Ridge to Bridge Race Report

Well, I have to say it's been a hell of a year running wise. Chelsea won Tupelo. Trevor debut at 3:04 and Gaby ran the distance in GR!! I had 5 of my kids accompany me on the Scream HM in July > that was cool. Personally I set PR at 5 mile (30:46), pushed my 10k PR down twice (38:44), a PR in the HM (1:25:20) and two PRs in the Marathon. Also garnered 7 AG firsts in 9 races over the year. When I started this journey in 2009, I had no such expectations. Never a marathon in sight. I have been very neglectful in posting due to huge amounts of travel and a really busy life. Yet here I am writing another race report.

Ridge to Bridge 2012. Flew to Atlanta with my buddy Wilm Thu night and picked up Chelsea and drove up to NC on Friday afternoon. Both Wilm and I felt like we were ready for a sub 3:00 try. Having run the Scream in July, I knew what was in store. We reviewed the grade, the RD recommendations and my prior experience. The plan - run the first 6 above pace 8-10 seconds/mile as it was elevation neutral although quite rolling, run the downhill mountain about 15 seconds/mile faster than goal pace - then finish the slight downhill last 11 miles at goal pace up to 5 seconds slower.

Dawn broke slightly overcast and about 60 degrees at the bottom of the mountain. By the time we reached the top in a nice coach with a toilet it was the mid-50s. Little breeze. Perfect.

Wilm and I have run 8 marathons together, but this is the first time we agreed to run it together beginning to end. It's a small race of 350 with little crowd support as its in the middle of nowhere and we figured we'd need each other's support at some time or another. We ran the perfect race. Right on target after the first six, we thought a bit ahead after the middle 9 (the mtn, winding path and trees played havoc with the Garmin), and pushed the last 11 just above target.

Final result 2:58:02 == Yipee!!

I won't go through all the little details of the race, but it had its difficult moments. And although you can save energy the first miles knowing the downhill is coming up, the downhill destroys your legs and hanging on to the finish is tough. I still have soreness almost a week later. My left knee felt like it was going to give out - and that knee never hurts.

Wilm and I tied for 7th and both won our AG. Chelsea was second OA female in 3:09 - a 10 minute PR, and she had a lot more in the tank, running the last mile 45 seconds below her target pace.

We reviewed all our splits - Wilm and I had about a 2% positive split, right where we targeted. Chelsea negative spit the race, which seems impossible when looking at the terrain. I think she took it out a couple of minutes too slow. I think she had a 3:05-3:06 in her. But she's still figuring out how good she really is, but she was nursing a sore hammy, so took it easy on the downhill. I figure the downhill was worth about 2 minutes of improvement. Not as much as you think as the abuse on the downhill is pretty significant. I still think sub-3 was possible on a flat course. But we'll have to find out at some point in the future.

I really recommend this race. The RD David Lee is fantastic. The race is well run, nice buses, good food, local brew available, beautiful scenery, small enough, but big enough. It's a tough race to pace, so if you ever decide to go, follow David's advice on the race website or send me a note.

Wow! Congrats on the Sub 3:00, woo-hoo to you. I would think something would be hurting on all that downhill running. I've had that sensation of the knee cap giving way. Thankfully just a sensation. I've had an Achilles strain this week trying to get back to hard stuff too soon so be careful and take as many days as you need. I took Amby's advise from the last RW article and took 3 days off. Anyway, killer year for ya, huge congrats, see you in Boston again?

GREAT job! You didn't mention that you are now the All Time Record holder for your AG for the course record. Sounds like a perfectly executed race pacing plan on a quirky course that would have been easy to mess up with too fast/too slow splits. Gives the rest of us hope that big milestone race time numbers can be broken!

Chris M wrote:GREAT job! You didn't mention that you are now the All Time Record holder for your AG for the course record. Sounds like a perfectly executed race pacing plan on a quirky course that would have been easy to mess up with too fast/too slow splits. Gives the rest of us hope that big milestone race time numbers can be broken!

Thanks. What do you mean AG course record?

mountandog wrote:

Chris M wrote:GREAT job! You didn't mention that you are now the All Time Record holder for your AG for the course record. Sounds like a perfectly executed race pacing plan on a quirky course that would have been easy to mess up with too fast/too slow splits. Gives the rest of us hope that big milestone race time numbers can be broken!

Thanks. What do you mean AG course record?

Here you go...see below. Don't let anyone beat your record! I think it is all very cool and congrats on everything.

