Capitola Half Marathon Relay
This past weekend was the 2nd annual Surfer’s Path Marathon & Capitola Half Marathon & Relay in Santa Cruz, California.
Last year, a few of our members participated in the marathon and half marathon, after entering, but this year, we opted to put together 4 relay teams: a men’s team, a mixed team and 2 women’s teams.
But, before a race can happen, there has to be volunteers to put the race together, and SCE came together in a large part for that. Elise is a committee member on Surfers Path Marathon & Capitola Half Marathon, and she recruited a few members to do race neighborhood notification a few weeks prior to the event as well as SCE members to work the registration/bib pick up table at the Expo the day before the event. In return, SCE received free registration for all relay teams, as well as a number of free entries to next year’s event.
The half marathon relay started at 7:00am at the Boardwalk, along with both the marathon & half marathon races. Being as it was a small event (1800), there wasn’t a big problem with all three events starting at the same time. Our runners were up bright and early, and the first half of the relay runners were ready to go.
Charmin, Dan, Marty & Hillary at the start
It was a quick start and then they were off.
The start
Marty running into the relay transition
Charmin headed into the relay transition
And just like that, less than 50 minutes later all of our relay teams were onto the second leg.
Rebecca, Benoit, Meg & Leslie at the relay transition
Dan & Benoit were strongly in first place for the relay at this point (and therefore first place for the men’s division)
Benoit sprinting into the finish
Rebecca & Marty were right behind them, in third place overall, and first placed for the mixed relay.
Rebecca striding into the sandy finish
Just behind them were Leslie & Charmin, who took second in the women’s relay (behind two of our speedy friends Michelle & Margaret and another unknown team of 1 person…)
Leslie finishing strong on the beach
And our final team was Meg & Hillary, who came in 3rd place women’s relay without actually racing the event. Imagine what would’ve happened if they had raced!
Meg coming into the finish strong
It was definitely a great day for SCE, two 1st places and very respectable 2nd & 3rd places behind some incredible competition.
The SCE Relay teams at the finish
And of course, a shot with the fabulous Laura who is our incredible photographer (and responsible for all photos in this post), and Elise, the fearless volunteer.
Hillary, Laura, Meg & Elise
But, contrary to common thought, we’re not all about winning and seriousness, we have fun too:
Charmin & Leslie goofin’ off
What a great weekend for racing, volunteering and just having fun as a team!
Hellyer Races & Napa Marathon
The weekend of March 2 & 3, 5 of our fabulous ladies hit the ground running at two fabulous races.
First up was the Hellyer Races on Saturday, March 2. Jennifer Willoughby and Rebecca Doty headed over the hill to participate in the half marathon and 5k, respectively.
Our speedy ladies ran fast and hard, and represented SCE well. Rebecca Doty, in her first race in almost a year, managed to dominate in the 5k, and was the first female OA with a time of 20:11!
Jennifer Willoughby followed suit, also rocking Hellyer by getting a killer 13.1 time of 1:33:24, coming 2nd in her AG and 3rd female OA. What a way to start the weekend off!
Way to go ladies — you rocked it at Hellyer!!
Then a little further north on Sunday, March 3, three of our ladies toed the line of the Napa Valley Marathon. Samantha Forde, Leslie Haverstock and Kim Thomas put their months of training down on the pavement, and it was a great day for these SCE ladies.
Samantha Forde was the first across the finishline with the incredible time of 3:08:41. She finished 2nd in her AG and was 8th female overall! Next Kim Thomas crossed the finisheline with an incredible PR! She finished in 3:17:04, was 3rd in her AG and 17th female overall! Leslie Haverstock, was just behind Kim and finished in 3:21:55, 2nd in her AG and 21st female overall!
Leslie and Kim at Napa Valley Marathon
Yes that’s right — three BQ finishing times!!!
Leslie, Sam and Kim post-marathon
What a great way to start of March for these fabulous five SCE ladies! Its been a fun month of running so far — and its not even half over!
