The Superhero 5k in Columbia Recap

  Strictly Running is great.  I received a reminder email from them about the Superhero 5k a little while back.  I checked my schedule and saw that while I would work at the library that day, I did not have a race scheduled on the calendar.  I ran the DC Wonder Woman 5k the previous week, so I figured that if I participate in the Superhero race, I could wear that sweet red shirt I got from the previous run.

  And then my youngest, Tori, wanted to run in the race.  Years ago, Tori dressed as “Princess Hulk” when we lived in Texas.  Amanda thought it would be a good idea for Tori to reenact that again, but this time for a run. 

  Friday afternoon, I head to Strictly Running for packet pick-up.  They have everything ready, as usual, and it was quick.  In the bag was my bib, a bright yellow shirt, literature on child abuse awareness, and a voucher for a free game of bowling. 

The dog was ready for the race to start

  Saturday morning rolls around, and it is bitter cold.  I verbally ask Google for driving directions to “Segra Park,” but each time I do, my Android phone insisted on giving me three day directions to Sequoia National Park in California.  Five times.  So much for a traffic update, but at least I know where I’m going. Tori and I drive down I-126 to get to the baseball stadium, and the Broad River had a thick layer of fog slightly rising around it.  It made the Columbia skyline look amazing as we drove closer to town.  I haven’t been to Segra Park since it was renamed, and construction happening around it threw me off for a bit.

  We arrived and parked the car.  Since it was still cold and we had 15 minutes, Tori and I sat inside for a few minutes before we braved the 37 degree weather.  She had her Hulk outfit on, but she put Amanda’s old high school cheerleading sweatshirt on over it, and decided to wear a Stranger Things’ Scoops Ahoy hat instead of a tiara.  I guess season three of that Netflix series needed someone to get angry and go green.

  In the meantime, I watch several people wearing bibs get out of their vehicles and walk around the stadium.  At the ten minute mark, Tori and I get out of the car and start walking to where the others headed.  I make it five feet when a woman stops me and asks if my daughter and I were going to the race, and I reply yes.  As I answer, I turn completely around and both of our bibs are in clear view.  The woman asks us if we are running in the race or if we are here to show support, and I say “yes we are,” thinking the bibs are a dead giveaway.  She then tells us that she thinks we are going the wrong way because someone told her that the race started somewhere “north on Turner Street.”

  At this point, I’m so confused after watching at least 15 people walk around the north side of the stadium heading west and I have never heard of Turner Street.  I tell her that I watched several people walk around the stadium, and she replied that maybe I should ask the people at the stadium to make sure.  Tori and I hurry towards the stadium and we see other people trickle out of their cars and head westward… like slow moving, cold shivering miners looking for gold.

  We make it to the starting line with about five minutes to spare.  I spot Alex McDonald (pulling picture taking duties), Naomi Rabon, Jen Kryzanowski, Rocky Soderberg, Kerri Stubbs, and Clara Nance among the mass of running attire and costumes flowing throughout the start line assembly area.  Tori initially wanted to walk the course, once the race started, she was right behind me running along.

  We head north running around many costumes and capes along the way.  At the half mile area, there’s this hill that looks a little intimidating, especially for a kid who doesn’t like the cold weather.  I keep telling Tori that we need to keep a good pace, especially since other children her age are sprinting and wearing themselves out before the first mile.  We trod up the hill and make it, but eventually Tori needed to walk near the 1 mile mark. 

  We make the corner at 1.5 miles and I notice a bunch of people in blue shirts walking towards us.  I didn’t remember seeing a mass of powder blue shirts at the starting area, but Tori had slowed down quite a bit since the 1 mile mark and I just chalked it up to… fast walkers?

Heart Check participants 

  As we pass the third group of blue shirts, Tori remarks that the shirts all say “Heart Check” and both of us thought it was pretty neat that two events cross paths around the same time.  I bet the police and both event volunteers had an interesting time keeping streams of traffic from both events safe and on the right path.