Here's the website and the records are shown below

http://media.wix.com/ugd/832025_370efdf29432ff6cb89af53a1e8f159f.pdf?dn=r2b_course_records.pdf

Ridge to Bridge Marathon
Age Group Course Records – Through 2012
For those of you interested in course records by age group, here they are. In this
case, you are allowed to "double-dip" so Tomasz has not only the overall course
record, but that for his age group, as well.
Overall
Male - 2:39:13.4 - Tomasz Kochanowicz (Fort Bragg, NC) 2012
Female - 2:53:12.9 - Tracy Brooks (Tazewell, TN) 2011
Age Groups - Female
19 & Under - None
20 - 24 - 2:53:28.9 - Jeanne-Claire White (Boone, NC) 2010
25 - 29 - 2:53:12.9 - Tracy Brooks - (Tazewell, TN) 2011
30 - 34 - 3:15:23.2 - Anne Anderson (Knoxville, TN) 2012
35 - 39 - 3:21:51.7 - Sarah Fraser (Asheville, NC) 2011
40 - 44 - 3:09:40.7 - Annette Bednosky (Wilkesboro, NC)
45 - 49 - 3:32:00.9 - Kay Evans (Chocowinity, NC) 2010
50 - 54 - 3:37:14.8 - Susan Lance (Whitesburg, GA) 2010
55 - 59 - 3:52:45.0 – Teresa Lindamood (Blountville, TN) 2012
60 - 64 - 4:22:53.1 - Margaret Faust (Raleigh, NC) 2011
65 - 69 - 5:05:54.7 - Marcia Godwin (Matthews, NC) 2010
70 & Over - None
19 & Under - 3:46:06.8 - Sam Guicardo (Asheville, NC) 2012
20 - 24 - 2:52:41.0 - Garrett Pedersen (Cary, NC) 2012
25 - 29 - 2:40:06.8 - Josh Baker (Valdese, NC) 2010
30 - 34 - 2:41:31.6 - Josh Baker (Valdese, NC) 2011
35 - 39 - 2:39:13.4 - Tomasz Kochanowicz (Fort Bragg, NC) 2012
40 - 44 - 2:44:01.7 - Mark Lundblad (Swannanoa, NC) 2010
45 - 49 - 2:52:53.8 - Greg Dawson (Williamsburg, VA) 2011
50 - 54 - 3:01:06.5 – Bill Gibbs (Winston-Salem, NC) 2012
55 - 59 - 2:58:02.1 – Michael Young (Orchard Lake, MI) 2012
60 - 64 - 3:18:43.8 - Malcolm Oliver (Morristown, TN) 2009
65 - 69 - 3:37:45.0 - Don Owens (Williamston, MI) 2010
70 & Over - 4:26:53.7 - Lester Copeland (Morganton, NC) 2010

Chris M wrote:

mountandog wrote:

Chris M wrote:GREAT job! You didn't mention that you are now the All Time Record holder for your AG for the course record. Sounds like a perfectly executed race pacing plan on a quirky course that would have been easy to mess up with too fast/too slow splits. Gives the rest of us hope that big milestone race time numbers can be broken!

Thanks. What do you mean AG course record?

Here you go...see below. Don't let anyone beat your record! I think it is all very cool and congrats on everything.

Here's the website and the records are shown below

http://media.wix.com/ugd/832025_370efdf29432ff6cb89af53a1e8f159f.pdf?dn=r2b_course_records.pdf

Ridge to Bridge Marathon
Age Group Course Records – Through 2012

Now that is really cool. Is there a website that has such lists for more courses? Other distances? How did you find this, I had no clue such lists exist. It would be fun to look at other venues before running them.

Congrats, Michael to you and your family for a great race and a great year! Super plan for the race. You have made incredible strides this year and I am dutifully impresses especially since neither of us are younguns.

I ran it like Chelsea did with a slight positive split and when I saw those AG records, I was bummed as I ran it in 2010 and was 3rd in the 45-49 AG only 3 min behind the winner - maybe I should train and go back!

Congratulations Michael, this is really a great race, I'm glad it worked out so well, and that you did so well.

Congrats!

Congrats! I really want to run this one. I was registered a couple of years ago for it but then got injured and didn't run it.

Congratulations Michael, not just for cracking 3 and setting a new AG record (though that is amazing!), but for a stellar year. I can't wait to see what 2013 brings!

Well, that is just the coolest thing! thanks for the great report and congrats on all your firsts!

E Greenie

Great job to you and your family! What a great year for all of you!