I ran the Buckeye Half Marathon a couple of weeks ago and came in second in my age group with a finishing time of 1:50:39. The first seven miles I felt strong; right around mile seven I felt pain radiating through my right hamstring (from an injury about a year ago) and at mile ten, I had a gimp. I finished without walking so there’s that…not my best time but I’m okay with how I did. Pushing through the pain in not for the faint of heart. Ha!

Canton Charge 5K

Canton Ohio

Finish Time:22:41

Overall 24th out of 388

Age Division 2nd place

Race Review

This was the second year for the Canton Charge 5K. This is a unique race because it features an indoor start and finish. The temperature was a cool 30 degrees but the sun was shining and there was little to no wind making for very nice running conditions. The race starts with all of the participants lined up down a hallway inside the Canton Civic Center adjacent to the Canton Charge basketball court. Runners make their way down the short tight hallway, out a large auxiliary door and after a few tight turns, onto the the streets of downtown Canton. The start is slow and congested. The indoor start did create issues for many runners trying to sink their GPS watches. I was able to acquire a signal on my GPS watch outside prior to the start so I personally did not experience this issue. The first mile of the race has a slight incline but isn’t too bad. The second mile starts with the only significant hill on the course. Most of the second mile is on side streets that are paved with bricks. Many of the bricks on the street are worn making for an uneven and at times difficult running surface. Many runners including myself found it easier to run on the sidewalk on this part of the course. Mile 3 is a long steady downhill grade back to the Canton Civic Center. The tight turns back into the Canton Civic Center property and into the building don’t really allow runners much of a chance to sprint to the finish. Runners are greeted at the finish line by the Canton Charge Girls. Finisher medals are immediately awarded to all runners by several more Canton Charge Girls. The finish times were a little slow as the course was longer than 3.1 miles. Many runners felt it was 3.3 or 3.4 miles. My GPS had the course at 3.2 miles. Once again the fine people at runcanton.com put on an excellent event. All participants received long sleeve tech shirts, custom finisher medals and a ticket voucher to a Canton Charge game. Winners received additional Canton Charge tickets and gift certificates for their next runcanton.com event. A large banquet room adjacent to the arena made for a really nice pre and post race gathering and awards area. The Canton Charge had several attractions and activities on display for kids making this a really nice family friendly event. I would certainly recommend this race to anyone in the future.

My results are as follows:

Clay’s Park Sprint: 5th Age Group, 18th Overall 1:24:26
HFP Maumee Bay Olympic: 7th Age Group, 34th Overall 2:27:57
Munroe Falls Sprint: 1st Age Group, 10th Overall 57:34
HFP Alum Creek: 6th Age Group, 37th Overall 2:42:57
HFP Vermillion Harbour Olympic: 4th Age Group, 30th Overall 2:30:57
HFP Portage Lakes Olympic: 3rd Age Group, 35th Overall 2:49:35

HFP has a Series Championship and I finished 2nd Overall in the 40-44 Age group championship.

Akron Marathon: 12/88 Age Group, 104/693 Male, 130/1135 Overall 3:39:40.

I raced the “Marcos 5k for kids” race on Sunday. First year they had it. It supports local food banks give kids under school age food. Raced it to support the cause more than anything else.
Took first place over all 19:03. Small turnout, hopefully more people show up next year.

I ran the Bath 8k Steeplechase yesterday. Beautiful day for a race. The race course winds its way through the Bath Nature Preserve, the trees changing and bright blue skies made for a awesome morning. I finished 23/109, 8.04 / mile pace.

I ran the Bowman Cup 5k last weekend. I came in at 23:27. Third overall KSU alumni and second in age group.

Saturday – CAK 5K – 18:36, 10th overall out of 1515. 1st age group, just behind a 10 year old girl from Tallmadge. Really good kid, and a really fast runner. My version of ‘are you faster than a 10 year old?’ – answer – NO!
Sunday – Harvest Moon 5K – Cross Country, on the grounds of Varian Orchards. Very hilly, very tough footing, and really fun. 21:28, 3rd overall. I battled a 15 yr old Jackson CC runner in the final stretch, and as you may guess, ‘are you faster than a 15 year old cross country runner?’ was also answered NO!

Run Now Wine Later

Gervasi Vineyard Canton, Ohio

October 8th

4.5 mile run

Finish time 32:33 (7:14 mile pace)

13th overall out of 601

1st place 45-49 age group

Race Review

The Run Now Wine Later 4.5 mile race held at Gervasi Vineyard in Canton, Ohio was another well organized and fantastic event put on by the fine people at RunCanton.com. The real draw to this sold out event was of course the location. Gervasi Vineyard is about as nice as it gets for any race. The course is 4.5 miles of small rolling hills and flats on the paved and gravel trails of Gervasi and the surrounding parks. The course provides just enough elevation change to challenge but not break your running spirit. The weather was a cool and comfortable high 50’s with a little wind. All runners were greeted at the finish line with a custom wine themed finisher medal. All participants received a long sleeve tech shirt and voucher for $10 of food or wine at Gervasi. Winners received custom wine glasses that were quickly filled with Gervasi’s best vintages. If you are a fan of wine and like a scenic backdrop for your running then I highly recommend this race be on your schedule for next year!

I needed to start adding some intensity into my training to prepare for Worlds coming up in November. Physically I was recovering from Nationals 2 weeks ago, but mentally just could not get motivated enough to head to the track for solo 400’s.

So Headed to Kent State for a local 5 K. Even though its only 30 minutes from my house, have never been on the college campus there. Wow- was it impressive. The sign up was held at the Rec center- a first class facility.

There were 250 + signed up- with many runners from the Kent State team, so I started farther back than normal as everyone lined up in the parking lot for the start. I warmed up on the course- and it had some hills, with a lot of tight corners, and a 90 degree turn in the parking lot for the finish.

The first mile was slight downhill- I was in maybe 30th, but looking over the runners in front of me-did not seeing any O.G.’s (old guys), so just pushed to try to pass a few runners- and not let any O.G.’s pass me.

Had a solid race- pushed hard the whole way- ended up 25th overall, first in my age group- with a 20:39. Was not my best time, but with tight course was happy, and with a hilly bike ride right after- a solid workout

Ken

Carlo: 1st Place Age Group; 21st Overall

Steve Z.: 3rd Place Age Group; 29th Overall