NYC’s Marathon Cancellation resulted in Big PRs for SCE Runners! Recap from Guest Blogger Kelly!
As you might know, the NYC Marathon was canceled in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Many SCE runners had trained hard and traveled to the city in anticipation of the event. Despite their sadness that the event was canceled and that people were suffering, SCE runners rallied. Some ran around Central Park and others signed for alternate marathons. Both Honorary member Kelley Puglisi (now in Washington, DC) and Jenn Betancourt (who earlier recapped her story here) scored major PRs* (Richmond Marathon and Santa Barbara Marathon respectively). Here’s a post from guess blogger Kelly on her awesome race!
*PR is runner lingo for Personal Record
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H0w the NYC Marathon Cancellation Resulted in a Marathon PR for the first time in 3 years by Kelly P.
About a month ago, I was planning to hop a bus and re-unite with some SCE women to race in the New York City Marathon. After moving to the East coast and residing in Washington, DC since August I had missed the companionship of training for long races and was looking forward to having my training partners back for a huge race.
It was Friday evening, I had been on the phone with Jenn Betancourt before she hopped a plane to NYC trying to find a new hotel that had power. Once we secured a new hotel room I went out for a 20 minute pre race shake out. When I returned I had a text message from my boyfriend and the best spectathlete in the world, Jake Parent, informing me that the Marathon had been cancelled. Not believing, I rushed to my computer hoping to find out it wasn’t true. But alas, it was.
Saddened, and disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to run or see my SCE friends and angry that the race wasn’t cancelled earlier in the week, I set out to find another race of any distance in the near by future. Searching through active.com brought me to the Anthem Richmond Marathon. Ta-da! It was like a shinning beacon of hope: next weekend, close, and a reasonable price for a marathon (compared to NYC)! So I signed up that night. Happy that my training would not go to waste I set about mentally preparing for one more week of training from coach Aaron Jacobsen.
Richmond State Capitol
Jake and I left DC Friday night for the race on Saturday. After four hours of traffic we arrived, picked up my bib, had a bit of trouble with the hotel – they lost my reservation and there were very few rooms left in the city – and finally settled in for the night. I took Aaron’s advice and woke up early and ate a good substantial meal – enough that it was hard to put down that early in the morning – and headed into downtown Richmond for our 8 am start. Arriving on the scene there were thousands of runners, some 8k-ers some half-ers and some marathoners. The start of the 8k was first, then the half and finally it was the marathoners time to go.
Cold Start
Having my own personal baggage check (Jake) was great as it was quite cold in the morning – about 34 degrees, but I knew by mile 15 that I would be warm so I only wore shorts, my SCE tank, arm warmers and gloves.
On the Line
Once the gun went off, I really tried hard and was successful at sticking to my race plan. Aaron had told me to use the first 3 miles as a warm up – 10 seconds slower than my goal race pace, and that is just what I did. It was definitely worth it too – I couldn’t feel my feet till mile 3 anyway and the beginning of the race felt like I was going out for an easy run.
Marathon Start
The course in Richmond is a beautiful and scenic – fall foliage and river crossings. The course is rolling and between miles 10 and 15 I had climbed and fallen quite a few times. Passing through the midway point was tough for me as it was the top of one of the many rollers – but I passed through 13.1 with a pace putting me right on time for a 3:15. Crossing back into Richmond was a hard segment for me as the wind blowing across the bridge at about mile 18 was a strong head wind. Some men told me to tuck in behind them but after about 5 minutes they were going too slow so I pulled away and moved on ahead. By around mile 20 I realized that was on pace to hit a PR so I kept pushing my self along. I felt good – and was able to continually pass people through the last 6 miles. I actually gave some advice to a struggling runner through mile 22 – telling her she will make it, just relax. The last half mile of the race is downhill and was oh so looking forward to it by mile 24.
The downhill finish
That downhill came and I made the most of it – finishing strong in a 3:16.41 – a 2 minute PR! My Garmin said 3:15 – but I had two potty stops and that was the time difference. I was so happy!
