with Virtual Run) will be posted mid-October to beginning of November.
Part 5 (Travel, Event Expo, & Pre-Race) will be posted on Race Weekend.
Part 6 (Race Day & Post-Race) will be posted after Race Weekend.

The event's official website can be found HERE.

Welcome back! Now I'll walk through some background on the event's history, followed by the registration process point-by-point (which often feels like a daunting process).

Onward!

Background on the Walt Disney World Marathon

Surprising enough, other than results and records, the history of the Walt Disney Marathon is few and far between. The WDW Marathon's first running was in 1994 with just short of only 7,000 runners. Over the next two decades, the Marathon Weekend would actually struggle to meet registration quotas, forcing Disney Parks to reconsider. In 2012, Disney offered free admission to the parks on the Monday following the event for participants of any of the events of Marathon Weekend, which did help boost sales. 2013 marked the 20th running of the WDW Marathon, and, despite the incentive being removed, saw its largest registration year in the Marathon's history. Though official numbers for 2014 have not been released yet (that I know of), given the quickness with which registration filled up, another record year seems almost likely.

Due to the rise in popularity of marathons and half-marathons, registration across the US have spiked in the last few years. Not surprisingly, to match the rising demand, runDisney now hosts 9 event weekends at their two US parks. All races have kids-specific races if the offered 5k's may be too much for the little tykes. At the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, runDisney hosts the following, as of 2014 (and 2015):

• Expedition Everest Challenge - a themed "obstacle" 5k through WDW's Animal Kingdom park, which took place on May 3rd of 2014.
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler Weekend - At WDW Resort's Hollywood Studios park, includes a nighttime 10-mile run of the same moniker, and the daytime Disney Happy Haunted 5k Trail Run. This one runs on October 3rd & 4th of this year, but is sold out.
• Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon Weekend - starting at WDW's ESPN Wide World of Sports on November 8th (also sold out), also a nighttime half-marathon that finishes with exclusive after-hours access to Epcot's annual International Food & Wine Festival.
• Disney Princess Half-Marathon Weekend - February 19th through 22nd of 2015. Includes a themed half-marathon, 10k, Princess 5k and the coveted Coast to Coast Medal for those that run both the Princess HM in Florida and the Tinker Bell HM in California. Registration opens July 15th at 11:00am Central (12pm noon Eastern). Soon!

And at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California:

• Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend - similar to WDW Marathon Weekend, but at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and without the full marathon. Includes a half-marathon, 10k, the "Dumbo Double Dare" (half-marathon & 10k combo), and Family Fun Run 5k.
• Avengers Super Heroes Half-Marathon Weekend - new for 2014, and one that sounds like a blast, the Super Heroes HM Weekend is on November 14th through 16th and includes the Avengers Half-Marathon and the Avengers 5k. This one sold out fast.
• Star Wars Half-Marathon Weekend - also new for 2014, and one that generated a huge amount of buzz. This take place January 15th through 18th of 2015, and includes the Half-Marathon, Star Wars 10k, Star Wars 5k, and the Rebel Challenge, which combines the half-marathon and 10k. This sold out quicker than the WDW Marathon Weekend.
• Tinker Bell Half-Marathon Weekend - a half-marathon, 10k and Never Land 5k offering that took place in May of 2014, and will be offered again May 7th through May 10th of 2015. Registration for this one opens August 12th of 2014 at 11:00am Central (12pm noon Eastern).

Finally, the focus of this race report series, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. For the WDW Marathon Weekend, eight running events are offered...

• The Walt Disney World Marathon
• The Walt Disney World Half-Marathon
• The Walt Disney World 10k
• The Walt Disney World Disney Family Fun Run 5k
• The Walt Disney World Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge, which consists of running each the Marathon and Half-Marathon
• The Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge, which consists of all four races over four days.
• The Walt Disney World Castaway Challenge, which consists of any of the single races, combined with a cruise to Disney's private Castaway Cay island in the Bahamas, and a 5k on Castaway Cay.
• Any number of kids races.

