Races in Shewood

Welcome to my post bragging about all the cool runs in Sherwood.  So for a small town of 16,000 and a little bit, we have a lot of runners.  We also have few triathletes that live and train here as well.  On any given day when I am out I see a bunch of people out pounding the pavement into submission.  So what does a small town with a healthy population of runners do?


Hold three large-ish races every year.  The first is the Friar Trot, May 21, 20011, which is a fund-raiser for the Catholic school here in town.  It is a fun race and has some good sponsors.  Last year everyone got a free beverage with their bibs, the kids got some good root beer, and the adults got some good beer.  They haven't posted anything yet, so I am hoping that they will hold this one again.  It was fun, and goes right by my house so the girls can stand on the street and cheer.  Very, very fun to have a cheering section as you run by.  This one has a 1K kids run, a 5K and a 10K and the courses are pretty flat with only a couple of "hills" in them.

The next race, and the one I am actually the most excited about, is the Run for the Roses, June 4, 2011.  If you look them up on Facebook, you can get a $5 discount coupon good through this month towards the cost of the race.  Since the new for this year Pikermi was $45 "full-price" this is a bargain since that includes a tech shirt.  Last year's shirt is white with just the race logo over the left breast and not a very large logo at that.  It is nicely understated.  They have a 1/2 mile kids run at the high school track, and a 5K Walk, 5K Run, a 10K and the Pikermi (half-marathon).  They are working with the city to get the Pimermi race course approved, and once they have that they will put up the link.  But no matter where it goes, you can expect some good hills, mostly rollers, but they will eat up people who only run on dreadmills or tracks.  I got barked at on-line last year for saying it was flat--OK so there are some rollers on the 10K course, sheesh.

The third is and evening race on a Friday.  August 12, 2011, the CATNip Friday 5K.  This one is a benefit for the Cat Adoption Team.  They are a great non-profit that tries to find homes for, guess, go on, guess...oh, I kinda gave it away already, cats!  They require you to get them broken (spayed or neutered) and their fees are a little higher than a normal pet store, but these guys have been rescued and are properly rehabilitated if necessary.  Plus it is in the evening, so it makes for a different kind of race.  Last year it was hot, and they had a misster tent set up.  It was very much appreciated when we finished our runs and could step under the spray and cool down.

So today's long slow run was a nice 12 miler, and I kept the average pace, according to Nike, to 10:49.  Not bad, my running partner was pushing a little faster than I would have liked.  She called it a run at 8 with 9:40 averages to that point.  So I downed a PowerBar Gel and a bottle of water, backed off the throttle and finished my 12.  Overall time was 2:10:58, so I really backed off the throttle to lower the average that much, but whatever.  The point is long and slow.  Then when I got home I did the unthinkable.  I.took.an.ice.bath.  Me the guy who won't go swimming in a lake that isn't geothermally heated to 100 degrees, got into a tub filled with COLD water and then added a bowl of ice.  OK, so my legs feel ok right now, and I'm not limping TOO much.  So maybe there is something to this.  We shall see.

Cheers!