Running into the finish – and a PR!
I had been stuck on 3:18 as a marathon time since my first marathon – CIM in 2009. I finished 338th over all, 42 over all woman and 9th in my age group.
Done with the race!
I ate southern food and drank beer to celebrate. I had been planning to take a whole year off of the Marathon – since I had been having such horrible races – but this one has changed my mind. Contemplating the Marine Corps Marathon here in Washington DC next October – any SCE’ers care to join me and have a destination marathon next year? For now, resting and running when I feel like it – planning on attacking the half-marathon distance in the beginning of 2013.
California International Marathon – Monsoon Edition
SCE members Laura and Meg both ran the 2012 California International Marathon (CIM). (You can read Meg’s recap here.)
The CIM is well-known as a fast course, perfect for PRs and Boston Qualifying times. Laura and Meg’s training was strong and they were both looking forward to stellar performances in Sacramento. But as race day approached, Mother Nature had a nasty surprise in store!
Weather Forecast
Many runners decided not to run, on Laura’s bus to the start 4 runners decided to stay behind rather to run in these conditions. But SCE runners are nothing if not strong, Laura and Meg both ventured out into the storm.
Laura looking strong at the start
The storm was fierce and pushed against the runners hard! In the first half, runner faced pouring rain, flooded streets, and 40 mph wind gusts (against runners rather than a nice tail wind)!
Rainy, wet course
Despite this, both Laura and Meg powered through the race. Laura’s husband and SCE member, Benoit, and their daughter made multiple stops cheering on the ladies. Meg’s husband, Kevin, and her best friend, Monica, cheered them on at the finish. Always good to have cheerleaders on the course, especially in hard conditions!
Laura & her daughter
In the final mile, the sky finally cleared as a good omen for what turned out to be PRs for both Laura and Meg. It wasn’t the times they had trained for, but considering the conditions, they were both very happy!
Meg waiving as she passes the 26 mile marker
Meg Official Finishing Time 3:42:33
Laura Official Finishing Time 3:44:23
Laura post race
Finish Area in front of the State Capital
A medal never looked so sweet!
What a crazy experience! And what an accomplishment!
Grape Stomp 10k & Half Marathon
In late October, three of our ladies ventured up to Livermore, California to partake in the Grape Stomp 10k and Half Marathon. This race was planned as a fun ladies’ weekend with a splash of racing added in there.
On Saturday, the 20th, Meg, Leslie and Elise hopped in the car to head up to wine country to see the town, and carbo load with a bit of wine tasting and sushi.
The best way to carbo load
The morning of the 21st, Meg and Leslie were ready to get after it. And an injured Elise set up camp volunteering at the start/finish line.
The Half Marathon took off first, and Meg was off. She was using this run as a training run for CIM, and was just going for close-to-marathon goal pace.
Meg looking strong in the half marathon
Leslie was up shortly thereafter, toeing the front of the start line for the 10k – her eyes on the prize.
Leslie kickin’ it hard on the 10k
After the start, it seemed like a blink of an eye, and then it was time for Leslie to fly into the finish line. And fly she did — the speedy lady came in first woman overall in the 10k with a time of 42:29.
First female 10k runner across the finish
Not too long after, Meg came in strong, finishing 16th woman overall, 10th in her speedy age group, in the half marathon with a time of 1:43:42.
Meg finishing as strong as she started
The ladies waited around for Leslie to get her race spoils — a wine glass and a bottle of wine — before heading into town for a quick lunch before returning to Santa Cruz.
Post race smiles
Best race spoils ever – First place OA Woman in the 10k
It was a fabulous, fun ladies weekend, and its likely to be a return race for next year! Because there are just so many more wineries to explore –we mean races to be dominated by Santa Cruz Endurance.
