The Running Thread - 2020

[Jeff Morris]

I had a bad run today and I’m a little grumpy about it...
How do you get out of your head after a bad run?
I would appreciate any and all suggestions!

I keep in mind what my wife the nurse/diabetes health educator says: "Good run, bad run--you're out there, you're exercising, which puts you well ahead of most everyone else!"

 

[KevM]

As I wait to see if a 5K on Saturday is postponed. It’s ran before a local St. Patrick’s Day parade and the parade was postponed earlier today. No word on the 5K yet.

 

[KevM]

Ah, the 5K is postponed. I get it, but still, boooooooo!

 

[camaker]

Ah, the 5K is postponed. I get it, but still, boooooooo!

I've got a local marathon on Sunday. They're sending out Facebook requests begging for volunteers and pacers because a lot of folks are bailing on them. The race is still a go for now, though.

 

[jillinastoria]

So I tried to register for the Wine & Dine 10K or half marathon this morning, and it did NOT go well at all -- IT issues for the first hour, then the 10K sold out, and then the half sold out as I was in the middle of registering.

I decided not to tempt fate next time, so I signed up for the Marathon Weekend half in January 2021 through a travel agent instead. Lesson learned, and I guess I'd rather go to Florida in January rather than November, anyway?

 

[GreatLakes]

I'm doing the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in DC next month and so far it is still on. They posted a COVID-19 update and said they are still planning to run. I'm not worried about any of my local races cancelling since even the local half I'm doing is pretty small.

The Arnold Expo was cancelled last weekend which changed my plans last minute. We turned it into a guy's weekend in Pittsburgh instead of Columbus instead.

 

[ReginaMBK]

I'm doing the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in DC next month and so far it is still on. They posted a COVID-19 update and said they are still planning to run. I'm not worried about any of my local races cancelling since even the local half I'm doing is pretty small.

The Arnold Expo was cancelled last weekend which changed my plans last minute. We turned it into a guy's weekend in Pittsburgh instead of Columbus instead.

DCer here. No rumblings whatsoever about cancelling races. St.Pat's races are all on this weekend, Shamrock in VA Beach is a go the weekend after, Cherry Blossom race (and festival) are all full speed ahead.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Update to the discussion about POT. I have received confirmation from runDisney that the new HM standard moving forward will be 2:30 for Wine and Dine and beyond. This is the new estimated cutoffs with the values marked in orange coming from them:



I go into more detail here:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-cutoff-confirmed-times.3699036/post-61659608

 

[KevM]

New York Half was cancelled a few minutes ago.

I’m supposed to have the Phillies 5K & the Love Run at the end of the month. With Philly announcing their first case today, I’m saying right now it’s probably 40/60 that both will be canceled/postponed.

 

[jillinastoria]

I was registered NYC Half, sigh ... it's been a bad day for me and races! Yet somehow I registered for two OTHER halves today (Staten Island Half as well as the Marathon Weekend Half I mentioned above). Guess I'll be training for half-marathons all year, ha!

 

[avondale]

I am also running the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler as a training race. I have a bit of mixed feelings about doing it, but I'm running along and will try not to touch people's faces. This is a local race for me, so I don't have to travel.

I am more unsure about the Martian Marathon on April 18. I'd have to fly for that, but I'd be staying at my FIL's. I'd really hate to have trained for 4 months to not race, but I also don't want to pick something up and bring it back to contaminate someone else. Well, I suppose I don't have to decide about it yet.

QUESTION: If races are canceled due to the novel coronavirus, are people getting refunds? I honestly wouldn't expect to get a refund - maybe a free entry next year - but my husband was aghast to think that there would be no refund.

 

[avondale]

I had a neat encounter today doing my speedwork run at the local HS track. After work before sunset, so there was just me and two men there. One of them was this tall, young African American guy I had seen before at the track. He was doing a very serious and very fast sprinting workout, with all the warm-up and after-stretching, etc.

Meanwhile I had T-pace + I-pace + R-pace and had sort of gotten the T-pace section, failed at the I-pace section and was doing the R-pace intervals when I saw that he was leaving, so I stopped and asked him if he was training for some kind of specific event.

Yes - the 400-m hurdles at the Olympic Trials in June. His name is Adam Durham; he said the top 3 get on the team, and he'd had a 5th place finish, so he just needed to beat 2 guys. I wished him luck, of course! Once I got home, I looked him up, and he used to go to UMD (I teach there) and has continued to run track after that. So now I feel better about feeling so slow compared to him, ha ha, and I'll have to remember to see how he does at the trials.

And then I went out and did my last R-pace 200-m in the fastest time I've ever done it - 48 sec! Which seems to be 2 - 3 seconds faster than he's raced 400-m hurdles.

 

[huskies90]

My Saturday 5K was “altered”. There is no “race”. They are doing an open house staging format with a rolling start with limited groups going off in each stage. It will still be timed but there are no winners, no age group awards, no post race gatherings. There was suppose to be a post race party with pizza and a free beer. That is canceled. The course is also altered to now be an out and back on a rail trail. It was suppose to be a loop ending on trail. I guess they are doing this to eliminate road closures? They are not offering refunds or deferral.

