ERC St. Patrick’s Day race director, Jim Lang, offered this preview of the race shirt. Rejoice — no gold this year! (Thank you, Jim).

Check it:

Note that this proof is short-sleeved, but the race shirts are actually long-sleeved.

The race is this Saturday at Presque Isle State Park’s Rotary Pavilion. There’s a 5K at 9 a.m. and a 10K at 10 a.m. Run one or run both and earn that “distance festival” on the race shirt.

Day-of-Race entry is $20 and you’ll have to buy the shirt separately (if available). Remember to bring cash or check because the ERC doesn’t take credit/debit.  (Please, please, please, ERC…..invest in a little cell-phone credit card swiper or something, nobody carries cash these days!)

Race details & application here.

Itching to start racing? Get an early start on spring race season at the March Forth Against Crime  5K on Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Rotary Pavilion.

Proceeds benefit the Erie Crime Victim Center (a very worthy cause) AND…Erie Runners Club members receive a $2 discount on the $20 entry fee.

The premium is a knit hat and the organizers promise a roaring fire to keep you warm after the run!

Not enough to get you there? Consider this….you’d have a chance to support, cheer on, and encourage kids who are trying to get their lives back on track using the tool we ALL know has kept us sane — Running

We have participating with us again this year a program called Juveniles on the Run, where a group of juvenile offenders have been physically training with their parole officers to run a 5K.  It provides them with a sense of accomplishment as well as discipline (and health, of course), and was a huge success last year.  I believe we have approximately half a dozen juveniles who will be racing this year.

That makes me want to race AND bring my cowbell, but then…you know I’m a sucker for newbies.

The race application can be found here.

Winning!   Pictured after the Race for Recovery on Sunday are: Me (Heather Cass), kneeling — first master & 4th woman overall in the Race for Recovery 15K…woohoo!); In back from left, Pat Krott, ( 2nd overall in the Beat Beethoven 5K on Saturday with a 19.41 AND 4th overall in the Race for Recovery 15K with a 1:06), Renee Uht (3rd 40-49 at the Beat Beethoven with a 25:36 AND 1st Female Master at the Race for Recovery 5K with a 27:13); Tom Twohig (3rd place 55-59 at the Run for Recovery 15K with a 1:24); and Tom Bourne (1st place 50-54 in the Race for Recovery 5K with a 25:59 AND 5th place in the 50-59 at the Beat Beethoven with a 24:42).

Yeah…that’s right, three of them up there had raced TWO days in a row. Crazy.

ANYWAY….

We enjoyed perfect racing conditions on both Saturday & Sunday this past weekend (Oh, please let it last till the Her Times race this Saturday!!)

Here’s your weekend racing round up:

SATURDAY, Sept. 24

Beat Beethoven results here. AND….122 photos from the Goerie.com Street View here.

Allegheny Swimming & Diving 5-miler results here.

Rambler Classic race results here (Check out the Cass girls’ results in the 3rd & 4th grade XC results….I’m a proud running mamma).

SUNDAY, Sept. 25

Wine Fest Stride & Stop 5K results here.

Run for Recovery 15K/5K results here. Much to my surprise, I did very well at the 15K (for me), coming in 4th overall and taking 1st place Master. Racing without headphones seems to be working well for me (um, so does the being-40 thing).  I did spend the last three miles occupying (distracting) my mind by singing “99 bottles of beer on the wall” in my head. Only later did I laugh at the irony singing that as I ran the recovery run.

This is not  a post about the benefits of weight lifting….though, that would make a great post because weight training is the perfect companion to a runner’s fitness routine. Weight training builds muscle which fires up your metabolism and makes you a faster, stronger, leaner runner.

Anyway…this post is about an upcoming race—the Pump Kin Run (Oct. 29)—a unique 5K in which you can take time off your race by bench pressing a percentage of your body weight before you run.

Participants can choose (not mandatory) to bench press a percentage of their body weight according to age and gender. Each repetition that is performed correctly with proper form will receive 30 seconds off their 5K time. The official spotters will rule over the correct number of repetitions achieved during the lift. The 5 points of contact during the bench press should be maintained: head, upper back, buttocks, and both feet. No long pauses or noticeable rest is permitted during the pump.
Age Male Female
13-39 yrs 100% 70%
40-49 yrs 90% 60%
50 & up 80% 50%

See, I told you that weight training can make you a faster runner!