  As we continue past the sea of blue shirts, Tori and I push up a hill and keep going, and the next mile was so flat that was quite refreshing.  As I run along, I reminisce on the Bunny Hop 5k that Tori and I did around there a few years ago.  We go around a few corners and make it down Calhoun Street, and I mean down because of the decline.  Tori and I turn left towards the stadium, and at this point, I have to remind Tori that we are almost done… because she IS done. It’s cold, she hasn’t run in a few weeks, and she wants to go get a Cherry Icee (Stranger Things reference).

Where is my ICEE?

  I make a deal with Tori that she will get an Icee if we finish strong.  She agrees, and I try to pump her up mentally as we round the corner and head along the walkway to the stadium interior grounds.  Tori didn’t care, but we sprint to the finish line and walk to cool down.  She and I finish around the 36 minute mark, but that didn’t matter; we stayed together the whole time. 

  We had a few minutes before Tori and I had to meet up with Amanda at the Soda City Saturday Market on Main Street, so we checked out the stands, grabbed several bottles of water, a hot dog, and some nachos.  We couldn’t stay for the awards ceremony because I had to get ready for work at the library, and a sick Amanda was probably waiting on Main Street, thus Tori and I took off.  Oh, and out car was so warm after standing around in a slightly higher 40 degrees for 10 minutes or so as we left the stadium and made our way to Main Street.

Leading up into the stadium

 

The finish line is in sight!

Please check out my video showing the course, capes, and costumes for the Superhero 5k.

The Splash and Dash Adventure Race Recap

Splash and Dash Adventure Race - Bridging parts together

 The Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission recently held the Splash and Dash Adventure Race on 18 May. Originally scheduled for September, Hurricane Florence upended any activities planned that week. Thus the ICRC postponed the event with the aspirations that it would happen in the Spring. 

  I became aware of the Splash and Dash Adventure Race in April. I eyeballed the South Carolina Governor’s Cup race which would take place the same day, but I could not pass up doing a three part event with my wife.  The ICRC advertised the Splash and Dash as a two mile trail run, a four mile bicycle trek, and a one mile kayak paddle in Saluda Shoals Park.

These trees were spared by any bad weather

 It definitely sounded different than running a 5k or a half marathon, but still offered cardio exercise through the entire duration. It also meant I work together with my wife.  Teams could be two or three people, with “early” pricing being 25 dollars per person before the fifth of May, and regular registration costing 35 dollars per person afterwards until the day of the event.

  Our only preparation involved bringing our own bicycles, preferably mountain type, and helmets for the race. The ICRC would provide the watercraft, paddles, and life preservers.  I ran several races in Saluda Shoals Park before, so hearing this would be a trail race, I got excited because it meant I could wear my On Cloudventure shoes again.  Both of our bicycles are hybrids, so lowering the tire pressure a little, should set us for the race.

  Saturday morning, while pretty much every runner headed downtown to take part in a fantastic race Amanda and I joined just over a dozen others in our little adventure.  We parked on the east side of the park and picked up our packets.  We then proceeded to move our bicycles to the transition station about 100 feet or so away.  Amanda is the triathlete of the family, so she tried to prepare her bicycle on the bike bar as she normally would, but someone built the bar too high, so she positioned her bicycle underneath facing outward for easy transition. I followed suit, but noticed most others did not.

Taking Off

  We head back to the start line and listen to the overall scheme of events, the safety brief for the course, and how the ICRC had to adjust the course due to recent rising water levels from Lake Murray, thus modifying the run route, adding half a mile to the bike trek, and preventing us from paddling a mile on the river. Instead, we would paddle a canoe through a set of obstacles in Saluda Shoals’ pond. When the announcer tells everyone that she will count down from “ten” and that’s when we would start, people start going when she gets to “seven” (anxiousness, I suppose), so she released all of us then started the official clock.

