Team Cross Runs

TC 10 or 26.2

A few weeks ago I ran the TC 1 Mile race in Minneapolis which is hosted by the Twin Cities Marathon as part of their annual series of events.  Part of the deal is that every 1 mile runner is put into a drawing for a guaranteed TC 10 mile entry.

You see the 10 mile race takes place on the same morning of the marathon, but has a lottery entry system which caps at around 6,000 entrants.  To encourage runners to compete in  the 1 mile and the 10 mile they offer 1,000 guaranteed entries to the 10 mile race drawn at random from the 1 mile finishers.  This year only about 2,300 runners finished the 1 mile race which means almost 50% of the field received entry into the 10 mile.  Including me.

This was the e-mail I received on May 12:

Congratulations on being one of the 1,000 randomly drawn finishers to receive a guaranteed entry to the Medtronic TC 10 Mile! We’d like to offer a special ‘thank you’ for joining us on a beautiful May 7th evening for a great downtown race, and hope the excitement of two national championship races and a sub-four minute mile is still high.

Sadly, all TC Marathon, Inc entries are non-transferable, including this guarenteed entry.  Don’t worry, even with this entry you still get to pay the full $60 plus processing fees to race.

Even with this “great prize” I decided to get an e-mail that said this:

Congratulations! You are officially registered for the 28th annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on October 4, 2009.

So I have officially registered for the 2009 Twin Cities Marathon, which is currently just over 75% full (pdf).

Technorati Tags: Twin Cities, Marathon, Twin Cities Marathon, 1 Mile, 10 Mile

Race Review: 2009 TC 1 Mile

The mile is an interesting race for a post-collegiate, non-elite runner. You don’t really do much “race specific” training for that distance. Training for a 5k doesn’t even compare for training for a mile, let along half-marathon training! Yet, on May 7th I lined up with about 2,100 other runners and raced 1 mile down Nicollett Mall in downtown Minneapolis.

The multi-wave start meant that there were probably closer to 20-50 runners in my wave – the USATF-MN Team and Open Wave which went off at 7:53pm. Over an hour after the mass wave. I probably should have raced with my age-group so I would have had more competition around me and wouldn’t have gotten passed by a swarm of almost sub-elite women!

This year’s TC 1 Mile also served as the US 1 Mile Championship, featuring runners like Shannon  Rowbury, Sara Hall, Jon Rankin and David Torrence.Torrence actually broke 4:00, winning $10,000 and Rowbury missed her money mark by 2 second running a 4:30.  Both were great races to watch.  I did see Ryan Hall right after the elite women ran by, but he was on his way to see Sara so I didn’t stop him.  This also means Flotrack was there so be sure to check out their coverage.

My official finish time of 5:26 is a 1 second PR over last year’s performance so for that I should be happy.  I am pleased with that.  Asked about my expectations I said “I’m not as fresh as I was last year, but I’ve done more speed work. So somewhere between 5:15 and 5:30.”  I hit that pretty well.

I began feeling by quads about a 1/4 into the race – maybe at the top of the initial incline, and maybe because of my 1:17 split. A little aggressive but I was trying to take it out a little easy!  My body quickly reacted to the pain of moving so fast and then my mouth became really dry and my throat started to burn.  It was 74, dry, with a slight cross-breeze.  I came through the 1/2 mile in 2:39 having run a 1:22 second 1/4.  I really struggled to keep myself together passing through a ton of cheer zones and cheering people.  Half-way through and feeling it.   The third 1/4 was 1:26 and the flow of passing women had stopped except for this one wearing green.  We ran past 3 guys wearing full green suits who let out a huge cheer and screamed for her.   We fought back and forth for most of the rest of the race until I dropped the hammer (albeit a small one) for a final surge into the finish.  My last 1/4 was 1:19.  For a 5:26 official time.

My throat continued to hurt until mid-day on Friday.  We were all coughing and hacking for the rest of the evening we spent relaxing downtown.

Here is a map of the course which is mostly downhill but as you can tell with the below elevation chart it isn’t exactly all downhill.  According to my Garmin it does have a net elevation loss of 6ft!

Updated: In the comments Nathan disputed the elevation data from my Garmin.  So I looked at MapMyRun.com’s data for the mile stretch and it looks pretty similar.  Here is a chart I created from their information.

Check out the Twitter tag #tc1mile for more fun.  And @tcmarathon for more information about TC Marathon related events.

Technorati Tags: TC1Mile, TC 1 Mile, Mile, Hall, Rowbury, Road Mile, Torrence, Minneapolis, Nicollett Mall

Race Day: TC 1 Mile

As I said last week the mile is a very different distance to race and one I haven’t done in a long time. Unfortunately, I didn’t win the $10,000 time bonus for breaking 4:00 but then again no one else did either! The event was well supported with aid stations every mile!

Ok, seriously though! Thursday was a beautiful day but as it got closer to evening it looked like it might rain and the temperatures dropped. Walking from the car to packet pickup I was chilly in my t-shirt and shorts but once we started warming up I wasn’t cold again until leaving the restaurant on the way home!

We did a couple mile warm-up while watching some of the first waves start. There were 8 waves, starting with a mass wave followed by four 10 year age groups, then the USATF Championship wave, women elite and finally the male elite wave. Since this is a USATF Circuit race I ran with the MDRA team in the USATF Championship Wave.