Again, this is the oldest of runDisney events, and one of the largest. The Health & Fitness Expo itself is a large draw for many, and given the nice beginning-of-year placement, is often great opportunity for health and fitness companies to roll out new products for the new year (I will be eyeing New Balance's runDisney Special Edition Shoes -- more on that during the Planning and Expo posts).

That's it for the background. Let's get in to the actual race (or at least, let's register for the damn thing).

For those that will be registering for the up-coming Tinker Bell and Princess HM Weekends, this should provide a great cheat-sheet on the registration process, as runDisney uses all the same portals for registration.

Registering for the Walt Disney World Marathon

Registration for any runDisney event is a popular demand, so spots fill up very fast. Sometimes, spots for the more popular events will fill up within minutes (seriously!), so make sure you are online as they roll it out. There are also some finicky website things that are important to note going in, so be sure to read on.

For the 2015 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, scheduled for January 7th through January 11th, registration was set to be open on April 22nd, 2014, at 11:00am Central Time. I made sure to set an alert on my Google Calendar with a link directly to the Marathon Weekend home page.

To get to the specific event, all runDisney events are centralized around their runDisney website at rundisney.com.

The runDisney home page.

From there you can use the "Events" tab at the top of the page to find the specific event you are interested in. Be it the Disneyland Prices Half-Marathon, or Disney World's new Start Wars Marathon. I, obiouvsly, opted for their oldest-running Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. I would run the half-marathon.

Hovering over the events tab with your mouse will show all of runDisney's events.

Once you arrive at the WDW Marathon Weekend page, you get a nice little ticker right at the top, including how full each of the offered events are at the present moment.

The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend-specific runDisney page. In time for my page visit, all of
the offered events were sold out, except for the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge.

Clicking the "Registration" tab will take you to a list of each of the events (and combination of events) offered, with hyperlinks highlighting those that are still open to registration (aka not sold out).

The registration page for the WDW Marathon Weekend.

Now...here's the tricky part. Registration opened up promptly at 11:00am CENTRAL TIME on April 22nd, 2014, for the 2015 running. These are very popular events, so you can imagine that right at 11:00am, site traffic skyrockets. Clicking on an event may not work the first one or two (or twelve) times. I recommend clicking on the event, and if (and when) it displays an error message, just keep clicking Ctrl-R (to refresh the page) until you get through. Do not assume waiting for site traffic to slow will help! By the time site traffic clears, your chosen event may already be sold out (yes, they sell out that quickly).

After about 10-or-so refreshes, I finally got through to the registration portal, run by popular registration management website Active.com.

Finally got in!

I clicked in the "Register Now" button, Again, you may hit site traffic here. But don't worry -- once you finally get on the pages where you enter your name and registration deets, you shouldn't hit any more brick walls.

Three ways to register: 1. If you have an Active.com profile, 2. If you would like to open up a new Active.com
profile, and 3. If you'd rather skip all that jazz and just register as a guest.

After signing in with my Active.com profile, it's time to select my event -- for me, the half-marathon. Any events that are sold out will be noted here. 

Pick your poison.

Then you got your "we're not responsible if you die" agreement. Also known as the participant waiver.

Sign your life away.

Then, having signed in to Active.com already with my user credentials, most of my personal information (name, address, etc etc) is already filled out for me. If you sign in as a guest or are creating a new profile, presumably all of this will be empty for you (at least, I hope).

After your personal info, you'll have a few additional quiz items to attend to, the most notable being previous half-marathon history. In order to set up corral assignment, you must provide an anticipated finishing time, along with info on a previous half-marathon finish (or a marathon, if you chose that event), including the name of the race, the official distance, the city and state, the date, and the finish time. If you've never done a similar-distance event before, just enter N/A and move on. Likely, you'll be assigned to the last few corrals.

The "how slow are you?" portion of the quiz.

Then you got your common quick questions, such as t-shirt size, and you're ready to pay.

