Tag: #Buckeye10K

Race Recap of the 2020 Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K

November 5, 2020 / Jill McCauslin / 2 Comments

I ran the 2020 Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K this past weekend. It made me remember why I like to run races.

Running the Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K is turning into a tradition of sorts. I ran the same race last year in 2019. Reading last year’s recap is bittersweet because I said I wanted to train over the winter for the 2020 race season and as we know, that didn’t happen.

I ran the 10K again. Two years ago I trained for the half marathon and somehow injured myself and missed the race. I’ve stuck with the shorter distance for now.

2020 Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K

This course for this race is a run through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It’s a large loop almost completely on roads. One of the roads was closed. The others had at least one lane open but fortunately there wasn’t much traffic.

The weather was pretty miserable. You can see in the photos what the sky looked like. It rained at the beginning of the race. The rain was hard enough that everything got soaked. I discovered that my right shoe leaks. Eventually my left shoe also leaked. Running on wet feet isn’t the best. Fortunately, the rain stopped and we ran under threatening skies but no more rain. Also, the temperature dropped later in the day but it stayed steady at close to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Wet and warm was bearable. Wet and cold would have been dreadful so I felt like this could have been a lot worse.

There were 120 participants in the 10K and two in my age group of women. Due to Covid 19 precautions, each race was limited this year to 150 participants, whereas in 2019 there were almost a total of 600 participants.

My results were 1:15:08 with a pace of 12:05. In 2019, my results were 1:17:29 with a pace of 24:57. So I was about a minute and a half faster this year. Interesting. There’s something wrong with last year’s results because my pace couldn’t have been that slow but I think the total time is correct.

This year I came in first in my age group (out of two) and last year I came in second (out of two.) We really need to get more women over 50 running!

Covid 19 Precautions

Last year there was lots of activity post-race with plenty of snacks and drinks. This year was limited to water and we were encouraged to move out of the area quickly. I know there were people I knew running but I didn’t see them because there was no socializing going on.

Results were provided later in the day so we wouldn’t hang about waiting for them.

We were told to run 6 feet apart from other runners and to ensure a 6 foot distance when passing someone. That worked about as well as you might expect. Some paid attention to that and others did not. We did not have to wear masks, even at the starting line.

Post Race

I felt great after running the race: I felt energized, though also very wet. Next time, I will make sure to bring dry shoes and socks to wear on my drive home. Peeling off the wet clothes and taking a warm shower felt great. No ice baths for this race recovery.

We got a nice medal and a performance sweat shirt for running the race. I can go pick up a mask as my prize for winning my age group. Given how many masks I go through, I’ll be happy to get a new one.

The race organizers did a great job with putting on this race. Given the circumstances, it was amazing we got to run it at all.

I sure hope there are races next year. It was fun to run this one!

The Motivation of a Race

October 1, 2020 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

There’s a lot of motivation in signing up for a race, at least for me. I’m much more likely to really follow a training plan if I have something on the calendar.

This year has not been a good one for racing. I think 2020 will be known as the year of no races, among other things.

Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K

I noticed the Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K is still scheduled. It hasn’t been cancelled yet. Of course, it’s quite possible that it will be cancelled but as of right now, it’s still a possibility.

I have a several year history with this race. The first year, I registered for a half marathon and then ended up getting my sciatic injury that took me out for quite a while. I did not run that race. Last year I ran the 10K and enjoyed it. I’m never a fast runner but I still like to race and I managed to complete it successfully.

I made a commitment to run the 10K in this year’s race. So now I must train for running a 10K. I’ve only been running about a 5K distance this summer. Time to increase the distance!

Instead of just going out for a run, I now am thinking about how many times a week I run and what distance I need to be running. See how a race can motivate you? At least for me, I become much more organized about my training.

The Motivation of Race Goals

You know how we’re always advised to have multiple goals? Here are my goals for this race:

Run it faster than I ran it in 2019
Run it at the same speed as 2019
Complete the training and race injury free.

I had to go look up my results for the 2019 race. I ran it in 1:17:29.0 which wasn’t incredibly fast. Hopefully my A goal is achievable. I went back and read my race recap from last year and I was looking forward to racing in 2020. Well, that sure didn’t happen but I’m hoping that this race will happen and that I can run it.

Do you have anything on the calendar that’s motivating you? Let me know.

Recap of Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K

November 7, 2019 / Jill McCauslin / 2 Comments

Last weekend I ran the 2019 Buckeye Half Marathon and 10K. Well, I ran the 10K part. Others ran the half marathon.

The 10K ended up being a bit longer than it was supposed to be because the course was set up for the half marathon and then they figured out the 10K. Instead of running 6.2 miles, I ran closer to 6.5 miles. I didn’t think that was all that unusual because races often seem to go long.

The last race I ran was in April. It was the 5K Hop for Hope. I went back and looked at my results from the spring race. My pace for the 10K was a bit slower than it was for the 5K but that makes sense since it was twice as long.

I’m happy with my results. I really just wanted to run the race without feeling injured or sore and I succeeded. Immediately after the race, my right hip was sore.

One of the things I noticed is that because we ran in one direction on the road, we never changed which side was higher on the crown of the road. My right leg was continually on the higher side and it was that hip that was sore. The good news is that by the next morning it was fine.

Early November in Ohio is likely to be cold and it certainly was this year. Temperatures were in the 30’s (Fahrenheit) but it was a beautiful sunny morning so really it was great running weather.

I wore my hat and gloves and several layers. I managed to be comfortable throughout the race. My hands were cold at the beginning but by the end, I’d taken off the gloves. Figures.

The course is a loop through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This year it was completely on roads. No trails. The 10K was one loop and the half marathon was two loops. There were a few hills though much of the course was fairly flat.

Heading to the Starting Line

I heard the announcer say at the start of the race that there were about 600 runners. Later, I checked and saw that there were 229 runners in the 10K and 355 in the half marathon. I am a bit surprised that more people ran the half marathon than the 10K. All finishers received the same medal.

Swag also included a great performance sweatshirt, which I was happy to get. Check it out!

At the finish line, volunteers were handing out the medals. An announcer called out people’s names as they crossed. I love hearing my name announced as I cross the finish line.

The food and water was in a large tent so that’s where I headed. Chris was there as a volunteer. She had the most important job in the tent. She was handing out Buckeye candies. If you don’t know what Buckeye candies are, they’re a creamy peanut butter candy dipped in chocolate. They look like actual buckeyes, which are nuts found in the Midwest part of the US. A delicious but decadent treat.

The Becoming Elli Crew: Chris and Jill

Running the Buckeye 10K made me realize that I do enjoy racing. I need to make sure that I am fit and strong for next summer’s racing season. I have work to do over the winter!

What races have you run recently? Or what motivates you to keep training over the winter months? Let me know by posting here or on the Becoming Elli Facebook page or email me at jill@becomingelli.com.