Lechworth State Park

Posted on by
Reply

Lechworth State Park is located in the Genesse Region of New York State, somewhat in-between Buffalo and Rochester (down south a bit from each).

Nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the East, the park offers a number of easy to navigate trails (66 miles in total according to the official website). The park has three main waterfall points and a few intensive stair climbs, making for a nice mixture of sight-seeing and moderate exercise.

On this day the entire local branch of the Koster family (myself, my wife Sandra and our two dogs) made the trip down to Mount Morris, New York. If you’re ever in the area or have interest in seeing a lightly attended, yet beautiful state park, I’d highly recommend visiting Lechworth.

Slainte St.Patricks Day 5 KM Race Review

Posted on by
Reply

On Saturday, March 10th I took part in the Slainte St.Patricks Day 5 KM road race, held in Hamilton, Ont. The fast course and fun festivites were off-set by a few errors.

Review

The Slainte 5 KM. Known for it’s post-race free food & beer, the course is one of the faster 5 KM courses around, with a 300+ foot descent around the 3 KM mark. The course is marketed as an optimal location for a PR.

I’ve previously taken part in only one 5 km event, the St.Catharines Grape & Wine 5K, finishing in a time of 23:26.

I have to admit, I was a little trepidatious about running this race. Firstly, I’ve had some issues with my knees and downhills. And secondly, I’m a little uneasy about setting an unrealistic 5km PR based upon a gimmie course.

Packet Pick-up

The packet pick-up was on the day of the race, always a plus. The location for the pickup is the Slainte bar itself. The ‘swag’ bag was a little underwhelming, just a non-tech T-Shirt, bib & a few sample nut bars. After picking up the packet runners moved towards a couple of school busses, which traveled up the hill to the starting point.

Buses began running at 10:30. I ended up on the 11:45 bus. When we arrived at the school right around noon there were a number of people waiting outside. Why? Well, the school was locked until noon. I really feel sorry for the individuals that caught early busses, only to wait out in the cold. At least on this day, being late had it’s advantages.

Race Report

I wiggled my way to the starting line and went out fast… way too fast. I recall looking at my watch at 0.21 miles in and feeling like I was about to run out of gas. I attempted to keep the lead pack in my sight, as my pre-race strategy was to run to the downhill, recover for a spell during the descent, then turn it back on and run to the finish. For the most part I stuck to my plan, although a few course issues made my task difficult.

Race Problems

Incorrect Distance

The distance of the race ended up being 5.54 KM. The error was blamed on an off-route police motorcycle escort.

About a 1/10th of a km in to the race a runner informed me that we were already off course. He wondered where we were going and just said screw it (well his language was a little more salty than that) and followed the motorcycle.

The police officer had the lead pack weave in and out of side streets. By the time we reached the 1 km mark we were at about 1.2 km. This changed the nature of the course, as the hill portion was expected right around the 2.8 km mark. Instead it didn’t show up until about 3.1 – 3.2 km. That difference doesn’t seem like much but it’s a big deal when you plan to sprint to the hill (as I did). The 5 km mark of the run came and went with no finish in sight. From 5 km to about 5.45 was a straight line run, then the course turned two corners and the finish line finally came into view.

Pro-rated Race Times

I crossed the finish line at 20:36. My time was then ramped up to 20:41 on the first official time sheet and then pushed up once again to 20:46 on the final times. I can’t get my head around three different finishes during a chipped time race. I can understand the big clock having an error and then corrected. But then a third time. Oh well.

The race director ultimately pro-rated times down to 5km distance from 5.54, sending my time down to 18:43. This race represented my best placement finish, 14th overall (out of around 450) and 4th in my age group. I don’t foresee myself running anywhere close to the hill adjusted 18:43 time again, I’ll strive for a sub 19:30 on a flat course as a realistic PR marker.

Post-Race

The post-race was enjoyable, as all race participants were fed a bowl of chilli and allowed one free beer. This helped ease some of the tension from the incorrect distance, although I was under the impression that free beer meant more than one drink.

Making Things Right

The race director has stood up and taken a portion of the blame for this race (while still throwing the motorcycle cop under the bus), saying that the distance snafu was inexcusable. He’s offered a two day 50% discount to all race participants for the next downhill series race on this course in August.