Leslie, Elise and Meg at the finish line
Mermaid Duathlon & Triathlon – Capitola
On October 6, two Santa Cruz Endurance members participated in the all women Mermaid Duathlon and Triathlon held in Capitola. Shoshanah competed in the Sprint Triathlon (600m swim, 12 mile bike, 2.5 mile run) and Meg competed in the duathlon (1.5 run, 12 mile bike, 2.5 mile run). Both members had strong showing, especially Shoshanah who was the overall winner of the sprint triathlon!
The duathlon began with a run starting on the Capitola Wharf. Both runs included sprinting up East Cliff toward Opal Cliffs. The first run then weaved under the wharf, crossed the beach, and headed up Monterey Ave., a significant hill. The sprint triathlon began on the north side of the wharf and brought swimmers around it. Like the duathletes, triathletes then ran up the beach and Monterey Ave. to the transition zone. Both bike courses headed south into Aptos along Park Ave. and McGregor Dr. The hilly bike course included several steep climbs, including up Rio Del Mar by the beach. After finishing the 12 miles, all athletes transitioned to the run back up East Cliff, through Opal Cliffs, and finished their races on the sand. The women athletes encouraged each other and made for a welcoming event for athletes fo all levels.
This was Meg’s first multisport event and she went into the event largely for the experience. Despite being her first duathlon, Meg took 3rd in her age division and 22nd overall (First run: 11:56, bike: 51:39, second run: 15:39).
Shoshanah came to Mermaid to win! She destroyed the course and came in first with a nearly 2 minute lead over the 2nd place finisher. A strong triathlete, Shoshanah had fast times in all events – swim: 13:34, bike: 39:39, run: 14:17.
Both women are both now Mermaids and embody the event’s slogan: “I am fast enough, I am strong enough, I am good enough, I am a Mermaid athlete.”
Meg & Shoshanah at the finish
Mermaid medal/necklace
Whale to Whale 9/30/2012
It’s SCE tradition to run the Whale to Whale at least once a year. (We’re hoping next year it might even make multiple appearances). Its a fun, rogue race run from the Whale at the Marine Lab on the west side of Santa Cruz to the Whale on the east side of Santa Cruz near the harbor. It’s a 6 mile race that starts at approximately 8am on the day of the event, is a $10 buy in and a way to test your fitness (and if there are 12+ participants, there are monetary prizes for the top male and female finishers).
This year’s Whale to Whale happened on September 30, 2012.
We had a small, but speedy crowd of SCE and SCTC runners.
Laura (the ‘official photographer), Dan, Shoshanna, Jenn, Meg, Michelle, Margaret, Kim (volunteer), Leslie (coordinator) and Jen at the start
After registering and warming up, they were off at 8:15 from Marine Lab.
The course goes from Marine Lab down Delaware to Swanton, where you turn down to run on beautiful West Cliff.
Michelle
Margaret
Benoit, Jen and Dan
Jenn and Meg
Shoshanna
The course then goes around the river at the end of the boardwalk, and up San Lorenzo to East Cliff. It may seem crazy to run a 6 miler rogue race for fun, but its not (well thats what we tell ourselves). We do it for the community, the ability to see where we personally are running ability wise, and I mean why wouldn’t you run it when you get to run by this…
Paradise
The course passes by pretty quickly, and soon enough our speedsters made it to the finish, still all looking strong after running a speedy 6 miles.
Our runners post Whale to Whale: Jenn, Meg, Jen, Shoshanna, Margaret, Michelle, Dan and Benoit
Of course no race (rogue or not) can happen without the help of fabulous volunteers and coordinators.
Leslie (coordinator), Gaylia, Kim and Johan – start and finish line volunteers
Rebecca and Elise, the direction volunteers/cheerers on the course
And of course, no day would be complete without a photo of the whole group that made Whale to Whale possible (runners, volunteers, coordinators, photographer alike)
The Whale to Whale 9/30/2012 Crew
Thanks to everyone who came out and participated in one way or another! It was a beautiful day for running and spending time with a group of fabulous, fit and fun people! Can’t wait for next year’s Whale to Whale runs, stay tuned here for details as the races are scheduled – and we hope you will join us!!
