Worth Reading

 * Ready for a new challenge? Try reverse running.

* Outside magazine puts Tough Mudder’s First Death Into Context.

* Beautiful with brains: Why the whole concept of a bikini body is bunk.

* The running racket: How big business wrecked the marathon. “The average entry fee for the top 25 U.S. marathons has gone up 35 percent since 2007, to $112—three and a half times faster than inflation—according to the industry association RunningUSA.”

Video of the Week

Friend and fellow runner, Rob Frank, and his crew — including runner Matt Kleck, filmed this awesome Beast on the Bay promo video during the 3-mile trial run:

HOWEVER…..there’s an even BETTER one of Matt Kleck doing a total face-plant in the lake. His “friend” Robb slowed down the video and added sound…it’s hilarious.  If you know Matt or Rob or work out with Steve Krauza and his Team Adrenaline gang, ask them about it, and I’m sure they’ll share it with you.

Here’s a screen grab:

Poster of the week

FACT:

T-Shirt of the Week

Available here in various styles starting at $14.99

Early birds get the lowest race fees! If you’re planning to participate in the Erie Marathon this year, register by June 1 for just $50 for the marathon and $40 for the 1/2 marathon.

Marathon race directors, Jan Comi & Mike Vieyra, recently sent the following  note to 2012 participants which has some fun statistical info in it (Go girls, indeed!):

Thank you for participating in one of our 2012 Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (Eriemara) events last year.  We hope you were one of the many that achieved their goal for the day and or set a personal record as many of you did.  We always believed we had a flat and fast course with a lot of aid stations to help you achieve some fast times but were surprised by a recent article in MarathonGuide.com.  Their analysis of all marathon results for 2012 placed us as the marathon with the 5^th highest percent of marathon finishers qualifying for the Boston Marathon.    24.3% of our marathon finishers in 2012 qualified to run the Boston Marathon in April 2013.

 In 2011 our Eriemara registrations grew by 22% followed by a 26% growth in 2012.  We spend zero dollars of your registration fees on advertising, promotion, or applications because we have you out there to spread the word – thanks for being our marketing department.  The proceeds of Eriemara get distributed to local charities / not for profit organizations.  The local charities we selected for 2013 are: Erie city Mission, Lions Eye Bank and the Presque Isle State Park (more information about these organizations can be found on our online registration).

Yes, our Eriemara registration is now open for our marathon and half marathon that will be run on September 15, 2013.  The online registration link can be found on our website at:  www.eriemarathon.org.  Register online by June 1, 2013 for a low event price of $50 for the marathon and $40 for the half marathon.  The 5K plans are still being developed and thus registration will not be available until March. 

While our current website is “functional” it could use a bit of updating.   So we have plans to get a new website developed and rolled out in March.  This should help with communication both ways and further improve your experience with the Erie Marathon.     

Here are a few interesting 2012 registration facts:

• 53% of our entrants were female – go girls!
• Participants in their 30’s made up 26% of our entrants
• 40 of the USA states were represented  – only 3 states exceeded the total coming from Canada

Thanks for your past and current support,

Jan and Mike

A few end notes on the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle from the race directors, Mike Vieyra and Jan Comi:

A big thank you from our Erie Marathon Committee for all of your favorable comments regarding your experience in Erie last weekend. We can take credit and responsibility for many of the things about our event but we have to admit that the weather the past few years was simply a blessing.

Even though we didn’t set any new course or USA age group records this year we did see a record number of personal records/personal bests. We also have a record number of Boston bound finishers in the marathon – congratulations.

There has been a lot of info provided on our website, in email updates and in our race week end brochure. Here are a few of the post race items that you might find helpful:

Results – They were posted race day on www.runhigh.com and are also now posted on www.eriemarathon.org . Boston Athletic Association has also been provided an electronic copy of the marathon results to assist in their verification of those qualifying and applying to run the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Photos – Did you remember to smile for the picture at the finish line? If you haven’t had a chance to check yourself or others out in the race day photos, you still can at: www.runphotos.com . Make sure you also look through the “Lost & Found” on the photo website as there are a lot of good pics there also.

Happy Endings – we had some significant lost items reported last Sunday and I happy to say most of them have been found, including a recently provided engagement ring, and returned to their owners. The only significant item that remains at large is a Garmin GPS device for a car.

Marathon Certificates – marathon finishers will be provided an email notice in about a week once their on-line certificates will be available. These certificates are only provided to the marathon finishers.

We are relying on you as “Erie experienced” runners/walkers to share your experience with friends and let them know to save the date, September 15, 2013, for our 40th anniversary.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather for marathon weekend in Erie. We definitely showed visitors our best side this weekend with gorgeous blue skies, cool temps, and one really well-organized race.

I worked registration Saturday afternoon and know that it went off without a hitch (ok…a few hitches, but nothing we couldn’t handle) and the pasta dinner was well attended, with lines out the door and people enjoying Linda Huegel’s creations on the picnic tables inside and out of the Rotary Pavilion.  People raved, as always, about the food and how organized the whole dinner was.  Linda and her loyal kitchen crew have it down to a science.  If you’ve never stayed for the pasta dinner — you don’t know what you’re missing!

Race day dawned clear & cool and all the races started on time. That was unfortunate for me because…I really needed to use the porta-potty before the 1/2 started, but the line was barely moving, so….guess who had to, for the third time in 15 years of racing, make a pit stop during the race? Always discouraging as you lose valuable time, but…alas, I still had a 1:49, which I can’t complain about.