ETA: The course altering makes sense to me now since they clarified that they are leaving the "open house" start window open for 1.5 hours for people to start when they want. They would not have been able to leave the roads closed that long.

EETA: Latest update: They changed the no awards/winners to they will determine winners based on chip times once the race closes down and they will mail them out. Actually with that change, it is not a bad concession. Really all the race elements are there except starting at the same time and post race party. I guess this is better than canceling the race completely.

EEETA: Now race is simply canceled and they are offering a deferral to another race thru 3/2021

 

[SarahDisney]

QUESTION: If races are canceled due to the novel coronavirus, are people getting refunds? I honestly wouldn't expect to get a refund - maybe a free entry next year - but my husband was aghast to think that there would be no refund.

NYC Half is doing either a full refund or guaranteed non-complimentary entry for next year (it's a lottery). I was actually surprised by that, as NYRR usually is happy to keep everyone's money, but it's nice that they're giving a refund option.

 

[KevM]

QUESTION: If races are canceled due to the novel coronavirus, are people getting refunds? I honestly wouldn't expect to get a refund - maybe a free entry next year - but my husband was aghast to think that there would be no refund.

My 5K that was supposed to be Saturday has been postponed two weeks until the 28th. It’s a small local race, so if it’s canceled I wouldn’t expect a refund. If it’s something like the New York Half or Broad Street, where a lottery is involved I wouldn’t expect a refund, but I would expect automatic entry for next years race. For an expansive race, I think I’d expect a refund over a free entry the next year.

 

[Z-Knight]

crap...this sucks...and Star Wars race weekend is in "April"..uggghhh...go away virus!

 

[Jules76126]

I had looked at running a local St Pat's 5K this weekend, but held off on signing up once they canceled the Boston Parade. The race was also canceled yesterday. I am eyeing a half in May and have been training for it, but again don't want to deal with refunds or deferral hassles so I think I will hold off till next month and see what is happening. The university I work at has not closed yet, but it is only a matter of time as we are getting lots of calls/complaints.

 

[Kerry1957]

Here is the email I received yesterday regarding the Run the Bluegrass half marathon scheduled for March 28th in Lexington, Kentucky. I like it!!

Hello, all. Our runners, guests and loved ones.
To alleviate everyone (and their brother, and their brother's brother) from having to message us, email us or chase us down by any other means, I am very pleased to release this statement this evening.
This afternoon at 4:00 ET we participated in a conference call with Keeneland Race Course, hosts of major events each spring, summer, fall, and winter much larger than RunTheBluegrass. Keeneland has been in continuous discussions with the City of Lexington, the state of Kentucky as well as local and national Health Department officials.

Everything is going on exactly as planned.
(In fact, I'm going to be even MORE loving and cheerful because I ain't gonna lose. Period. My $0.02.)

We encourage all of our runners and guests to (not just now, but always) practice good hygiene, wash your hands and use common sense.
In addition, Keeneland Race Course President, Bill Thomason, emailed this, today:
"We value the trust you put in the Keeneland team and that is why I want to personally update you on the situation with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak and the proactive steps we are taking to ensure your health and safety. Please know that Keeneland is working closely with state and local officials as well as national and local health organizations to take all necessary precautions as the situation continues to evolve.

We are enhancing sanitation protocols, in accordance with the latest CDC guidance, to provide the safest environment possible for those planning to attend the meet. These steps include:

1. Expanding our standard sanitary protocols to include the use of hospital-grade disinfectants on surfaces as a key means to minimize the spread of viruses.
2. Increasing the number of public hand sanitizing stations located in all areas of the property.
3. Using high-power infection control equipment including multiple electrostatic sprayers."

And finally, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, a former Registered Nurse in fact, has been extremely helpful and proactive since this all began. Mayor Gorton and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear have been working hand in hand to ensure the well-being of our Commonwealth and honestly, at this time, Kentucky couldn't ask for better public leaders, in my opinion.

Rachel, myself and all of Team RTB, we CAN'T WAIT to see all y'all in 2 1/2 weeks!!!!!!!!
- Eric, RunTheBluegrass Race Director

 

[roxymama]

Been absent from the boards for a bit but will start posting again now that I'm getting back into planned races part of the year
Waiting to see what happens with the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago in a few weeks. It's usually over 20,000 people so not a tiny race. There is a local 5k happening same weekend in my neighborhood that only draws like a hundred runners so maybe if they cancel the one I'll get to do the other?
After talking it over it looks like my rundisny upcoming plan is marathon 2021 (with whatever other races I may add on, but definitely 26.2) and then hopefully W&D 2021 (&kids race!) attached to a longer real family vacation next fall. Hoping the theme is as cool as this years. Looks like I'd be firmly in D with my current POT races as my C stuff has expired. Thanks for posting the new POT chart @DopeyBadger ! So whether my POT improves or not I am happy with this location.
I've been avoiding the gym bc of all the coronavirus talk, but luckily it's been pleasant enough to run outside lately.

 

[YawningDodo]

The bad news: the professional development travel I was in the middle of pitching for mid-April is off the table because of COVID-19. But...that means I'll be in town for the Ice Breaker 3 miler, which I thought I was going to miss this year. I mean, assuming it doesn't get cancelled too. It's not a terribly expensive race, so I think I'll plunk down the money pretty soon here and just hope for the best.