Posts Tagged ‘Running’

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Run Austin Run Half Marathon

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Race CourseIt’s taken way too long to post about this race… so I’m going to put something (small) up rather then nothing at all.

The inaugural Run Austin Run Half Marathon was held on Oct 11, 2009. The event was just the right size… not too many people, but enough to support the required aid stations.

All in all, the event went pretty well. The morning brought dark skies and rain, which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, this scared away some of the aid-station volunteers and most of the finish-line vendors. But all this stuff is really just icing on the cake that is a fun run through Austin’s west side. The course support like road-blocks and medical tents were all in place, so a few missing volunteers is OK.

The minor issues are easily be attributed to the fact that it was the first time the event was being held. I have high hopes for next year’s event.

There are a few photos of me on the official race photographer’s website.

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Posted in Austin, Racing | 1 Comment »

Vancouver 3,4,5 – West End Runs

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Since I had to actually do some work for a couple days, my runs have been limited to the West End of Vancouver. All of the runs were very pretty, and exactly what I needed to wake up in the morning. The first run (orange) is the sort of traditional “go around Stanley Park” run for 6.9 miles. The second (green) was a venture out to see False Creek and the little island of stores for 9.6 miles. The third was a “ok, let’s do something a bit shorter this time” for just 3.6 miles.

All totaled, I got 48 miles of running and hiking into just 6 days. Add in 3 full days of academic conference and I’d say it was a pretty darn good trip!

The last three runs of my trip

The last three runs of my trip

Links

  1. gpsies.com: Stanley Park Track
  2. gpsies.com: False Creek Track
  3. Google Earth: Stanley Park Track
  4. Google Earth: False Creek Track
  5. Garmin: Stanley Park Track
  6. Garmin: False Creek Track

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Vancouver – 1a (Sasamat Lake)

Monday, May 18th, 2009

(Read Vancouver -1 first)

Overhead view of Sasamat Lake / Woodhaven Swamp run

Overhead view of Sasamat Lake / Woodhaven Swamp run

Like my other runs and hikes, this route was taken from VancouverTrails.com. Basically this is two loops connected by an out-n-back segment. I arrived at the park at about 8am on a holiday (Victoria Day) and half expected to find a bunch of families setting up for a day at the beach. Maybe it was the still-a-bit-chilly weather, or maybe it was the this-is-to-early-for-families, but the part was near-on deserted.

The trail around Sasamat Lake itself is in excellent condition and easily run-able for anyone. The trail leading from the lake up to Woodhaven Swamp is steep but well maintained. Other then the short segment that parallels and then crosses the road, the trail is surrounded by picturesque forest the entire way. The Woodhaven Swamp is particularly scenic and the air full of birds calls.

There’s really not much more to say about this run… it’s just a really good, pretty, short trail that I would recommend to anyone.

Links

  1. View or download this track from gpsies.com: Sasamat Lake Track
  2. View the track in Google Earth: Sasamat Lake Track for Google Earth
  3. Use the track on your Garmin: Sasamat Lake Track for Garmin

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Posted in Canada, Running | 2 Comments »

Vancouver – 1

Monday, May 18th, 2009

For my first full day in Vancouver, I had big plans on running and hiking three different trails in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. The first two trails were in Belcarra Regional Park just north of the town of Ioco, about an hour’s drive away and the third was somewhere between there and my hotel. The short version of these runs:

  1. What a wonderful idea, I can’t wait to see what comes next!
  2. What the heck was I thinking… there’s no way I’m doing a third run.
  3. N/A

I’ll add more details about these runs and the photographs shortly and add links to this post as soon as possible.

After these runs, I was dead tired. A tummy full of chocolate milk and GORP kept me from falling over, but getting to the hotel and taking a nap was priority number one… which I managed to do safely (no thanks to the 57 traffic lights along the way). The forecasted rain held out all day until I pulled into my parking place, and it’s been a steady drizzle ever since. Good Vancouver weather I suppose… I’m just thrilled that it waited so long.

For dinner, I tried to find a pizzeria recommended by the internet, but it seems to be missing from the street corner that Google maps told me to go to. Luckily, while driving around like a tourist who doesn’t know where he’s going, I found Rebellious Tomato, a gourmet and organic pizza place. Go Drew! An all-organic Thai-curry chicken pizza was exactly what the doctor ordered… If you need a pizza in Vancouver some day, check these guys out.

Ok, so check the other posts about the run/hikes from today. Otherwise, that’s it for now.

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Posted in Canada, Running | 2 Comments »

Cap10k 2009

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
0:49:00

This weekend’s Capitol 10k was great: the weather was cool but sunny, parking went smoothly, and we even managed to start together this time. In the end, there were two big results:

  1. We both ran under 8 minute miles for the first time (7:53 and 7:57)
  2. Drew beat Gwen to the finish for the first time

This year we started closer to the front then we have in the past. I think this decision alone saved us 30 seconds worth of ducking and dodging around other people.

Official Results

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