Here’s a fun challenge for you marathon lovers! Run 25 marathons that take place along the 5 Great Lakes (including Erie) and qualify to get a free jacket from the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Yeah, I know, that’s one pricey jacket when you consider the race fees for 25 marathons, but….it’s not about the jacket, right? It’s about the challenge of doing 25 Great Lakes marathons.

Check it out:

The Great Lakes Marathon Series is a collaboration of 25 marathons that take place along the 5 Great Lakes. The goal of this series is to invite the running world to come and enjoy the unique beauty of each race, while simultaneously raising awareness of conservation and restoration efforts of the Great Lakes as well as focusing on the Great Lakes ecosystem and economies.

PURPOSE

The Great Lakes Marathon Series is for runners who are interested in experiencing a variety of marathons along the Great Lakes, while at the same time making a positive impact on the eco-system of the Great Lakes Basin.

The series is for fast and slow runners alike with individual prizes being awarded based on the number of Great Lakes races you complete throughout your running career. We will award prizes at benchmarks along the way, with a grand prize for those runners dedicated enough to finish all 25 great lakes marathons in their lifetime.

The Great Lakes Marathon Series members invite you to sign up for free HERE. Through this site you will be able to upload each of your finishing times and track your progress.

In addition to the individual commitment from each member in the series, we have partnered with the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a 4-Star rated independent citizens’ organization devoted 100 percent to the Great Lakes in both the U.S. and Canada.

WHAT YOU GET

When a registered member has completed the 25 Great Lakes Marathon Series Races each one of their races will be verified by a Great Lakes Marathon Series administrator. Upon completion the member will be contacted and an official eco-friendly Great Lakes Marathon Series Finisher jacket will be mailed out.

The finisher award will be provided at no additional cost to all finishers who have completed all races in the series.

NOTE
Please note that if you have run any of these races prior to signing up for the Great Lakes Marathon Series, they will not be allowed as fulfillment towards completion of the series. You will have to run the race again.

Are you the kind of runner who enjoys a challenge? Do you always sign up for BOTH the 5K & the 10K at the ERC’s Turkey Trot & the St. Patrick’s Day race? Never miss the ERC’s Presque Isle Endurance Classic and a chance to run for 12 hours straight?

Then, I’ve got a new challenge for you: The Cinco—a half marathon followed by 5-mile, 3.1 mile, and a 1.5-mile races for a total of 22.7 miles!

Here are all the details:

The hills of northwestern Pennsylvania along the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek are set to play host for the first time in 2013 to the Cinco Races Half Marathon, 5K, 5-Mile, 1.5-Mile and 22.7-Mile runs, all of which are open to runners as well as walkers — with the exception of the longest race, which is open to runners only.

Set to take place on the day before Cinco de Mayo (Saturday, May 4, 2013) the race follows an out-and-back course that starts in the parking lot of the Warren Mall, just off the Market Street Extension. From there, runners head east along Hatch Run Road over Conewango Creek and then north on Conewango Avenue Extension, followed by a left turn to head east on 4 Wheel Drive.

Once runners hit Big 4 Road, they make a right and head north, starting a long stretch of the race that unfolds alongside the creek for the next few miles. After runners pass the mile 2 marker, Big 4 Road turns from pavement to a combination of dirt and hard-packed gravel, running along the creek as it winds through the woods here along the edges of the Allegheny National Forest. Organizers note that this stretch will be closed to traffic during the race, to allow runners to use the entire width of the road.

The half marathon route brings runners north all the way to Akeley Hollow Road — they’re cautioned to be on the lookout for potholes along this stretch — where they make a right and head east for another few miles until they reach the half-way turnaround point, just past the intersection with Cole Hill Road. After they make the turn, they retrace their steps along the route they’ve just run, all the way back to Warren Mall for the race finish.

The race’s most unique feature is its 22.7-mile “Come & Go” Race (ever heard of a 22.7-mile distance, by the way?), in which runners will get to participate in every one of the day’s races in order from start to finish. They’ll start with the half marathon and next run the 5-mile race, the 5K and the 1.5-mile to finish it all off.

Scheduled starting times are: 7:15 AM for the half marathon, followed by 9:30 AM for the 5-mile race, 10:25 AM for the 5K and 11:00 AM for the 1.5-mile race.

The Cinco is a Cinco deMayo-themed event offering crafts, entertainment, and fiesta food for the whole family. Kids and adults love to dance with the growing herd of Cinco bulls and scramble a tthe Cinco pinata smash that ends the event.

Along with free Tim Hortons coffee and hot chocolate prior to the race, racers will enjoy the traditional fruit, water and chocolate milk as well as fiesta beer provided by Michelob Ultra and awesome tamales, nacho chips and pan dulce.

