Yule Light up the Night

by smuldowney | Dec 30, 2014 | Race Recaps

 
Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014 • 4:30 pm NH Motor Speedway • Loudon, NH 

This was race #14 in 2014 and was a last minute addition to my calendar.  Brian encouraged me to do it since I had done 13 in 2013. I am happy I decided to do it because it was the best “race.”

I went into it thinking that it would be a jog through the thousands of Christmas lights. Brenna was doing it with me and she had not been running so I was focused on enjoying the sights.

Here’s a quick selfie while we waited for the race to start and us at the starting line just before the race.  

We took off just as the sun set and all the lights were on. We used our new lit hats and took off at a decent jog. Brenna asked to walk as we hit the .7 mile mark and so we did for a very short time before she set off jogging again. She only asked to slow down one other time at about the mid point. The last half of the race was a strong one and she never stopped. One of our favorite parts was running through the tunnel of   lights. As we approached the last .3 miles, Brenna took off and I was never able to catch her. She passed by Brian who thought something must have happened to me when he did not see me with her. She was ecstatic that she beat me. I was so happy that her last race was her best! Unfortunately, I do not think we will do this race again. It was a nightmare exiting the parking lot and took us more than 1 hour to get out!

My stats:

•   Overall Time: 21:35.8
•   Pace: 10:48
•   Overall Place: 587

Brenna’s stats:

• Overall Time: 21:33.9
• Pace: 10:47
• Overall Place: 586

Novemberfest Trail Race

by smuldowney | Dec 1, 2014 | Race Recaps

Sunday November 23, 2014, 11:33am

I learned 2 lessons on this sunny fall morning.

This is such a low key fun race that I thought I would dress up for it. I got my shirt at Target for 50% off right after Halloween. It came with a cape! I found the Batman socks at Kohl’s in the Men’s department and they too have capes! I was so excited about my costume, I didn’t think about the weather and whether it would be appropriate or not.

lesson #1 If you are comfortable waiting for the race to start, you are dressed too warmly.

It was a bright sunny morning, but the weather had been up and down, so the trails had a little bit of everything: mud, snow, ice, branches, etc. Being a trail race, I knew I had to pay attention to the ground, but my legs felt heavy and I was warm. I got tripped up a couple of times before the big fall. One of my feet caught something and I went flying – landing flat on my belly and scraping my left arm/hand and right knee.

lesson #1 Dressing like a superhero does not mean you can fly like a superhero.

Despite falling and really not feeling this race, I finished in a reasonable time [3:04 slower than in 2013].  This 5 Mile Trail Race through Mine Falls Park is less than 10 minutes from home, is no frills and fun, and only cost me $13.25 – lots of reasons to make it an annual event.

64 F4049 SANDRA MULDOWNEY     43 F   764 MERRIMACK    NH   47:49  9:46

The Great Pumpkin 10K Relay

by smuldowney | Nov 10, 2014 | Race Recaps

This certainly was a different race – only 80 teams [160 people], no shirt, hat, etc., no bib number or timing chip.  Our tiny pumpkin served as our “timing chip.”

 It was held on Saturday November 1st at Flagg Hill Winery at 10am. Russ met us there. It was a cloudy, cool, damp morning, hence the headband and mittens, on me.  Here we are just before the start of the race.

It was a 10K relay race with each team member doing 2 legs. I decided to do Leg 1 and 3 and Russ did Leg 2 and 4. This is what the first pass off looked like. They had photographers on the course, but unfortunately, many of the pics came out blurry.

We ran down a dirt road into the vineyard fields and took a right into the woods. The trail was narrow and quite steep at parts.  We were forewarned about a spot where we had to be careful of the stream down below. When I got to that spot, I knew what they were talking about. Everyone came to a stop to figure out how they were going to go down the steep hill. I was scared and decided to kind of go down sideways and then make the sharp turn at the bottom to stop myself from slipping into the trees before turning left and heading up the next hill and out of the woods into the fields again. This is how the course went – in/out of the woods.

It was a fun, yet challenging race given the terrain and weather [it started drizzling during the race, so we both got wet and cold]. I would recommend it to someone who wants a trail race with some challenges but does not want to do the full 10K distance alone.

My previous best 10K time was 55:48.

Pell Bridge Run

by smuldowney | Nov 2, 2014 | Race Recaps

     October 26, 2014

We headed straight for the Newport Visitor’s Center on Saturday  for packet pickup. This was easy and I like the long sleeve blended shirt I got. Afterwards we headed to my parent’s house for dinner and to spend the night. On Sunday, we woke up at 4:10 and left Somerset at 4:45. We Arrived in Newport at 5:30 and quickly found parking at the Citizen’s Bank lot just off America’s Cup Ave. After using the porta-potties at the visitor center, we loaded on the bus at 5:51. It was pitch black, 56  degrees and cloudy. After a short ride over the bridge, we arrived near the toll booth in Jamestown.  

We waited in the dark on an access road with thousands of people. Going into the porta-potties in the dark was fun – NOT! We noticed the pace marker signs up and said our goodbyes, since hubby was going to walk the course and take pics, while I hoped to run it at about a 9 minute pace. I think there were lots of people walking because there was plenty of room in my pace group area until we moved down the road and onto the street where the race was going to begin. At that point everyone got all bunched up including runners and walkers. The start was not my favorite. We were very crowded and had to watch out for those walking. Daylight was a welcome as we went through the toll booth and onto the bridge.

The run uphill over the bridge was a challenge but so worth it, since the sights were beautiful. I made a point to look out to both sides of the bridge.

This was definitely an “experience race” and I was not going for a PR, so why not stop and take a selfie on the bridge. I don’t know why I look surprised or scared!

I felt good going over the bridge and coming into town where there were a few spectators, but not many. The finish line had a few more people as well as a very perky race announcer, which was fun.  Here I am waiting for Brian to finish.

I was pretty pleased with my finish.

Merrimack, NH
Bib #: 1087 | 43F

Time: 37:00
Pace: 9:29/M
Division: Pell Bridge Run

Overall Place: 687/3034 | 22.6%
Age Group Place: 40/255 | 15.7%