Celebrating the Fourth of July... On the Streets of Altoona

As promised, it was a hot one. And also as promised, EARC had great representation at the July 4th Angie Gioiosa Memorial Race. Our friends at the Hollidaysburg Area YMCA really know how to put on a superb event, from the marching band at the start, to the elaborate post-race food tent. It's no wonder they drew 1,033 participants this year.

The course itself was lined with cheerful onlookers, helpful volunteers, and well-staffed water stops. I especially appreciated the good people at Fox Trot Runners who sponsored a water table near the end of the race. They were positioned along the last major climb, the very place where I usually start to consider faking an injury. Fortunately, the Fox Trotters would have seen through my charade. So I plugged along to the finish, all the better for it.

Indeed, it's hard to complain about the heat and hills when you think about all of the impressive things that this race has to offer. Along these lines, our friend Herb Cratty of Miles of Smiles Timing Services timed the event. From the looks of his own results page, his people were busy on the fourth.

Here are the results for the Altoona races.

• 15k Overall 
• 15k Age Group
• 5k Overall
• 5k Age Group
• 2 Mile Walk Overall
• 2 Mile Walk Age Group

As always, the Altoona Mirror was on hand covering the races. Congratulations to the overall male and female winners in the 15k, A.J. Kelly and Sonja Hinish. Same to the 5k winners, Altoona High runner Brad Foust and recent Forest Hills grad, Leah Anne Wirfel. Sam Freet won the 2 mile walk, averaging an impressive 9:42/mile pace.

And congratulations to everyone who competed yesterday. Races like these give us a reason to celebrate life. And the more people who join us, the more we have to celebrate.

2nd Annual “Mad Anthony Half”

Check out this half marathon in Waynesboro, PA. The course looks fantastic, and this is perfectly timed for anyone doing a marathon in October or November. As to the curious name of this race, the website explains:

 The “Mad Anthony Half” takes its name from Waynesboro’s namesake, American Revolutionary War General “Mad Anthony” Wayne. Does that mean the race has a ‘colonial era theme’?  No!  No three-corner hats, powdered wigs or shoes with big brass buckles. Don’t think of Gen. Wayne’s era, instead think of his moniker, ‘mad‘, and think ‘crazy, insane, bananas, kooky, loony’. OK, be truthful, what does your significant other, family, friends etc. think of your “running interest, hobby, addiction”? Get the picture The “Mad Anthony Half” celebrates our ‘whimsical, slightly off-balance, affection’ for the great sport of RUNNING.

LOVE IT!

Track Night! Wednesday, July 3

Once again, we find "scattered thunderstorms" in the forecast.  But alas, if this unpredictable weather remains free from electrical disturbances, track night will commence this evening at 6:15. For our new runners, we enter week 6 of the C25K program. After the warmup, we will jog for 10 minutes, walk for 3 minutes, then finish with 10 more minutes of jogging. It's hard to believe that the Ebensburg Homecoming 5k is right around the corner, but here we are!

Kevin wins AND does the "hand-on-hip" EARC pose

We probably won't have many in the advanced runners group this evening, since the July 4th Angie Gioiosa Memorial Race is tomorrow. Fellow EARCites Mike Bradley and Ryan Westrick have already blogged about this race. I can only echo that this is a great event. In fact, the 15k was my first road race, waaaay back in 1990. I had just started running that spring, and decided that I would give cross country a try in the fall. My running that summer was sporadic, and I hadn't run over 6 miles. But for whatever reason, I thought that I could muscle through 9.3. Ah the unformed mind of a sixteen-year-old. I recall very little from the race. If I dig deeply, though, I can see a blur of heat, hills, and fatigue. I managed to cross the finish line, and fortunately I have no record of a time. But I do know that I've been hooked on distance running ever since.

Last year would have been my 5th time running the 15k, and it was a memorable one. My actual race wasn't anything to write home about. But the presence of EARC runners was quite the sight--yellow shirts everywhere. So if you're coming out to Altoona tomorrow, let's make sure to get a group picture. It is my hope that this picture will get larger every year.