The Cinco has great swag, including a moustache mug. Check out all the stuff you will get here and what you can get if you place.

Currently, the Cinco is $80 (price rises April 5) and individual events are: $60 for the 1/2; $25 for the 5-mile; $25 for the 3.1 mile; $20 for the 1.5 mile.

Need more inspiration, watch this 1-minute video:

If, like me, you are far too cheap to pony up $100 to participate in the Beast on the Bay, an extreme obstacle course challenge to be held on September 7 at Presque Isle this summer, it looks like you’ve got options.

I received this from race organizers today:

Rae Heim

Talk about irony…Eighteen-year-old Rae Heim is running across the country barefoot to collect donations for Soles4Souls, a charity that provides footwear to those in need.

Rae stated in Boston on April 1st and she will finish in Huntington Beach, California, this week. When she finishes (as of last night, she had just 18 miles to go), she’ll be the youngest person to run across the country coast-to-coast.

Keep up with her (if you can) on her Tumblr page.

And here’s a great video about her journey that was made just after she started. In the video she talks about why she started running barefoot and why she decided to embark on this cross-country journey:

Props to Erie’s original barefoot runner Tom Madura for tipping me off to this running news item.

Saturday was Mike Vieyra’s 7th annual Run Across Erie County. Originally planned as a 50K (30 miles), Mike rerouted to make it a 20-miler that started in Edinboro (at the Crawford County Line) and ran to Manchester Road in Fairview, not quite county to county, but close.

Mike Vieyra, Fred Beckwith, Karen Manganaro and Jan Comi did the hilly 20-mile course. Dan Cass ran ahead, got lost and did 25.8 miles before Mike Vieyra found him. When Mike heard Dan’s mileage, he said…”Well, get out…may as well go for the marathon distance!”  Dan was having none of that. He was good it being not quite a marathon, but close.

Dan assures me that this is not how he felt Saturday.

After years and years of saying, “I should that,” and twice telling my friends I’d be there…only to bail on them, I finally did the Presque Isle Endurance Classic, and I really loved it.

To be honest, I always thought…meh, how boring…running 1-mile loops all day, but, let me tell you, it becomes addicting. Every loop after 10, I thought, OK, I’m done after this one, then I’d pass the mat and think, well, maybe just one more.  I had planned to do 10 or 12, at most, and ended up doing 16 (17 if you count the first one which wasn’t counted because I forgot to cross the start mat).  I had it in my head to maybe do 20, but my lower back said….um, no, we’re good with 17. I’ve learned to listen to my back.

I really enjoyed this race and definitely plan to do it again next year.

Top three (most laps) runners were:

* Patrick Reed with 62 laps (!)

* Kurt Osadchuk  with 57

* Janice O’Grady with 53

There were a total of 77 runners. Complete results here.

And, here are a few photos I took (are you starting to see that I tend to be a “shy” photographer, particularly at runs when people might not love me taking photos of them sweating & gasping & such):

Paid to run

Ever wondered what it’s like to be an elite runner who gets paid to do what they love?  Wonder no more, track athlete Amy Begley lays it out in a blog post: The Business of Track and Field Contracts.

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Well said

Runner’s World editor at large and former publisher George Hirsch recently coauthored an essay in the New York Times entitled The Honorable Clan of the Long Distance Runner that speaks to the distance runners code of honor.

From Runnner’s World News Wire

Photo of Amby Burfoot and George A. Hirsch by Jean-Pierre Durand/Photo Run

In a New York Times essay over the weekend, Runner’s World editor at large Amby Burfoot and former publisher George Hirsch maintain,“For true distance runners, to lie about time or distance is to lie to ourselves, to diminish the importance of the many sacrifices we make to reach the starting line. Focus and discipline form the core of a runner’s being; they are what make us put on a reflective vest and run six miles into the sleet at 6 on a dark winter morning.”

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 Pile up on Hill No. 1

How NOT to start a cross-country race. Good thing they all seemed to find it funny:

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Inspiration ahead

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I love this story from NPR about a guy pedaling off the pounds. I know many runners that have done the same thing. Instead of going under the knife, they went the distance and did the hard work needed to change their habits & life forever. The thing about weight loss surgery is that it is almost never successful in the long run because the underlying emotions and habits that created the problem are never addressed.

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The Ultimate Endurance Athlete

I found this story — It’s the Dog in You — from Outside magazine fascinating.

“When it comes down to sheer capacity for prolonged exercise,” says Ken Hinchcliff, an Australian veterinary physiologist who’s done more research on sled dogs than any other scientist, “there is no other animal, including humans, that comes close to competing.”