After participants do their bench presses, they run a 5K course that begins & ends  near the parking lot of the Gannon University Carnival Athletic Pavilion on 4th Street.

Read more about this unique race here. Application here.

So, get to the gym & start lifting…you’ve got a little over a month to practice.

Got the following note from blog reader, Emily:

Hi Heather,
I read your article in the runner’s club newsletter and I wanted to share one of my favorite races with you — Applefest Race for Any Pace in Franklin PA on October 8th. This race starts in downtown Franklin and is an out-and-back course that takes you down Liberty street and back (Liberty is the main street in Franklin). It’s a very pretty course with a small slope to it. And my favorite part is it happens during Applefest so there are tons of vendors in the park after you’re done running with lots to look at, lots to eat, and lots to enjoy.

Race application can be found here.

More info about the Applefest here.

Thanks, Emily! And, remember, any of you are welcome to contribute to this blog — race reviews, inspirational running stories, favorite running quotes, great running routes in the area, etc.

Saturday is the ERC’s Poker Run 5K — a low-key fun run/walk to start out the summer racing season.

Each finisher gets a poker hand and the best hand can earn you some nice prizes. Jokers earn you an instant prize.

You’ll get your poker hand when you cross the finish line. They used to hand cards to you along the course so that you would “build” your hand as you ran, but that proved impractical as runners either wouldn’t grab the cards or lost them along the way.

Word to the wise Poker Runner: Get there early for the best swag. This is a race in which there is no set premium…the silkscreener is simply instructed to “clean out his cupboard” and put the Poker Run race logo on whatever he’s got to get rid of.

It’s first-come, first-serve….so if get there early, you could score some really cool stuff — like a jacket or windbreaker.

If you get there late, you’re probably going to be stuck with size XL cotton gym shorts or a woman’s “tiny tee” that might fit your 6-year-old.

(It’s like a 2-for-1 race. Consider the registration table race your Poker Run warm-up).

Race starts at 9 a.m. at Presque Isle Beach #1 (NOTE: Beach #1…not Rotary!).

Race application here.

When I poked my head outside at 7 a.m. on Saturday, it was shaping up to be beautiful race day weather. By the time we left at 8 a.m., however, it was raining and the temperature had dropped.

Good thing I had packed several clothing options — I had everything from shorts (yes, that’s the optimist in me) to a hooded sweatshirt. Ended up opting for a t-shirt, windbreaker and tights — just right.

The 5K was wet, but fast. I was surprised it was over so quickly. I ran it at a pretty consistent 8:05 pace. I can do 7:30s in the 5K, but…knowing I had to do a 10K a half hour later …I decided to stay at the 8:05…which was fine for me (been struggling lately anyway).

When the 5K was done, we grabbed a snack & some coffee and waiting for the 10K to start. Now…THAT race FELT like the full 6.21 miles, particularly when we hit the turn around at Beach 1 and ran full-out into the wind. I was swearing…I thought to myself, but….a friend running next to me confirmed that she heard a few choice words out loud.

I ran the 10K harder than I meant to or planned to — keeping an 8:07 pace — but all intentions of “taking it easy” go out the window in a race situation when the competitive side of me won’t be denied.

I am still sore today which, frankly, makes me crazy. It’s hell getting old. I used to be able to race on a Saturday, run 10 the next morning and run on Monday, too. Now…I’m “recovering” for at least a day or more. Ugh.

As I told a friend earlier…I can handle the gray hair, wrinkles and sagging body parts, but….the fact that it takes two days to recover from a run is completely unacceptable.

If anyone has any ideas how I can shorten that recovery time…I’d love to hear them. Am I missing some vital nutrient? Are my mostly-meat-free ways to blame? Did you notice that, with age, you required more time to recover from hard runs?

If you’re interested….

The St. Pat’s Day race results can be found here.

Winter Series results here.

Tomorrow’s the day for the ERC’s St. Patrick’s Day races. The 5K starts at 9 a.m. and the 10K starts at 10 a.m. You’re more than welcome to challenge yourself and do the “Distance Festival” and run both the 5K & the 10K. (I am!).

