Philly Half Marathon

[Jenn]

What a fantastic run in Philly on the weekend.  What a beautiful city!!  I'm not even sure where to start but it was a blast from the start (even though my friend Lisa and I did get sick of following the back of the Tri & Run van because we didn't know where we were going so we had to stare at Jane and Heather's ass for 8 hrs....).

Race day was beautiful as 20,000 of us gathered at the start.  This was my first event like this so it was great to have the gang with me to help me figure out where I was going.  And great to have Jeff at the start with me (as I had on Dennis' bib so I could be in that coral).  I had been warned about congestion at the start but since it turned out to be a wave start it really wasn't bad.

Running through the streets of Philly was amazing.  The crowds were great....what a rush.  Had some great conversations with other runners along the way.  There were a few surprise hills at mile 7 and 9 but luckily hills amuse Coach Sandy so I was ready for them.  My nutrition was right and I didn't need a pee break so that was all good.  Other hilarious part was that I had it figured out that I wanted to be pacing under 5min/km once I hit 16km.....so when my garmin buzzed that I was at 21km and I didn't see the finish line I thought...oh oh...how much have I got left?  I did it in 1hr 47min which I think is ok for first time.

The best part was being there to hear that Jutta won and to celebrate with everyone else.  The stories we shared after along with the drinks was a great way to hear about everyone else's run and what they saw along the way.

And yes - Tony had a great marathon and qualified for Boston but if I hear one more time that Jeff and I together ran what he did....I am going to run him over with my bike....

Thanks Patti for organizing this.  I think we may have convinced my friend Lisa to take up running.  What a great group of people to travel with and laugh with. So thanks to Patti, Jeff, Tony, Janet, Mark, Nancy, Cathy, Jane and Petra for all the support while we were down there.  I really missed Sandy and maybe even Dennis....but there is always the next event...

That's my report from Philly  - my sides still hurt from all the laughing....

My pictures are up on Facebook (Jane - you may have to show me how to post the link)..

[cucina]

Hey Jenn congrats on a great run. Sandy and I were following everyone's time during the race as we were leisurely running through the trails at Batawa . Technology never ceases to amaze( and confuse ) me. We knew your times and predicted finishes which was so cool and so exciting for us since for one reason or another we were unable to be there ourselves.

Congratualtions to everyone that ran Philly everyone did absoultely amazing.

You did us proud.

[jutta]

I just want to thank everyone for sharing my joy!
I am still on the clouds and can't stop smiling (except when I come down the stares, ouch)
Sunday's race was a perfect race; weather, beautiful route (a bit hilly though), a running buddy to pace me, people...  I felt strong and good throughout the race; the first one for me. Usually I feel dead at the end but not on Sunday. Some nagging injuries made me taper really well; 13miles of total running last week! But I felt rested and relaxed. My glycogen storages were full. I also got my left leg taped on the Expo on Friday. So, that might have helped too. The big help was a fellow runner, Greg, who I met during a race. He ended up giving me a splits, encouraging me, got crowds going, his girlfriend told me how far the second woman was from us...Really comrade feeling. I didn't now that I was leading until way after half. They told me that I was second, but then people started telling me that I was the first woman. I didn't believe but Greg said "you better believe because everyone is telling you that". I was running 6:18, 6:17 per mile all the way thru but I must have slowed down on 4 major hills. I thought Philly is flat and fast but it is actually hilly course. However, it is so beautiful route, the hills are minor part.

At the end I got to meet Bill Roger and he ended up walking with us (Tony included) in Philly for a while. What a nice fellow. The people were so kind to me after finish line. I got to spell my names over and over again. And part of my family was there; Al, Sophia and Aaron!

Shared joy is double joy! Tony, it was so memorable to see you at the end and share our great race experiences.(Tony, you rock! First marathon at 3:27!!!) And the rest of the gang, I wanted to have lunch with all of you and hear your experiences but we had to leave early since Al had to work on Monday. But wasn't it great to walk together to the starting line on the dark with you and thousands of other runners.

Even we didn't have time to hang around together that much but I felt that you were sharing my joy with me.

I am very happy. Now the snow can come. I don't have to worry about real training for a while.

Jutta

[The Moose1]

Wow!