I’m personally going to skip this race and others in the Michael Lamont series until they can produce a few error free races. One positive about the GTA/Niagara region is there are a number of races & race providers throughout the year.

 

2012 Disney Marathon Review

Posted on by
1

Myself and my wife arrived in Orlando on Thursday evening for the Sunday morning run. We picked up our rental car and did touristy things leading up to Saturday’s race packet pick-up.

Packet Pick-Up & Expo

The packet pick-up was extremely easy. In the days leading up to the pick-up I was getting a little stressed out about the lines, considering there are supposedly 20,000+ people doing the race. Disney takes this into consideration and has a separate, well arena basically, to grab the packet. I later found out that most pick-up their packets on Thursday or Friday.

Next door is yet another arena, this one hosting the expo. Multiple vendors were in place and there were a few deals here and there but nothing groundbreaking in my opinion.

Disney Marathon Race Expo

Race Day & Run

We stayed on property Saturday evening, which we read was a must for out of towners. The reason for this is the shuttle service that Disney provides to and from the race. We woke up around 2:15am on race morning, got ready and headed down to a shuttle bus in-front of the hotel. After hanging around the meet-up area until 4:00am we moved to the offical race start, which is a nice warm up walk of about 3/4 of a mile. The race began at 5:35 for runners in Corral A. As this was our first Marathon, we had no previous times to report and were placed in Corral G, the second to last corral.

HACK: A less than honest person could obtain a pacing wrist band from the official Cliff Bar Pacers at the expo. The wrist band allows runners access to better corral placement.

Corral G didn’t get to start until 5:59am. By this time the course was littered with runners. This, along with the sheer number of course turn & bends made it hard to get a flow going, as an estimated 24,000 runners took part in the Marathon. The race route was around the Disney complex and through the four main theme parks.

Course Map

While the race is 26.2 miles, I would estimate only four or five take place within the theme parks. The majority of miles were on back roads, although I didn’t mind this fact as much as others. The weather held up its end of the bargin, starting at around 55 and warming up to near 80 by the end of run. Disney did a great job placing drink stations every mile and aid stations every three or four miles. There was an overall lack of food stations, although I read about this and planned in advance by stashing a few Cliff bars in a running belt.

Time

As this was my first Marathon I was planning on taking things easy and running a shade under 4:30. My finishing time ending up being a very poor (for myself at least) 4:49, a far cry from running a 1:39 Half Marathon back in Novemeber. I’m not going to delve into a series of excuses for my Disney time. I plan on making up for this poor showing by running a sub 3:50 at the October Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

End of Season

While the Disney race took place on Jan 8th, 2012, I considered it part of the 2011 running season. Myself and my wife took up running in Mid-July and within 6 months went from running only a few K at a time to finishing a Marathon. The year includes a 5K, 10K, Half and this full. It was a good year and now my legs are TIRED. I plan of resting for a month or two by running a reduced 12 – 15 mile schedule and then ramping things back up for the Mississauga Half Marathon on May 6th, 2012.

Back to the Disney Marathon: Hit or Miss?

2012 Disney Marathon Medal

I give the Disney Marathon an easy endorsment for first time marathoners. It’s a laid back,  supportive atmosphere that’s less competitive and certainly less intimitading than standard races. As always, Disney’s attention to detail is second to none.

Server Issues

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been dealing with server issues for, well, nearly a month now. Thus the lack of updates.

However, I’m hopeful that the server issues are a thing of the past. I’ll be back later in the week with my take on the Disney Marathon.

2011 Hamilton Road 2 Hope 1/2 Marathon Review

Posted on by
1

Hamilton Marathon Medal

Race Organization/Course

Talk about well organized.

Packet pick-up at the Expo was very easy. Chips (at the back of the race number) were pre-activiated. The Registration Fee included a free T-Shirt, which came in a choice of three colors.

Race day itself went off without a hitch. Arrived at Centennial Beach, parked and took a school bus up the parkway to a high school. The school was open and warm, which was a nice touch.

The 1/2 Marathon course was flat and fast, with a portion (2 miles) being downhill. Police did a spectacular job of blocking off traffic and letting runners own the roads.

My Run:

I stuck to my pre-race plan, which was to take it slow for the first 2-3 miles, then pick things up on the downhill portion and then gut it out over the final seven-eight miles of the race.

