Tag Archives: virtual race

Running, Sports

Race #49 – Sage Rat River Run 5K

Somewhere along the way, I’d heard of the virtual races at Virtual Run World, but for whatever reason, I wasn’t watching them for  races.  Their medals were kinda large and gaudy, and didn’t trip my trigger.  However, I learned recently that they sponsor a “real world” race, and that they were selling off excess medals from those race series.

That race is the Sage Rat River Run, which is run at a variety of distances, and one of those is 5K — right in my wheelhouse.  The other thing that was enticing about this was the rat on the medal.  Darla’s been chasing rats in tubes as part of barn hunt, and doggone-it, I wanted to have my own rat reward!  🙂

I decided to return to the Wildwood Greenway, and run on it for the first time in a couple of years.  This is a great paved trail, with paths on both the north and south sides of Highway 100 (Manchester Road), and is the site of my PR at 5K back in 2012.  Of course, on a nice day, it’s pretty crowded with walkers, runners and cyclists.  Yesterday was no exception.

I’d intended to just go 5K, but kinda got in a groove, and started exploring the trail, getting into some of the nooks and crannies I’ve never explored.  Before I knew it, I was over five miles for the second weekend in a row.  And once again, I found that I had a nice rhythm going (albeit not the fastest in the world!), which is giving me some real confidence about the upcoming half-marathon in Tulsa come November.  I get it that five miles is significantly less distance than 13.2 miles, but the early returns are looking promising!

So, with this weird course yesterday morning, I have no good way of extracting splits for either 5K or 5mi.  C’est la vie.  Sometimes, it’s about the journey, rather than the metrics!

Race Course

Running, Sports

Race #42 – Independence Day 5K

Man, there were a lot of virtual races available this year around the 4th of July!  I saw this one from Moon Joggers first, and frankly, of all of them, this one had the coolest medal.

I really wanted to get out Wednesday and run.  We had amazing conditions in Da Lou.  At lunch, it was about 63°, but the rain was pretty intense.  I enjoy running in the rain, but this was a real storm, and I figured that it’d be best if I didn’t tempt fate by running amongst the trees with a storm overhead.

So, yesterday ended up being my running lunch day.

It was still pretty dang nice, with clouds and about 67° outside.  I took a new route that kept me off the big roads, which meant laps on Wren Trail.  I’m not usually a fan of laps, but the laps actually went by quickly, and made for a pretty safe feeling run with no cars to deal with.

And really, the time on the trail was great.  It was a pretty easy go, and I think I’ve now found a new neighborhood course for some variety.

With that, race #42 is in the books, and another medal is on the tree!

(This race benefitted the Wounded Warrior Project.)

Race Course

Running, Sports

Race #40 – The Great Cornholio Race 5K

Yeah, I know the medal has 2014 on it, instead of 2015.  There’s a story behind that.  (Isn’t there always?!)

I’d been signing up for a few races through the Virtual Nerd folks.  They sponsor races that fundraise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and with my connection to that disease, I couldn’t resist hooking up with them.  Of course, the races were cool … Star Wars themed, Back to the Future themed.  (Both yet to come for me!)

A week or so ago, I got a note from them that some of the race medals from last year were still hanging around, they were selling them cheap.  I was a Beavis and Butthead fan a long, long time ago, and the Cornholio medal tripped my trigger.  It helped that the guys’ shirts have “Cancer Sucks” across them.  My sentiment exactly.

Once I ordered, I made mention to the Virtual Nerd folks on Facebook that I’d ordered this up.  I told them that I’d survived colon cancer, and that mom was fighting CML — and that both of us agreed that cancer sucked.  🙂  They were impressed by mom’s fight, and said she must be a very tough lady.  Who am I to argue with a stranger on the internet!

2015-07-01-0001Fast forward a few days, and the envelope came with the medal.  Scribbled on the outside was “Best of luck to your mom! (one 4 her too)”.  I opened the padded mailer, and there were two medals in there, one for me and one for mom.

And once again, I was reminded just how wonderful the running community is.  I’m so touched by the kindness of someone to just do a simple, kind thing for another runner.  All I can say to Joe and Amanda (who operate Virtual Nerd Runs) is thank you from the bottom of my heart.  The medal will be in the mail to mom this week.

Oh, and the miles today were hot, but pretty easy on a flat course.  There — race report done.  🙂

Race Course