The 1 mile turn-around

  The crowd starts running, but Amanda can only walk and we trail behind. However, never count out a walker, especially one who can clocked in a 12 to 13 minute mile pace during our 5k and 10k races.  We start down the road, but the course transitions into a trail route for almost the entire trek. Once we hit grass and dirt, I felt relieved that I wore my Cloudventure for this. The two mile course ended up being a mile out and back because the river swelled up and consumed a part of the return route from the original plan.  So as Amanda and I hit two-thirds of the first mile, we see a dad-son team run past us.  About two minutes later, we see the rest of the pack coming at us.  We do make it to the one-mile mark and turn around, and scoot back. Along the way, we cross the paved road a few times, and see a team on bicycles as we finish up the first leg of the race.

Had to walk up this hill. It was too steep

  We make our way back and get to the bicycle transition station. Our bikes sit alone, but once we reach the area, Amanda and I quickly pop on our helmets and pedal off. The bicycle portion consisted of part road biking and part trail riding. Before the race, I set our bikes’ tire pressure to 65 psi because I wasn’t sure of the terrain we would traverse, and I think 60-65 psi overall was a good choice. 

  We take off and follow the white arrows to a path. We weave in and around on the trail before we hit a couple of hills. I didn’t think Saluda Shoals could pack in such elevation spikes and dips along the trail, but I was wrong. In fact, a few times I hopped off my Cannondale and walked up steep inclines, with one time for a decline.  Part way through the trek, Amanda and I got lost. That sounds crazy, especially since at that point we rode on a paved trail, but somehow we missed signs for crossing the road. Instead, Amanda and I veer right and pedal up to the main entrance.  After wildly looking around, we circle the Environmental Center’s parking lot. Thanks to a friendly patron, we head back and retrace our steps. Once we neared the Broad River Road, we see an event volunteer and cones along the road. We ask him where to go, and Amanda and I made it back on course.

Wrong turn! Wrong turn!

Paddling is harder than it looks

  Once we finished the second leg, we reach the pond. They had a two person canoe ready for us and informed us we had to maneuver three obstacles. I’m not the best seafarer, but I can at least navigate a one-person kayak. A two person canoe is a different story. I take the front and try to steer the canoe, but it was more comical than anything else.  According to Strava, we paddled the course in 3 minutes and 18 seconds. Not bad for a very amateur uncoordinated person.

  We finish up by cycling back to the finish line, which was about 300 meters away. While we were the last to cross, and our time was 1:17 and some seconds, the ICRC awarded Amanda and me for our efforts. We each received a glass with the “Splash and Dash Adventure Race” logo on it and we each received a certificate to redeem for either for a one hour canoe rental or a two hour tube rental. Combine that with the t-shirt we got, and the Adventure race definitely seemed like a good deal.

 

The spoils of the race

The 2018 Savannah Bridge Run Recap

Disclaimer: I received a free entry into the Savannah Bridge Run because of my agreement to share footage I recorded during the race.

  I first learned about the Savannah Bridge Run while I researched hotel accommodations for next year’s Cooper River Bridge Run.  When Enmarket’s Savannah Bridge Run popped up during a search result, I dove deeper and learned quite a bit about “the South’s Toughest Bridge Run.”  This particular race offered three distances: the 5k, the 10k, and “the double pump” which is a combination of the two for a total of 15 kilometers.

  The 5k race starts on Hutchinson Island and crosses the Talmadge Bridge in a north to south fashion before finish a block away from the Savannah Civic Center.  The 10k starts at the Savannah Civic Center, goes across the bridge to the 5k start point and turns around to complete at the same finish line as the 5k.  The Double Pump has participants run with the 5k crowd and then take off with the 10k people during the start time. 

  Working with one of the organizers, I opted for the 5k race since the vast majority of the up-to 3,000 participants does that race.  I guess going over the bridge once is enough for most people.

