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Micah Ward · Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 11:44 am Post subject:

RACE REPORT RACE REPORT RACE REPORT

Yesterday was the Magnolia Springs Cross Country Championships in Millen, GA. It is a 4.8 mile race that serves as the USATF Open and Masters cross country state championship. The course is one of my favorites. It is mostly sandy, single track trail with lots of turns and rolling hills through mostly hardwood forest. The rest is grass field and about 500 yards of paved road. I shuffled slowly along through 3 miles and then the calf started hurting so I shuffled even more slowly to the end to finish 47th of 53 with a time of 51:18. But I wasn't dissapointed because I knew I couldn't run it with any speed anyway.

Donna Garcia, a former Olympic 10,000 meter trials qualifier, was the overall winner in a time of 27:??. Since the race was so small I still took 3rd in my age group (obviously there were only 3 of us) and Sweet Baboo took 2nd in her age group.

I have run this race 3 times and always been puzzled by the small turnout. Even here in southeast Georgia you can find a road race almost every weekend of the year. But it is hard to find a true cross country race. I would think that at least a couple of hundred would come to this one. It is well organized and the course is great. Oh well....to each his own.

The carbo loading from the night before is also worth mentioning. We went to Nick's Goodfellas Italian and the Baboo had snow crab alfredo over bowtie pasta and I had a chicken vodka sauce over penne pasta with a Beringer Johannasburg Riesling from California. Did I mention in my last post that I haven't lost the weight I wanted? Surprised

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Dan · Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 12:37 pm Post subject:

That's a rather blazing time for Garcia.

USATF association meets out here are always low turnout, too. I've never understood why they have such a hard time promoting them effectively...

Dan
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Micah Ward · Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:49 am Post subject:

I believe that is the second time Garcia has been the overall winner in this particular race. She is pretty tough!!
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Micah Ward · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:34 pm Post subject:

I'm running (shuffling) a 10K in Savannah Saturday that is an out and back across the Savannah River. That means crossing an enormous bridge twice.

The real highlight of the weekend though is the pasta dinner the night before. Bill Rodgers is the guest speaker!!!! I have an old hard back copy of Jim Fixx's Complete Book of Running. It has a chapter on Rodgers and I am going to take it and try to get a chance to ask Rodgers to sign it.
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Dan · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:21 pm Post subject:

Mmm, celebrities, pasta, and bridges... Cool

Dan
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Micah Ward · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:14 am Post subject:

RACE REPORT RACE REPORT RACE REPORT

Had a great time this weekend. We reserved a room in Savannah for the night before the race and went to the expo and pasta dinner. Bill Rodgers was signing autographs at the expo and not only did he sign Baboo and my race numbers but he signed my old copy of The Complete Book of Running. He was extremely friendly and talked with everyone who approached him. After he spoke at the dinner he had a question and answer session. When I asked a question he even remembered my name from the autograph table. Since he was my first running hero you could say I was ecstatic. Very Happy

On to the race. The first couple of miles were on the flat streets of downtown Savannah and then it was across the Talmadge Bridge which crosses the Savannah River. The bridge itself is almost a mile long and tall enough to allow cargo ships to come into the Savannah port so it is a very serious climb. When we got to the other side we then looped around and came back across to finish back downtown. The weather was a cloudy 50 degrees with no wind....perfect!

All I wanted to do was finish with no pain so I shuffled along at about 11:24 pace and finished in 1:10:44 with only a couple of minor twinges on the down hills. The Sweet Baboo finished strong close behind me and declared that 5Ks just weren't long enough anymore and 10K is now her favorite distance.

There was a costum contest and one guy was wearing a box painted like Spongebob Squarepants. Yes.....he beat me...... Embarassed

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Dan · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:52 am Post subject:

Micah Ward · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 11:08 am Post subject:

If the blind guy you are refering to is named Willis then you have nothing to feel bad about!
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Dan · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 11:38 am Post subject:

It's been 10 years, I don't remember the name...

Dan
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Micah Ward · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 12:39 pm Post subject:

There was a guy in Atlanta named Tim Willis or Wills or something like that. He used to run with a guide runner and the two of them would be attached by a shoestring from Tim's hand to the guide runners hand. He ran the Peachtree one year in around 35 minutes. The guy was seriously fast!!! He also won some Paralympics medals. He was running strong in 1996 so he may be the one you are thinking of. I haven't heard anything about him lately.
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Dan · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject:

Now that you mention the first name, that does sound familiar. And that's exactly how he ran with guides.

Nothing like having a horrible race and hearing people talking the whole time behind you, telling him where to turn and step...

Dan
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Micah Ward · Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 5:14 am Post subject:

As the year draws to an end it is time to look back at the goals posted at the first of the year and see how I did.

Oooooh.....that hurt........... Embarassed

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Dan · Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 8:14 am Post subject:

Never look back. Cool

Dan
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Conway · Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 5:23 pm Post subject:

Ever forward ... Wink

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Micah Ward · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 4:07 am Post subject:

Aaaah yes....the great thing about being an optimist is that I have a brand new year to look forward to.

New Master's pr's.

My first marathon.

A surprise strategy in Fantasy T&F that will win the whole thing.

And I ask Dan if I can help moderate one forum and I get two more.

Ain't life grand?
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