Showing posts with label ben swee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ben swee. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Remembering the Greats and Honoring the Best

Yesterday eveninhg, I ran an unusually challenging 23K. I was recovering from a week-long head cold, and my planned 32K @ 5-minute pace disintegrated as I felt flat as a pancake. My Garmin Forerunner 310XT reminded me at 1K intervals my erratic pace. I made a decision to apply dyslexia to my session, and switched the ambitious 32K for a conservative 23K. I experienced fatigued despite following my nutritional plan intimately. I could attribute it to Sunday’s 4-hour bike ride, which was executed at moderate pace.

I spent the remainder of the evening reading the May edition of Runner’s World. This issue was a compelling one, for it featured Boston Qualifiers (BQ) and the immense difficulty of getting a slot in the 115-year-old race that takes place every April. Although I finally qualified for my age group in February at the Hong Kong Marathon, I think I would stand a better chance for a roll-down if I qualified again at the Gold Coast Marathon in July. This year’s entries sold out within 8 hours and 3 minutes! It left many upset BQs in the lurch. Come October, I will certainly be up with my partner on two terminals to ensure a better chance of securing one of the 25,000 slots. Fingers crossed!

Congratulations to Uncle HF Kor! Uncle Kor (Edward Kor’s Dad) ran 5:13:02 in the Boston Marathon yesterday and placed 11th in the 75-79 year old category. It was unfortunate he narrowly missed a top-10 placing (the 10th place gentleman was only one minute ahead) as this fairly fast runner was slowed down by a cramp; he could have placed much higher. I suspect that the cramp was due to the average temperature of 11 degrees Celcius. [Note: It is raining now with expectations of high winds with gusts.]

Also, congratulations to Ben Swee for his second Boston Marathon finish (3:59:59)! Apparently, he would be snapping photographs instead of pursuing a PB.

Olympic legend Joan Benoit Samuelson ran the Boston Marathon today in 2:51:29. That's a 6:33 pace for the 53-year-old.

Marathon great Grete Waitz dies at 57. May this multiple-NYC Marathon champion rest in peace.