  As usual, I had my GoPro set up a week before the race. I studied the course map, looked at previous years’ results, and prepared my race attire for a balmy run.  But as the week went on, a cold front took hold of my city and had me a little worried.  I thought that if a cold front hit central South Carolina, what would take its place when it finally lifted?  I checked the weather and from Columbia down to Savannah, meteorologists predicted warmth with some rain from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.  Each passing day, I looked at updated weather information for Savannah, and while prospects of delayed rain sounded good, I added my GoPro selfie stick to my gear list in case the weather worsened. 

  We made our way down to Savannah Friday afternoon and had rain showers teasing us along the way.  I almost got ran off the road by a moving rental truck because the driver didn’t pay attention while changing lanes; these were not good signs. 

  We arrived at the Savannah Bridge Run expo with 40 minutes to spare, but from planning ahead earlier in the week, I asked a fellow Team Red White and Blue member to pick up our packets.  She worked a booth for the Publix Savannah women’s half marathon & 5k and happily handed us our shirts, bibs, and safety pins. 

  After checking into our hotel, I looked at the weather once again.  This time, weathermen predicted the rain would hit the Savannah area at 7 AM.  Up until that time, 7 AM on a Saturday, looked like 20% chance of rain with 90-100% happening after 1 PM.  Great, I thought to myself, I really did not want to aim the GoPro at myself the whole race.  But that is the only rain-proof set up I have for my GoPro. 

  Now, the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run uses an app to push out information in addition to having a dedicated website.  According to both, 5k participants were highly encouraged to park at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, located right next to the 5k starting line.  Trolleys would bring people from the finish line back to their original spots.  Since we left our daughters back at the hotel, I parked near the Civic Center and we caught a race trolley up to the starting line assembly area. 

  At the starting line, I saw a plethora of ruckers, quite a few costumed individuals and families, a handful of Team Red White and Blue shirts and apparel, and many, many people gathering around and talking.  I almost felt like I was back in Charleston for their Bridge Run.  The race announcer came on the speaker systems several times to put out information and one of the biggest for everyone out there was that runners should form up on the left side of the start line and walkers should go to the right side. 

Near the start. Runners to the left and walkers on the right

  We were supposed to start at 8 AM for the 5k race.  Here is where I tip my hat to the race organizers; the last race trolley carrying runners from the main land got stuck in traffic and they didn’t want the runners to miss out, so the race organizers held off the start by almost 15 minutes.  I believe this to be a good decision on their part.  There may have been almost 2500 people already at the start line, but that last bus of about 40 people would have missed out on an electrifying time.  No one complained or booed when the announcer explained why the race didn’t start on time.

  As per usual, I make my way to the very back of the crowd before the race started.  I really need to gauge crowds better, because once the race officially started, it took me three full minutes to cross the actual start line.  AC/DC’s “Thunderstuck” played at the signal of the race start, and it sounded almost done once I had room to run.  I’m not fast anymore, but according to Strava, it took me 10 and a half minutes to complete my first mile, mostly from being around the back crowds.  But I still had fun because I knew I couldn’t compete with the likes of sprinters, fitness fanatics, professional runners, and people still in the military.  I will say that my mile times throughout the race got better as I moved past people and as the crowds thinned out.

Near the 1st mile mark. Still crowded but thining.

  That first mile may have been very crowded, but it didn’t have the huge incline.  The second mile contained all of the bridge, and while the top of the bridge was only 100 feet higher than the rest of the ground, that incline got to a lot of people.  I thoroughly enjoyed it though, which is surprising because that incline is a steeper angle than what takes place in Charleston.  Once I crested the top of the bridge, that steep incline gave way to a steep decline, but I still ran with a relatively smooth pace or at least what felt like a good pace.  

Here comes the exhaust fumes

During my time on the bridge, I paid sharp attention to the traffic.  Everyone running in the race stayed in the marked-off right lane of the right side of the bridge, with the left lane of the right side of the bridge allocated for traffic going the same way as us.  The left side of the bridge had two lanes open for oncoming traffic.  I wish the right side of the bridge was completely shut down for just pedestrians and vehicle traffic restricted to the left side of the bridge.  This thought came to mind as a semi-trailer rolled past a bunch of us and we breathed in its exhaust.  Fortunately, that was the only big vehicle going past us during the race.