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T-Shirt of the week

Available here for $29.

How many times can you run around this pond (and a little more) in 12 hours? Find out on Saturday during the Presque Isle Endurance Classic.

The event starts Saturday morning (10/20) at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m. and the course is simple — it’s a 1-mile loop that starts and finishes in front of the Rotary Pavilion (new location this year) at Presque Isle.  How many times you want to run that mile in those 12 hours is up to you.

Here’s how race director, Mike Vieyra, explains the Endurance Run:

The primary purpose of this event is to promote cardiovascular fitness in a safe, relaxed and friendly environment. Many individuals will run/walk a distance beyond that they have previously achieved or set a personal goal that is meaningful to them. It is a personal thing and not a competition with other participants.

There are no trophies or prize money to be handed out but we do offer the option to purchase a commemorative plaque that is personalized with your name and accomplishment (miles).

This event was started 30+ years ago by some of the founding fathers of the Erie Runners Club to test the endurance of some of the local runners. It still stands today as a personal test of ones endurance whether it be running or walking or any combination thereof because of the tireless efforts of Rick Ferko and his long time volunteers. Rick’s battle with cancer ended shortly after the 2006 Endurance Run.

Proceeds from the Endurance run — including an additional donation you want to make — are put toward the Rick Ferko Spirit of Social Work Scholarship that gives an annual award to a social work student who exemplifies Rick’s dedication and enthusiasm.

Some people do 1 mile. Some do 10 miles. Some do their age (harder when you’re older, of course) and some people do 64 miles.

Last year, it poured the entire time and a good number of runners STILL endured. Check out last year’s results here.

You can stay and run for 12 hours. You can come & go. You can run 4 in the morning and come back and do 10 after lunch – it’s your race. It’s your challenge.

Race details and application are here.

Also this weekend …

Don’t forget about 3 Miles for Smiles at Penn State Behrend.

Seems there was nothing normal about racing this weekend.

While some runners were getting down and dirty over in nearby Bemus Point, New York, and others were going long (very, very long) in Titusville, still more runners were dodging “zombies” in Frontier Park.

Photo by Mike Conway for GoErie.com

Zombie Run 5K

Looks like the Erie Playhouse had another hit on it’s hands with Saturday morning’s Zombie Run 5K in Frontier Park. There were 159 5K finishers, but I don’t think that includes the Zombies who were making it hard for the runners to get to the finish line with all their brains (flags) intact.

There are results here, but Jim Lang from Big White Trailer warns:

“More than a few folks went off course, so take results as information, please. This does NOT affect brains collected or saved.”

You’ll definitely want to check out Mike Conway’s GoErie Street View albums from this race: The Making of Zombies and the Zombie 5K run.

Judging by all the flags in the hands of those zombies, it looks like some of the “undead” can haul ass, eh?

Muddy Viking

The Muddy Viking, a 4-mile adventure run, in nearby Bemus Point, N.Y., gave whole new meaning to the phrase down-and-dirty as the very last obstacle had runners (including yours truly) belly crawling through 1-foot thick cold mud. We also ran through Lake Chautuaqua (twice), flew down two homemade slip-n’slides, crawled over smashed pumpkin goo, climbed several walls and barriers, and slogged through the “cess pool” — a thigh-high, super-smelly pass through a rotting marsh.

I’ll give a full report in a separate post, but for now, suffice to say there were a total of 21 obstacles — some easy, some tough, some fun, some not so fun, some very dirty, some very cold. Suffice to say, it was a freaking blast.  I would do it again in a heart beat — yes, even on a 32 degree day again!

There are results for those who chose to get a chip (it was optional).  Most participants were there to have fun and, really, I can’t imagine how accurate the results could be since there’s no way of knowing who did all the obstacles and who went around them, you know? But…for what it’s worth…here are the Individual & Team results.

OC100 Trail Runs

While the rest of us were out there having “fun,” there were a couple hundred very serious runners taking on the trails and hills in Titusville at the OC 100 Trail Runs.  There were three divisions — the 100 mile run, the  100K run and the 50K run.

I know that several Erie runners went the distance in OC this weekend, including: Dan Young, Linda Young, Suze Carstarter, Karen Manganaro, Julia Roussos, Patrick Krott, Chris Coulston, and  Christine Kalie.

I’m in awe of them all.

Results are here.

Today, the Erie Times-News had a nice Q&A with Titusville native Katie Peterson who is set to compete in the OC 100 Trail Run this weekend.

Her story — from 265 lbs to running 100-milers — is quite inspiring; read it here.