Color Us Rad
While we normally run races pretty seriously, with goals, PRs, competition in mind, we also like to kick back, relax and enjoy running for what it is. That’s exactly what a few of our members did this past weekend, at the San Jose Color Me Rad 5k, which supports the Pacific Autism Center of Education.
Our members Meg, Jenn and Laura partook in this adventure. They started out clean, dressed in very white attire…
Meg, Jenn and Laura before the race
And as the started to run, they got, as the title suggests, a little more rad…
Getting ready for color!
Holy Pink Powder!
The color chutes weren’t quite enough for our ladies, so Meg’s friend Pat helped ’em out
Enjoying the run with a little color!
And by the end, the ladies were pretty much unrecognizable, though definitely very colorful!
Jenn, Laura and Meg Colored Rad
This is definitely not the normal race you’ll see SCE at, but it was a fun way to support a local cause, get reunited with the ‘fun’ side of running and have a blast with friends!
Excited for color and running!
And isn’t having a blast what running all about? Doing something you love, spending time with friends and having a good time?! Well, at least that’s what we think its all about. If you agree, be sure to check out our Whale to Whale on 9/30 in Santa Cruz!
Peak Performance
Written by Jeremy Page
Benoit Pelczar, Aaron Jacobsen, Julian Sunn and I completed the 13.32 mile Pikes Peak Ascent a week ago and learned a little bit about humility.
Aaron, Julian, Jeremy and Benoit at the Summit Post-Run
Just to be clear, the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon are not races. They are endurance events. The only people that might say otherwise are Matt Carpenter, or people that have really cool sounding French/Spanish last names, or people that eat chunks of granite for sustenance in the morning. Last time I checked, my last name was Page, and my morning fuel-up was a muffin. Yep, definitely not a race.
The Pike’s Peak Course Map
I knew I was out of my league when we heard the PP elites speak at the expo about their past experiences on trail running. They referred to their conquered mountains as “thirteen-ers and fourteen-ers” (13,000ft and 14,000ft peaks), as if they were commenting on which towns they frequented their favorite Denny’s. It sounded like this – “…this will be my 7th fourteen-er, and I’m looking forward to the technical aspect and how it compares to Kilamenjaro. I liked Kilamenjaro because the service is good and the tables are always clean.” See what I mean? Well, I made up that last part but that’s how they sounded. I guess I haven’t achieved enough in my life, because apparently I’m not nearly as aloof as I should be when sharing insanely cool experiences. Sarcasm, however, I was born with. It’s a gift.
Anyway, the expo was fine and surprisingly chill. Still a small town affair, despite this being its 57th year of existence. USAA, Gatorade, Strava, Petzl, and CW-X were some of the sponsor heavies, followed by a dozen or so local running, mountain climbing and brewery companies. One big tent in the park is all they needed, and it was super relaxed.
View of Pikes Peak
After the expo we walked up to the Barr Trail trailhead, just to glimpse where we would be dying in a mere 15 hours. It didn’t help. It’s up, and that’s all you need to know. Before you can even get to the base of Pikes Peak, you have to get over Mt. Manitou, which is probably the hardest 2 or 3 miles of the course. I think the grade was 15 or 16%. Also, you can’t even see Pikes Peak until mile 6.5, so you know it’s just going to be a slog fest no matter what. So Aaron smartly stayed near the trailhead, while Benoit, Julian and I lightly jogged the first handful of switchbacks. Aaron knew before we did – it wasn’t going to help to screw around on the trail today. Hey, we were excited and it seemed like a perfectly good idea at the time. Eventually, we came back down and headed back to the house for a 3 mile warm up run and a dip in the pool. Great Friday night.
Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak
Saturday morning was beautiful, bright and sunny. Too beautiful, in fact. Temperature at the 7am start was 64 degrees, and that could only mean that it was going to be hot in a hurry. The forecast called for mid-80s on the face of the mountain, but the summit could still be in the 40s. How do you plan for such a swing? Gloves and beanie balled up and shoved into my shorts, with rolled down arm warmers. Right before the gun, the guy next to me jokingly asked why I had a tennis ball crammed into the leg of my shorts. I told him you never know what you may have time for on the way up. Bang, here goes nothing.
Benoit at the Peak
The race website states that if you want to calculate your finishing time for the ascent, you take your FULL marathon time and add 30 min to it. Ouch. This turned out to be a fairly accurate calculation, however, as all of us finished close to our marathon PRs + 20-30min. The uphill is relentless. The total elevation gain is 7,815’. I found the trail loose, narrow, and fraught with gravel and sharp rocks – especially towards the top. That, combined with the altitude just robbed me of any extra power or pace I thought I could bring to the mountain. I’m certain that all of us walked more than we ran, and when we ran it was more of a glorified jog.
Post-‘Glorified Jog’ Glory
The aid stations were amazing, and it wasn’t until later that I realized some of these volunteers must have hiked in Friday and camped out with all the equipment. Every aid station had Gatorade and water, pretzels, Cheezits, M&M’s, and fruit. I was thankful to have plenty of salt, even though I hate chewing and running. Nothing like a big pasty ball of orange Cheezit stuck in your cheek to throw off your pace. I tried to offset this effect by quickly downing a cup of Gatorade, and coughed it all up on the legs of the guy in front of me. I’m so glad he was nice. He asked if I was okay, then he shrugged it off with a “Nice one. Gross.”
Hydration is really what got me through the day. I hydrated like a mad-man in the week leading up to the ascent, and I still felt like I could have done more. This Colorado air just sucks the moisture from your bones! Poor hydration combined with high altitude and running uphill, and you’re setting yourself up for some serious hallucinations followed by some salsa dancing with a SAR ranger. Okay, you won’t actually be salsa dancing, but hello, hallucinations? After dancing with the SARS, I imagine you’d get a nice helicopter ride down which equals a crappy and expensive day.
Besides the coughing incident and a few root/rock missteps, I felt like I was in the zone for most of the course. For 10.5 miles you’re running in the forest, which for me made it easier because you can’t see more than 40 or 50 yards in front of you. Once you get above 10,000ft it’s all too clear where you need to go. With 2.5 miles or so to the summit, you can see the top (you can also hear the top, which was uplifting and depressing at the same time). Unfortunately, you can also see an incredibly long zigzag of switchbacks across a rocky moonscape towering above you. Tiny zombie runners in a single file, never-ending death march that will take the life out of you if you stare at it too long. I kept my head down at that point. I wrote a song and named it “Don’t Look Up, You’re Doing Fine.” It had 2 verses and a chorus.
Switch Face
I witnessed some serious bad-asses lying on the sides of the trail above 10,000 ft. Guys that looked way more fit and gnarley than me. I’m sure that I wasn’t pushing as hard as they did when they blew up, which is why I seriously backed off at that point. So after a couple of 25 minute miles and actually running the last of the Golden Stairs for the cameras, I crossed the finish line. It hurt bad, but not as bad as I thought it would hurt. Once I calmed down my HR, I really was able to enjoy it.
Jeremy at the Summit
I met my goal, which was to finish sub 4 hours, but I didn’t really care. The fact that I pulled 4 hours out of a hat and managed to do it was just a bonus. I came for an awesome experience, and was rewarded with an amazing view and a great story.
Pikes Peak Race Shirt & Medal
Look, say what you want about mountain challenges and trail running in general, but there are only 3 certainties when it comes to running Pikes Peak:
1) 14,110 ft.
2) 11% average grade.
3) Pain.
Aaron finished with a 2:59:47
Julian finished with a 3:00:44
Benoit finished with a 3:28:29
I finished with a 3:58:30
Thanks for reading.
J
Santa Cruz Endurance 