Mike

[The Moose1]

Sorry Jutta, I misunderstood.  I thought you'd won the 1/2 marathon, not the full.  Let me amend my previous post to:
CONGRATULATIONS!
To be fair that applies to everyone who ran and finished, great job all.

Mike

[Jon]

Jutta,

That is PHENOMENAL!!!!  I don't think we've ever met officially, but I know of you through Sandy, and have seen you at races.  What a year you have had, with Boston and now this.  Enjoy the victory and the satisifaction of your hard work paying off!!!!  Incredible.

Jon
 

[Sandy]

Awesome race reports.  Congratulations to all who participated, it was fun watching the updates.

[Jane]

Wow, those were two great race reports by Jen and Jutta!  I can't even imagine what it would be like to win a small race, let alone a big race like Philly!  It was great to be able to be there and get to share that with you Jutta!  It was just thrilling.  By the way, did you know that your win was also noted on Canada AM? 

There were lots of great results on Sunday.  It was a great race.  If they could guarantee the weather like that every year, I would definitely go back!  The good driving weather down and back was a huge and very welcome bonus as well.

Jen, if you want to post a link to your facebook photos, just click at the link that is at the bottom of the album page where it shows your photo thumbnails.  It should say: Share this album with anyone by sending them this public link:  with a link underneath.  For instance, this is the link to my photos:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=343080&id=784825176&l=a49b311de9   You also have to make sure that the list of people who can view the photos is set to "Everyone" I think.

By the way, the photos are up already.  They are at http://orders.islandphoto.com/apps/RaceEvents.aspx.  Jutta has a whole album of photos, most of the rest of us have four or five.  Guess they take more of the lead runner.   :wink:Except maybe for Tony -- he has quite a few as well.  I am wondering if it has something to do with Tony's cleavage that I heard discussed after the race.      There are some great photos there all around.   

[Jenn]

Jane - you crack me up!!  Too bad they didn't get a picture of Tony watching the hawk attacking the squirrel while he was running....

[Sandy]

SQUIRREL

[Janet]

Well Jenn,
  I'm going to post my race report with yours.
I had a blast! We had a great trip (even with our foray into Jersey), laughed lots, shopped lots, ate lots (the best damn Phillie Cheese Steaks I have ever tasted), and ran a marathon in there. Mark finished his first half, and I think he even enjoyed the experience, says he'll never run a full, but we all know "never say never".
  I had started training for my race with a goal of 4:30 in mind, well come race day that was not to be. I have to say though, that I gave my best, and have no regrets with my finish.  I ran my second best marathon ever! It was a beautiful course (if not quite as pancake flat as they said), very entertaining with live bands, cheering on the streets, lots of people. The second half was a bit quieter just because of the location of running beside the river with not many access streets to get to the race route.  I think they made up for it at mile 19 in Malayuk. What a party going on there! Beer, bands, dancing, chocolate, peanut britttle,and of course the boring gels and oranges.  I met a girl running her first marathon who lived "just over there", who filled me in on quite a bit of the history of the city and what some of the statues were of and what they meant. There were statues everywhere, which was good as it distracted me from the task of running.  I heard them call Jutta's name as she crossed the finish line (Mark had just finished his half and was able to see her finish!). I waved madly to Tony in his garters and cleavage, he was flying! Saw Cathy as I was leaving Malaynuk, and she was just starting to climb a long hill, saw Jerry D just ahead of me, and it was him that kept me running the last 4 miles or so, and somewhere along the way I passed him, not sure where.  Heard the Rocky music at least a dozen times, passed some people, got passed by lots of people (not one of them telling me that they were passing on my left).  It was an enjoyable race experience, but I was glad to be finished, and did feel pretty beat up by the time I crossed the finish line. Then I crossed and who was there but Jane, Patti and Nancy. We then cheered Cathy in, and headed out for the long walk to the hotel.
Graet race everyone, glad I was able to be there to experience so many firsts and bests with everyone!

[OMG]

OMG!!! All you Phillies both Fullies and Halfies totally rock!!! Fun, fast and great food...what more could you ask for? Oh yea maybe to have actually been there! The race reports are the next best thing though...I laughed, I cried...great job guys. Special congrats to Jutta M(how do you spell that again?) JOY on super speedy wheels...WOW!!!
Way to make us proud everyone!