Only Sandy got the memo about the EARC pose.

Resolutions

"Getting healthy means listening to my body"

When something happens unexpectedly, we want to make sense; this is a basic human need.  When that unexpected event is a life-threatening illness, part of that drive is to become reacquainted with your body.  Suleika Jaquad is a cancer survivor who has been chronicling her survivorship through a column in the New York Times: Life, Interrupted.  In her most recent entry, she talks about her plan to run a half marathon in celebration of her survivorship.  Yet, as many cancer survivors discover, that road is filled with still many unexpected surprises and many lessons.

Life, Interrupted: Making Resolutions (June 27, 2013)

The Untold Story: The Hollidaysburg 15k and Wagering

So most of you have read Mike's post about the Hollidaysburg 15k and what a great race it is.  I completely agree: I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the morning of the 4th than running 9+ miles in sweltering heat, running uphill past Altoona High hoping that I don't pass out from dehydration at mile 8. 

All of that aside, allow me to use this post to let you in on the secret, yet-to-be-seen competitive wagering side of this event.  Because the race enjoys a healthy participation rate from the men's contingent of the Ebensburg Area Running Club, it allows us to use our spare time at work (what little there is...busy, very busy) to handicap the race results among our team.  Every day, we gauge each others training and speculate how our group will finish, including overall times and orders of finish.  This, of course, leads to great downplaying of expectations on behalf of our own times (especially Ryan Shaulis who, despite his intense 15 mile-a-day training plus track speed work, insists that he will finish slower than last year) while greatly exaggerating the expected performance of others (Jake Hargreaves: "Westrick will run 6.30s this year").  The posturing and theorizing is almost as fun as the race itself.  Its not easy - you need to be committed to your line of BS...I've been telling the guys I have a bad ankle for six months now...I even throw in a fake wince of pain while out on a run with them to help sell my story.

Yeah - I know I said 'wagering', but there is no real exchange of money.  The currency is pride and the luxury of saying stuff like "Wow...I figured I'd be in at 65 minutes" while finishing at least two minutes ahead of 65.

Anyway, enjoy the race and feel free to use your own wagering board at home with friends you're running with...for entertainment purposes only, of course.

The July 4th 15K

Near the middle of June we all look at each other and ask "Are we running the 15K this year?"  As if it's even a question.

The July 4th Angie Gioiosa Memorial 15K Race is probably the best roadrunners race in the area.  While the Nittany Valley Half Marathon in early December and our own Turkey Trot 5K have been very popular in their tenures they don't have a fraction of the history and the names that the Fourth of July 15K has garnered over the years.

And they're off!!

The race started in 1973 when its namesake Angelo "Angie" Gioiosa got together with some of his local runner friends for a friendly race the morning of the 4th of July.  Angie was a great man and a great runner who went on to run 10 Boston Marathons and set a course record in the JFK 50 miler.  Angie probably didn't think the race would become so popular so fast.

The race quickly became a favorite of all the local runners and even some of the nation's elite runners.   Famous runners such as Bill Rodgers and Penn State All American/Olympian Greg Fredericks were among the big names in the late 70's and early 80's.    The names weren't that big through the 90's but in 2003, EARC member and 2008 Olympic marathoner Brian Sell showed up and broke the course record with a time of 48:47.

Kate getting it done in '08.

EARC has had a strong turnout for the 15K in both numbers and winners, with Kevin Doyle winning the race in 2012 (51:32) and Kate Remillard winning the women's race in 2008 (1:00:32).  Also worth noting is grey-haired EARC member Bruce Schettig's 4th place time of 51:43 in 1980 when Bill Rodgers and friends decided to show up.  

So, if you're not traveling on the 4th follow the sounds of the marching bands and the cheering fans down to Altoona.   This year marks the 38th year and there is bound to be a great showing.

The 14 Best Things To Eat After A Workout

Here's a good list of post-workout foods, courtesy of Buzzfeed. Don't miss the parsley hummus recipe--this could become a standard at future EARC gatherings.