Not only is this a fun event…and not only can you punish yourself with not just one but two (count ‘em, two) races in one day, but…this is the final race of the ERC Winter Series. So, you’ll be getting a special prize after you complete the St. Pat’s race if you have completed BOTH the Turkey Trot and First Day races, too. (NOTE that you must have preregistered for the winter series to get the goods on Saturday….so if you neglected to do so, it’s too late now).

I heard the Winter Series prize is a fleece blanket.

…which is good…cause you’re going to need when you cool down from your run tomorrow because it’s likely you’ll be soaked.

Yep…they’re calling for rain tomorrow. The good news, however, is that it’s going to be a fairly warm rain with temps up above the 40s, so… it will be fine (albeit sloppy) running weather. And…let’s face it, it could be 3 feet of snow… It’s happened before.

So break out the green and plan to have a little fun tomorrow and…when you’re done running, hit the showers and then head over to State Street for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It kicks off at 2 p.m. at 18th and State and marches all the way down state to Hamot on Third Street where it turns east and makes it’s way to St. Patrick’s Church.

Erie Times-News photo/Janet Campbell

Another ERC Turkey Trot is in the books and it was the largest one yet with more than 2,500 runners (and it’s probably the largest ever since that’s about all the crowd the Peninsula can handle).

Dan & I helped at registration/packet pick up at the Erie Community Blood Bank garage on Wednesday evening. By the end of the night, we had just 50 timing chips left for day-of-race registration. We ran out of those by about 7:30 a.m. on race day.

Once we were out of timing chips, we told people they could run, but…they wouldn’t have a time recorded nor would they be in the running for the awards. I was surprised at how many didn’t care and ran anyway.

There were 1,692 finishers in the 5K and 580 in the 10K….including a turkey carrying a sign suggesting we eat more pierogi.

I’ve always done the 10K at the Trot, but this year, I did the 5K with my 8-year-old daughter (her first 5K!).  (Funny thing is….I found out I was pregnant with her before the Turkey Trot 9 years ago….and Thursday, she was there toeing the line beside me.)

Anyway…doing the 5K was a whole new experience — it was jam packed at the start. I knew we should’ve have lined up as far forward as we did, but…we, literally, couldn’t make it further back — it was THAT packed.

When it was time to go, Kelly took off, of course (rookie mistake). I was there to pull her back and set a pace she could handle. She whined quite a bit in the first mile, frankly, but…once we got to the turn-around, she was fine and she ran the rest of the way in.

Though I missed racing the 10K Trot, it was fun to take it easy and introduce Kelly to a sport I love. I hope it becomes an annual family tradition. That is…if I can ever get the little one out of the car (she was watching a DVD on my laptop) and onto the course!

Race results are here.

Turkey Trot timing guy and ERC member Jim Lang posted the following on the ERC Google Group. I realize many of you who read this blog may belong to the ERC group and have already seen this, but…it’s good advice that bears repeating:

First, if you can pick up at the Blood Bank Garage on Wednesday night, it would be appreciated.  Registered, too.  It will save time & hassle on Thursday morning.

Carpool, carpool, carpool. Even if it’s a meetup at a grocery store or the Ridge center & come down.  2500 people, plus the locals, make for a parking problem.  Please, help be a part of the solution and carpool.  Please note also that the rangers are going to issue tickets on Thursday, so park legally.

We have 240 chips left.  We might run out, and I won’t feel too bad. (I’ll feel bad, but geez, we’ve been talking about this all year). Register on Wednesday and avoid the rush.

If you hear folks asking where to go, tell them that the 10k gathers in the North lot, and 5k in the south lot.  (Some folks will say that the lake is “North”, and it might seem so.  If that’s the case, then the 10k is the “east” lot and the 5k is the “west” lot.)  We’ll pull you out onto the road when it’s time.  There is a stack of (adequate) maps at chip pickup.

Speaking of chips – they’re yours to keep.  PLEASE tie them into your laces.  Don’t tie them on top of a RoadID tag, or anything metallic, as they don’t work that way.  Most of you won’t have any problem putting them FIRMLY in your laces.  Look around, ask friends & neighbors about their chips, and help them out.

And if you talk to David Comi (or any of the staff down there) thank them.  Thank the road marshalls.  Thank the registration staff. Thank the folks out there to try to put on a great event.  Thank the Sontheimers (GREAT food).  And thank your fellow runners & walkers for helping to make this one of the greatest Turkey Trots in the region.

Thank you.
Jim