There isn’t a lot to report in a mile race! The course started alongside Loring Park in downtown Minneapolis on Willow Street before turning left onto 14th Street and finally turning onto Nicollet Ave for the majority of the mile. The quarter mile was marked with duct tape at the corner of 14th and Lasalle Ave with someone yelling this is the quarter. The half mile was marked with a digital clock near the corner of 13th and Nicollet. There may have been a 3/4 mark but I didn’t see it, the mark would have been at about 10th St. The race ended outside of M&I Bank, major race sponsor between 6th and 7th Streets on Nicollet.

For those unfamiliar with Nicollet, after 13th St it becomes a transportation mall with a fairly narrow street lined on either side with downtown restaurants and businesses. Several of the restaurants were designated cheer zones and there was a lot of crowd support in the last half mile.

My Garmin said there was a net elevation gain of 62 ft. I’m not going to bank on its accuracy (look at the map, I’m sure I didn’t zigzag!) But it was more uphill than flat or downhill in my opinion – I don’t think it was noticeable but gradual.

Now to my actual race – not sure what to do I went out hard running almost 100% and was probably in oxygen debt before the 1/4 mile mark. Garmin says I went through in 1:15. I didn’t know my time until the half mile which I thought said 2:33, my Garmin says it was 2:41. The 2nd 1/4 time was 1:26. I was starting to hurt pretty good and was feeling the anaerobic nature of the event and lack of oxygen! But I kept pushing through, people were passing me and I tried not to let them! There were a few women ahead of me and I tried to get them – one past me somewhere in here – which upset me. In this almost sprint race there is less focus on externals as everything seems to flying by and my gaze was straight forward. I went through the 3rd 1/4 in 1:23. Somewhere in here I saw the finish line and put in a final push and as it neared I really kicked it in. I ended up passing a lot people in the last quarter – well maybe 5 or 6, including at least one woman. The final 1/4 was 1:20. My splits add up to 5:25, although officially my time was 5:27. It seems everyone’s times from the team were off by 2 seconds or so as well. It was chip-timed so I’m sure their time is accurate.

My final breakdown is 126th place with a 5:27 mile. 1:15, 1:26, 1:23, and 1:20. My slowest pace was 6:02 while I dropped into 4:30’s in the final kick! Team MDRA finished 6th with a combined time of 25:05 in the USATF results. I should have actually scored for the team but it looks like they made an error.

They had water bottles available at the finish area and I guess treats inside the M&I Building but we were more interested in watching the elites race than anything else. Kenyans Josephat Kithii and Rose Kosgei won the elite divisions, neither getting the bonus. Both did set new course records though! Check out Down the Backstretch or The Final Sprint for all the details!

Congrads to fellow teammates for their performances Kirk, Nate, Mike, and Colin.

Technorati Tags: TC Mile, Mile, Minnesota, USATF, Nicollet Mall

One mile – $25,000

That is what is happening tonight in downtown Minneapolis at the Medtronic TC 1 Mile. A field including 2,600 average joes (or citizen runners) will compete before two waves of elite runners go for the gold. Well the gold in this case is $4,000 for the winners and a $10,000 bonus to the first male runner to go sub-4 and the first female to go sub-4:28. Can you do it?

This is part of the USATF circuit and I’m looking forward to racing a mile. It is an odd distance one that I have touched really since high school. Most of the college meets I was at only had the 1500 and since I was an 800 specialist I didn’t jump up much. How does one train for a mile race? Especially one that falls 3 weeks after a half-marathon and 2 weeks after a 10K. Who knows would be my answer! I did a lot of easy running with some strides so we’ll see what my body is capable of.

However there are a lot of athletes who are training for these middle distance events on the track and they will be in top form. The race has received a lot of publicity, especially since they have upped the ante with prize money. Race director Brian Mastel says, “The fields include two Olympians, a three-time NCAA Champion, an age group world record holder and nine men who have broken the four-minute barrier.”

12 men and 10 women will be competing in the elite fields including:

Joining two-time champion of the event, Luke Watson, will be Team USA Minnesota runner Brad Lowery, in addition to former Team USA Minnesota runner, Ryan Kleimenhagen. The field also includes two runners who’ve recently been added to the list of sub-four minute milers, Steve Sherer, ranked second in the United States at the mile indoors and Jordan Fife, ranked 6th in the United States at the mile indoors, as well as several runners from Kenya, including Haron Lagat, Vincent Rono, Josephat Kithii, Eliud Njubi, and Benson Chesang.
The women’s field will feature 2004 Olympian Carrie Tollefson, her Team USA Minnesota teammate Emily Brown, former NCAA 1500 meter champion Tiffany McWilliams, and the top returning runner from last year’s race, Colleen Newhart. This year’s race will also have a strong international field with such runners as, Rose Kosgei, Margaret Chirchir, Meskerem Legesse, and Marina Munca.

Two of the runners are from Indiana: Luke Watson and Jordan Fife and three from Minnesota: Brad Lowery, Carrie Tollefson, and Rasa Troup.

It should be a fun night! Hopefully i won’t be so exhausted after my race that I will get to enjoy watching the elite race.  Waves start at 6:50pm with the championship male wave at 7:58.

HT: Down the Backstretch The Final Sprint Cool Running

Technorati Tags: mile, Medtronic, TC One Mile