Syracuse Mountain Goat

The Syracuse Mountain Goat is a very hilly 10 mile race. "Hilly" is relative of course. People in Vail Colorado would think it's not bad whereas people from the Florida Keys would thinks it's alpine running. Lol.

My wife and I have run this twice before. I was going solo this time around. We drove out the morning of the event and paid to park in a parking lot very close to the start. We probably could have found some free parking elsewhere, but we wanted to be near the start where my wife could sit back in the car and read while I was on the course.

This was one of those days I don't care for... cold and rainy. Many people wore tights. I was contemplating which was to go and stuck with shorts and a very light long sleeve shirt. No hat, but I had some cheap throw away gloves. I run all winter long... outside and every single day. In the snow, sleet, and whatever cold temperatures come. So I'm not a fair weather runner. Still, I never care for standing around waiting for a race to start shivering in the rain. But soon and with good fortune the race started. A half mile later and I was at a good (and warm) operating temperature.

The race is pretty tame to start. Then come long sustained hills. Early in the race that is no problem. As the race goes on the hills take their toll. And what goes up must come down. There are some steep (again relative) downhill sections that often pound the crud out of feet and calves.

There are plenty of water stations along the course. I tend to bring my own just because I train that way and, let's face it, the aid stations are often crowded. I'd rather avoid the bottleneck and carry my own. It's overkill, but a choice I make. I use a Hydraquiver Single Barrel. It's sort of like a small pack with a holster to hold a single water botttle. It has a zippered section in the back for things like phone, car keys, and stuff I'd be needing after the race. The shoulders straps each have a pouch that can fit gels, sunglasses, iPod, etc. I often use this because I'm carrying things for myself and my wife when we race. Again, overkill in a race with aid stations. But I don't think it slows me down at all.

Ultimately, the race was fun and certainly a challenge. Too many people are out looking for a flat and fast course. Why? Have some fun with something that really pushes you. My time was 1:21:16. Not fast but not slow. I'm just a MOP guy trying to have fun staying fit anyway. The post race food and music was great. This race has beer, but I'm not so much into that. I grabbed a banana, a chocolate milk, and some cookies. The jacket and medal are cool. I bought the glasswear too because I liked the design. Running this race was a blast and I'm pretty sure I'll be back next year depending on what else is on the calendar.

Marine Corps Devil Dog Double

I haven't posted anything on this blog in forever. It's basically a dead blog, but I should add some race reviews when I'm able. One fun race I did last weekend was the Marine Corps Devil Dog Double. This race was a combination of the Semper Five and then straight into the Historic Half. The race was in Fredericksburg VA.

My wife ran the Semper Five and left the extra miles up to me. 😄

I did the race on a spur decision. I picked up the bib from another runner who needed to transfer. That's a great benefit of many of the Marine Corps races. They offer deferrals and transfers within certain windows of time. This was going to be a tight schedule because I needed to drive down  on Saturday (9 hour drive), followed by a 6:40 race start, and then a 9 hour drive back home. I wouldn't recommend that tight of a race weekend, but I had to be back to work Monday for a 13 hour day. So it had to play out that way.

The race is unique. It starts with running the Semper Five, which is 5 miles. It includes "hospital hill" which is a challenging hill based more upon length than outright ascent. I ran a race called the Mountain Goat weeks beforehand and that is a hilly race by far. So hospital hill, while challenging, wasn't really a factor for me. The twist on this race is that runners must maintain at least a 9 minute mile pace throughout the 5 miles to get to the start of the Historic Half. For some this was easy. For others this was much tighter window. I ran the Semper Five in 41:15. Then the runners do a 180 and head right out onto the 13.1 mile main course.

So at this point all the regular runners for the half had already started and were 20 minuted ahead of me and the other Devil Dog runners. After a couple miles or so I started running into the slower runners from the half. The grouping got more and more as I made my way into the BOP and slower MOP runners. The Devil Dog had about 500 runners whereas the half had over 5,000. So it quickly became hard to stick to a solid pace because there were people everywhere to run around. It was actually quite tiring because of speeding up to go around people, veering around small groups, and slowing when I couldn't get through. I'm not complaining, just stating that it burnt more energy than typical. I hit hospital hill the second time with about 2 mile left in this 18.1 mile combo. That hill did make me work hard this time around. I was ready to be done. Soon enough I was at the finish with a 2:02:00 half marathon. That isn't a fast time, but I was satisfied given the 5 mile lead-in to this half.

Overall, it was a great race. The Marines always do a great job. I'll try to be back next year. But this time with extra time off from work so I don't have to slog it back 9 hours after a long race. The medals were wicked cool. The Blue Mile is very moving (blue mile is where servicemen and women who have died are honored. Their pictures line that section of the course and voluneteers, many family members, hold American flags throughout the entire section.)

The bling is phenomenal. The shirt is cool, and you get three medals for the Demper Five, Historic Half, and of course completing the Devil Dog Double.