My first race of 2015! New Year's Revolution Run! Get out of the cold and race inside the Olympic Oval on their 442 meter running track. The challenge is to see how many laps you can complete in 5 hours. You can run for however long you would like and whatever distance. A marathon is 95.5 laps. It is a big running party! There was also the option to bring your bike and a trainer and cycle however long you would like OR you could bike/run. I do like to bike, but I LOVE to run and I wanted to see how many laps I could complete in 5 hours. The record was set at 127 laps last year. I figured I would target that goal and see what my legs wanted to do. There was a timing chip on the back of your bib, so as you completed each lap you crossed a timing mat and your lap count was displayed on a monitor. I wore my watch and hit the lap button each time I went around so I could see my lap split times. I was shooting for under 2:20 per lap and was hoping I could stay somewhat consistent the entire 5 hours.
I was a little worried about running in circles for hours on end. I had completed a 20 mile long run in the Oval before and the day after my left side of my leg ached from running in one direction. I was talking with Kim Wilkey before the race. He had run this race before and he suggested that I lean a little to the right as I turned each corner. What great advice! I didn't have the issues the day after the race that I had before. Thanks Kim!
There was one aid station set up, but I had my backpack with some gels, shot bloks, bananas, and a electrolyte drink that I could use as well. I put my backpack on the bleachers which was easy to access. My plan was to go over 30 miles and I wanted to make sure I had the right nutrition. At 8 a.m. the race started!
There were 360 runners that signed up. You could start whenever you would like. Some came a few hours after the 8 a.m. start. Even though there was a lot of people running, it didn't seem too crowded. For the most part, the slower runners/walkers stayed to the outside and the faster runners took the inner lanes. Everyone was good about moving over when you wanted to pass and I didn't mind weaving every once in awhile. I was worried about the monotony of running in circles, but it wasn't too bad. It was fun to see people that I knew. As we would pass, we could cheer each other on. I loved seeing people I knew at the aid stations as well. It was motivating as they supported and cheered you along!
For the first 2-3 hours it was easy to keep my lap time under 2:20. About 2 1/2 hours in, I ran and grabbed my i-Pod to mix it up. 3 hours in and I had to work for it a little more, but was still keeping a pretty consistent pace. I was ahead of my targeted lap count at this point and just kept plugging along. I hit the marathon mark about 3 1/2 hours into the race. A few laps later, I hit 100 laps and just had to cheer out loud. A few people looked at me funny, but I am used to that.
Heading into the last hour, I knew if I could keep my pace I could easily break 127 laps. Even though my pace was slower than when I had first started, I still felt pretty good. There was a nice blister forming on my right pinky toe, which made running a little more painful, but I only had 1 hour left. With 10-15 minutes left, I hit 127 laps. I had reached my goal and was excited to add a few more laps.
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| Kim Wilkey finishing up! |
Just under a minute before 5 hours I had completed 132 laps! I knew I didn't have enough time to complete another lap under 5 hours, but decided to do one more lap to run the entire 5 hours. My official race results:, 132 laps, 4:49:18, 36.3 miles, 8:15 min/mile average.
1st female, 4th overall. Since I placed 1st, I received a sweet trophy, a box of gels, and a certificate for a free pair of Altra shoes - woot, woot!! I ended up liking this race a lot more than I thought I would. I will definitely be back to run in circles!!
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| Kimberly Hunt - 3rd (109 laps), Me!, Camie Draxler - 2nd (116 laps) |
