Just 5 days ago ran my fastest 10K at the BolderBoulder – next up, the Taste of Louisville Half Marathon.
Far fewer folks running this race than Monday’s 54,000+ participants in Boulder. That said, really enjoy supporting my local hometown – and most of this race was run on trail (better on the knee than road racing).
Goal today was to stick to marathon pacing (& simmer my competitive juices). Followed a lady matching my stride for 3 miles – but then she dropped off. Ho hum. Next was ‘coughing’ guy who stayed just wing-span behind me ‘til mile 6. Small hill, he finally lost the lung or took an oxygen break. At mile 8, followed a guy my age who consistently out-kicked me uphill, but whom I later passed at the 10 mile water station.
Mile 12 – Aquarius Hill. Why a huge hill so near the end? Ugh. Saw it coming but kept thinking the race route would loop around the hill – not straight UP. Double ugh. Made peace with the situation and focused on running UP – not walking like many of the competitors ahead of me. Can’t say I ran much faster than their walk – did this more as a mental victory.
Last half-mile finished on Main Street (literally right into the Taste of Louisville). Because this last section was flat, I caught a glimpse of the ‘Finish Line’ early. Sucked up air & decided to sprint — picking up serious pace. Passed tens of confused runners wondering where the heck I’d been hiding all this time.
Crowd cheered my fast finish & the race announcer called out my name – that was kinda cool 🙂
Finish Time: 1:53.37 – 49th overall, 7th in my age group
3 races over 13 days – taking a break.
Watching Rockies/Padres game Friday night, climbing RMNP’s Hallett Peak Saturday morning.
Taste of Louisville Half Marathon
2013 Door of Fame
Who doesn’t love a parade? ..and in a small town – the BEST!
The temps cooperated for early December – that said, was mighty happy to have my gloves. Enjoyed the evening with the Pyper family from church – and saw more and more folks I knew as we walked the parade route. Lovin’ my new hyper-local life!
Live Nativity scene adorned with donkey & goat, carolers, Santa, a dinosaur (seriously) – and of course, the Parade of Lights (which included our newly crowned state football champs – Go Monarchs!)
LOVE LOVE LOVE my adopted Colorado hometown 🙂
Parade of Lights returns to Downtown Louisville Friday
Downtown Louisville is set to shine when the Parade of Lights returns to Main Street Friday, Dec. 7.
The Louisville Chamber of Commerce’s annual event will start at 6 p.m. with a living nativity scene, a petting zoo and choirs.
Santa will sit in front of the chamber building, 901 Main St., from 6 to 7 p.m. to listen to children’s wish lists.
The parade begins at 7 p.m. and travels north on Main Street.
Louisville ‘Parade of Lights’ 2012 (short clip)
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- my first ‘Parade of Lights’
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- downtown Louisville
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- Shawn with Bones, the Christmas Dinosaur?
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- Pyper family AND a donkey (yeah, that’s how we roll in Colorado)
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- baby Anders with the Clauses
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- start of the Parade, Hooray!
Not sure if I was inspired by my sister’s aggressive running regimen or whether I simply missed the excitement associated with running in an organized race…but on Saturday September 1st, I competed in my first road race since 2009.
As a kickoff to the Labour Day weekend, my town holds an annual 5k/10M road race named Coal Creek Crossing. Sure I only started running consistently again in July…but with me it’s always ‘Go Big or Go Home’ — so sign me up for 10 miles. LOL>
With such an early start, was able to snap a shot of our Blue Moon followed soon after by a pic of the Saturday morning sunrise.
The race wandered over local trails in both Louisville & Lafayette — very little of the running required on paved road. Kept my pace slow & consistent, really enjoying the experience. THEN came mile 9. Ok, strike that. Rather I saw the 9 mile race marker ahead — high high UP on Aquarius Hill. Can’t say I had ever heard of Aquarius Hill previously, but I will remember it now.
I survived of course, completed my race and headed over to the pancake breakfast pavilion. FAAAANNNTASTIC finish!
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- ‘blue moon’ still visible at race start
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- bib pick-up
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- 7am sunrise start
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- ‘Go Big or Go Home’ – local 10 mile road race
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- pancake breakfast finish — FAANNNTASTIC!
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- road race booty — why we really do this
Fast forward 2 days. I received an email detailing my race results (which I thought had been halfway decent). Talk about humbling. Ouch! These Coloradans are machines. Ok, ok — just wait ’til next year.
Thanks for participating in the Coal Creek Crossing 10 Mile.
Results for K R Haga:
You placed 96th out of 132 finishers in a time of 1:36:57 for a pace of 9:42 per mile.
Out of 67 men you finished 56th. The winning time for men was 59:19.