  The third mile occurred during the off-ramp and contained the one other incline for the race, something that mentally caught me off-guard.  But that was uneventful and my third mile time jumped back to a somewhat normal 8:30ish mile time. As I neared the finish area, I saw a supportive crowd behind pedestrian gates.  I rounded that corner and saw the finish line, got my finisher’s medal after crossing and looked for a bottle of water.  The overall atmosphere at the finish line felt festive. 

  One of the biggest things I think about when it comes to a race is water station placement.  I am used to water stations near mile markers or at easily accessible spots along the course.  This course had two stations: one around the .4 mile mark and again at the 2.7 mile mark.  I presume the organizers placed the water stations before and after the bridge due to space limitations on the bridge itself, but I know I was not the only one who would have enjoyed a refreshing drink after running a mile.  I found the water table after the finish line and two different size water bottles were offered to finishers.  I also got to eat some fruit; there was no shortage of bananas, much to my delight.

  The medal itself looks very nice and I’m quite impressed with the weight, feel, style, and overall composition of the bridge medal.  The long sleeve race shirt is a thin Delta Dri shirt and will definitely be worn in cool weather while I’m running.  

It is a nice view up here

  Other than the weird water station placements and traffic driving in the lane next to us on the bridge, this was definitely a nice experience and something I recommend to anyone who would be in the Savannah area in early December.  Walking or running over the Savannah River on the Talmadge Bridge is not something that can not normally be done unlike the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston.  So when an event like this happens, that is your ticket to conquer this particular bridge.

You can check out what the race looked like around me with this video: 

 

What Is Inside A Honey Stinger Variety Pack?

  I recently became a Honey Stinger Ambassador and wanted to stock up on some of their products.  I’ve been a fan of their organic honey waffles for quite a while, but haven’t tried some of their other items.  So when I saw Honey Stinger offered a 10 piece variety pack, I jumped on it.  Honey Stinger uses organic honey as their main ingredient for fuel and helps anyone who wants looking for that bit of energy for their outdoor enjoyment.

  The other day, my Honey Stinger package arrived and I was pretty stoked to check out its contents.  Opening the box, Honey Stinger packed my variety pack in a Cherry Almond Protein Bar box, but had markings indicating that this was indeed their variety pack.

10 items to try, test, and enjoy

Organic Waffles. Love the Wildflower Honey.

 The first group of Honey Stinger goodness were four waffles.  Two organic packs consisting of one pack lemon flavored and one pack vanilla flavored. The other two packs are gluten free and consist of one pack wildflower honey and one pack salted caramel flavored.  Most people find Honey Stinger's organic waffles to be good before or during a run. 

Next, I pulled out Honey Stinger's two bags of organic energy chews.  I received two in their variety box: Pink Lemonade and Fruit Smoothie.  These make for a perfect energy snack, either on the go or just to tide over hunger until a main meal.  I tried the Pink Lemonade and they were so delicious, I was disappointed I only got one pack.

I think Pink Lemonade will be my favorite energy chew

 After the energy chews, I grabbed their two packed-in snack bars.  One is almond butter, dark chocolate, and sea salt while the other consists of peanut butter, milk chocolate, and sea salt. These are advertised as a good snack to have.

Better than a granola bar

Up next, I snagged the energy bar. Don't let the picture fool you, the rocket chocolate energy bar looks a lot better in person.  This category of Honey Stinger products is great for during or after exercising.  

Better in real life

And the final one is the Honey Stinger Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond protein bar.  Protein bars are great for strength training and people recommend eating them during or after a workout.  I, for one, will pass this particular protein bar to my wife, since I am not a fan of coconut in my food.  But that is why a variety pack is good to get, for the variety and if there is something that is not to your liking, you can always give it to a friend, colleague, or a family member.