I’m especially proud of the husband — Dan finished the marathon in 3:27:27 — a full 10 minutes (TEN MINUTES) off his previous Marathon P.R., and my little brother, Patrick Bruce, who finished his first-ever marathon in 4:22, after having just done his first 1/2 marathon in July!

Congratulations to everyone who went the distance on Sunday — be that 3.1 miles, 13.1 miles or 26.2 miles.

MARATHON

There were 669 finishers in the marathon with top honors going to:

            CLASS
  ID#  PLACE PLACE           FINISHER                             TIME      PACE

Open Men
    1     1    1  Mike Aldrink, 35, Powell, OH                    2:30:26    5:44
  366     2    2  Aj Kelly, 30, Altoona, PA                       2:34:59    5:55
  249     3    3  Jake Gillette, 26, Goshen, IN                   2:39:34    6:05

Open Women
  223    20    1  Angie Fiese, 35, Mableton, GA                   3:04:10    7:02
  215    32    2  Traci Falbo, 40, Charlestown, IN                3:10:43    7:17
  403    45    3  Katie Kuttenkuler, 28, Erie, PA                 3:13:11    7:22

Masters Men
   50     9    1  Douglas Basinski, 41, Pittsburgh, PA            2:52:49    6:36

Masters Women
  351    70    1  Wendy Johnson, 44, Dublin, OH                   3:17:56    7:33

Marathon age group results can be found here.

HALF MARATHON

There were 1051 finishers in the half-marathon with top honors going to:

 
         CLASS
  ID#  PLACE PLACE           FINISHER                             TIME      PACE

Open Men
  931     1    1  Timothy Black, 29, Greensburg, PA             1:18:38    6:00
 1519     2    2  Christopher Patterson, 27, Webster, NY        1:18:48    6:01
 1620     3    3  Scott Saito, 48, Louisville, KY               1:19:32    6:04

Open Women
  903    10    1  Laina Bay-Cheng, 38, Buffalo, NY               1:25:54    6:33
  855    15    2  Mary Acker, 33, New Wilmington, PA             1:27:15    6:40
 1551    30    3  Jennifer Preteroti, 38, St. Clairsville, OH    1:30:28    6:54

Age group results for the 1/2 can be found here.

There was also a half-marathon walk. Results here.

AND….there was a 5K fun run, too, but results are not posted for that yet. Check here.

PHOTOS…PHOTOS…PHOTOS….

Professional Race Photos will be available shortly at www.runphotos.com

See 300+ photos from the GoErie Street View photographer Mike Conway  here.

See another dozen photos from Erie Times-News photographer Janet Kummerer here.

And…here is a slideshow of a few pix I snapped this weekend, heavily focused, of course, on my family and friends. 

A few final notes on the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle from race directors, Jan Comi and Mike Vieyra:

It is time to call an end to training and enjoy the next few days before you hit the pavement on Sunday. That reminds me of more good questions that have been generated and answered since the last update. Here are a few of them along with things we might not have mentioned in any of our updates but have mostly covered on our website (www.eriemarathon.org. ) .

• Spectator traffic – the park is fully accessible during the race so spectators can come and go as needed. However, we ask that spectators do not go on the “outer loop” (check out the maps) or try to drive along with their runners.

• Runner Drop-off – yes, we will have a designated runner drop off area across from the Cook House Area (look for signs on Saturday on your way to packet pick-up). Please complete the “U” turn on the main drive before making the drop-off so you don’t hold up traffic.

• When is the race? All events are Sunday: 7:00am Marathon, 7:15am 5k Fun Run/Walk and 7:30am Half marathon & Walk. Respect fellow participants by getting in the proper “pace” corral at the start. Sorry, we don’t have pace groups. (four questions answered with one bullet)

• Lodging available? If you are in a pinch for a room I just got a hotel to commit a block of rooms for us. The motel is very close to the park, a place to sleep and relatively cheap ($55+tax, you get what you pay for): El Patio Motel, 2950 W 8th St, Erie 814-838-9772

• Boston Qualifier? Yes, but it is up to you to have trained and to run the BQ time. Boston registration opens Monday September 17th at 10:00 AM. Yes, we will have race results to them on time.

• How do I find my runner? We do not have the ability to find your runner at any time during the race. Arrangements should be made with your runner/spectator as to when you anticipate finishing and when you plan to pass the Cook House spectator area which is at mile 5.7 and 18.6. Maybe even pick a unique meeting spot for after the race like the swing set, etc…

Ok, enough of that stuff and on to other important topics:

• Parking…come early and follow directions of parking marshals without stopping to ask questions. No parking is allowed along any of the roadways in the park. Parking there presents a danger to runners and generates revenue for the park police.

• Parking lot color – note the color of the glowsticks lighting the way from the parking lot to the start. This color will help us help you find your car after the race. Yes…..it will be dark when you park.

• Weather forecast … it is what it is going to be come race day. Current forecast: 69/57 0% percip

• Awards Ceremony….our intention is to start the Half Marathon awards at 10:00am but some of it depends upon how fast you run/walk. Please stick around for your award or make arrangements for someone to pick it up for you.

• Ride Share Program…..remember to check the sign-up sheet at your hotel. The ride share for the return trip will have a meeting place (sign) in front of the Rotary Pavilion.

• Second Harvest Food Bank – remember to bring a non-perishable item for collection by J. H. Bennett Moving & Storage.

This should be the last update unless we get some really good questions that we feel need to be answered. All previous “updates” can be found under “Latest News” on our website for those who have just recently registered. Also on the website, see FAQ’s for a wealth of information.