All things considering, I’m happy with my finishing time of 1:39:37. I began a structured training plan in August of this year and I’ve only hit the 10+ mile mark on four or five occasions. I came in 253rd out of 1723.

Due to the superb organization of the event, and the support of Hamilton’s City Kidzprogram, I’ll run this event in at least a 10km format each year for the subsequent future.

Next Race:

A full 26.2 mile Marathon, held at Disney World in Orlando. I think I’ll take my time and enjoy this course, as it winds through all four theme parks. I hope the snow holds off till early Dec :)

Link: Hamilton Road 2 Hope Marathon

Niagara Falls 10K Race Review

Posted on by
1

10K Medal From 2011 Niagara Falls Marathon

The race kicked off at 8:30 am on Sunday, Oct 23rd. The event went off without a hitch, starting on time, and on the whole a well set-up race by the directors of the event. The 10K course was around and back, with a slight incline at the start and subsequent decline towards the end. The race began near the top of the Canadian Horseshoe and then went into Chippawa. The course itself was along the water. On the whole I would recommend the course to those looking to do a 5K or 10K. The half and full Marathon courses started in different locations, so I can’t reasonably comment on either event.

From a personal performance perspective, I’m fairly happy with my time in the 10K. I placed 27th overall out of 448, with a clock time of 45:53 (chip time of 45:48). I once again went with a slow & steady pace at the start, however this time out I picked up my speed after the first mile. For the race I was able to post ‘negative’ splits for each mile. My times by mile:

7:48
7:32
7:30
7:21
7:13
6:47
6:11 (0.2 miles to complete 10K)

The next race for the Koster family is the November Road2Hope Half Marathon in Hamilton on November 6th. It’s a quick turnaround of two weeks for a race that I can safely say I’m not 100% ready for. On the plus side the course is downhill and a portion of the race proceeds go to CityKidz, so while I’m not exactly ready for the race, I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.

The Run for Grapes 5K Review

Posted on by
1

This past Sunday I completed my first official running event, the St.Catharines Grape and Wine ‘The Run for Grapes‘.

Without a reference point I can’t really compare the set-up of the race to other events. For the most part, everything ran smoothly. Show up about an hour early, get your kit + time chip, shirt, etc and then wait it out.

The course itself, which was made up primarily of hills, was far more difficult than I had anticipated. My training leading up to the event was primarily on flat surfaces, with only the occasional hill thrown in. After the race I overheard multiple runners complain about the hill portions. According to the official race website, this years route had to be altered due to road construction.

As this was my first race, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do regarding pacing. I ended up following the advice put worth by a few running books, which is to start slow and turn things on. I took this to the extreme, as I ran very slow over the first 0.5 KM, really just a shade above fast walking pace. I must have been passed by around 50 people. After the first 0.5 KM was out of the way, the Hills began.

Going down the hill I used longer strides and attempted to build some speed. During flat sections I eased off and shifted back into longer strides on the uphill portions. Overall this strategy seemed to work (at least for me), as I made up most of my ground during the hill portions.

On the whole I finished 56th out of 467 runners (5th out of 28 in my age group) with a chip time of 23:14. Going in I was hoping for at least a sub-par 24 min time, with a stretch goal of 22 min. All things considering, I’m happy with the result. Next up for the Koster family is the Niagara Falls 10Km on October 23rd, then it’s on to Florida for the Disney Marathon on January 8th, 2012.

Time via Sportsstats.ca

Around the Web: Japanese Baseball Card Pack Break

Posted on by
Reply

According to the great YakyuBaka website, the legendary Randy Bass is now the official spokesman for Owners League Baseball trading/gaming cards. I could write all day about Bass. I smell a future off-season MopUpDuty.com post.

Anyways, I’ve spent a few minutes trying to track down Owners League on Ebay but to no avail. The product looks similar to North American baseball cards, which, like most, I collected back in the early 1990′s.

Here’s a pack break:

Owners League Pack Break

I have no idea who he pulled but I love the enthusiasm.

Additional pack break:

The cards appear to be a mixture of regular baseball cards and a Strat-O-Matic.

Welcome

Posted on by
Reply

My backup didn’t take after switching web hosts. Yes, I lost all three of my previous posts :)

The content for this website will revolve primarily around my interests. Baseball, travel, product reviews, family life, shared links, etc. Nothing earth shattering, just my perverse idea of what passes as entertainment.