Once finished, you should receive an Active.com email within 24 to 48 hours (I think it took about 8 hours for me). If you don't a confirmation email within two days, email the event organizer using the runDisney home page's information...there may be a problem.

Not my official race confirmation, but rather confirmation of my commemorative pin purchase, which is
available on the registration page as well. The race confirmation will look the same, though.

Additionally, you may receive two emails that look similar, but in fact are not: One is your transaction confirmation, the other is registration confirmation.

And that's it! Print off the confirmation and bring it to the packet pick-up and expo. Electronic copies work, too, but you can never trust that you'll be able to pull it up on-the-spot. But all of that stuffs will be covered in my Packet Pick-Up and Marathon Expo post on race weekend.

That's all she (or I) wrote for now. Keep posted for Part III next, including info about training & planning. That will likely go up in a few months (late October-ish) once my training gets underway.

Keep R/B/S-ing.  

~~__o

  _-/<,_

@/   @

[RACE REPORT] Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, Pt.I: Introduction

Home > Race Schedules & Reports > 2015 > Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, Pt.I: Introduction

This is part one of my six-part series on the 2015 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. Part one is an introduction to the series.
Part 2 (Background of the Race & Registration Process) can be found HERE.
Part 3 (Training & Planning for the Event) can be found HERE.
Part 4 (Course Preview with Virtual Run) will be posted mid-October to beginning of November.
Part 5 (Travel, Event Expo, & Pre-Race) will be posted on Race Weekend.
Part 6 (Race Day & Post-Race) will be posted after Race Weekend.

The event's official website can be found HERE.


It was after only the first race of the Heartland 39.3 half-marathon series that I, along with my sister and brother, decided to finally take seriously what we'd been wishfully toying with for a couple of years now: to run the Walt Disney World Half-Marathon.

Growing up, as a family, we'd frequented Walt Disney world nearly every year. Regardless if experiencing it as young children or (relatively) fully-grown adults, Disney World has always been The Happiest Place on Earth to us, and despite our almost-annual visits, experiencing it over again and again always brought a renewed and shared sense of adventure and imagination. As odd as it would seem, Disney World would almost become an unofficial second home to us, always greeting again the familiar sights, sounds and smells upon touchdown in Orlando, and looking back with homesick nostalgia upon wheels up.

For 2015, it would have been nearly three years since we'd been back. So what a better way to re-experience our second home by running through it. Over just the last few years our family has rallied around its members' newly-formed passions for all things sports (be it as a spectator or participant). Combining one family interest with another only seemed natural. Plus: what a cool way to experience Disney World!

In researching for detailed info about the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (and one of the many things that triggered me to start blogging about racing), I was surprised at the scant amount of first-hand experiences with the race. Some were about the expo, most were about the race itself.

In the coming months through to the end of race weekend (and beyond), I will be covering -- in immense detail -- one of the top-ten most popular marathon events in the world. Because of the detail, and the breadth of the event itself, blogging about the WDW [Half-]Marathon will have to come in several smart parts, likely using the following format...

• Part I: Introduction (this post)
• Part II: Background of the Race & Registration Process
• Part III: Training & Planning for the Event
• Part IV: Course Preview with Virtual Run
• Part V: Travel, Event Expo, & Pre-Race
• Part VI: Race Day & Post-Race

I will write and release each as the process unfolds (I am actually writing this in late June, almost a whole six months away from race day, but, again, given the "process" involved for this race, there's a fair amount of information to share). Background on the race and the registration process will likely go out right after I publish this post, and right after registration is complete. Then the Training & Planning for the Event post will probably go out once I start training for the HM, about 3 months prior to race day in late October. Course Preview & Travel will release the night after I arrive in Orlando, perhaps 3 or 4 days before race day. Event Expo & Pre-Race will likely go out race-day or the day after, and hopefully the same for Race-Day and Post-Race (likely finish it up on the plane ride home).

With that, look for Part II: History of the Race & the Registration Process. By the time you're finished reading this, Part II should be finished and posted.

And, of course, thank you for reading.

Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds

~~__o

  _-/<,_

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