2009 Belle Isle New Year’s Eve 4 Mile Race

Posted on January 8, 2010December 4, 2022 by GeorgeK

Who: Me
What: 4 Mile Race
When: New Year’s Eve 2009,
Where: Bell Isle, Detroit Michigan
Why: Darn good question

The Belle Isle 4 mile race celebrated it’s 40th anniversary this year which must put it up there for one of the older races in the Detroit area. The activities such as packet pick up, restroom and then after race result posting along with food and drink are all held in the Belle Isle Casino… which apparently hasn’t been updated since the first year of the race. It is no longer really a casino, just a building with two floors and various rooms. It if truly was an active casino at one time, it was certainly small compared to modern day casinos such as Motor City or the MGM. According to the article below it was at one time an operational casino.

Wikipedia entry on Belle Isle.

An article published by the Friends of Belle Isle which lists the attractions of the island.

It is actually a nice place to visit during the summer, although as most venues in Detroit, it may not the the safest place to be on a hot summer night. The various attractions on the island unfortunately show their age, and also reflect the current financial situation of the city of Detroit.

One comment on the casino, the referenced article mentions the casino was built to take advantage of the cooling breezes before air conditioning was invented… well that certainly is true! This year, as last year, the weather was chilly, wet and with a brisk river breeze!

“The 2009 Belle Isle New Years Eve 4 Mile race Photo Album is complete!”

The official bib number.

The days activities include a one mile run, a four mile run/walk and a four mile race. I am always impressed by some of the one milers, mainly kids under 12 (I think) some run some pretty good times. There are pictures available for purchase, which you don’t have to do, but there are a lot of good shots taken of the race you might like to see, including the kids run. These include some of a friend that ran the race, but not me… but I have my own photographer(s).

This also has to be one of the flattest races you could imagine. The island can’t vary more than a few feet in altitude at any point. The “adjusted” track from the Garmin FR 305. The track is adjusted in SportsTrack software by updating the gps points against an official topographical map with the altitude.

As was mentioned race day was wet and blustery! Earlier in the afternoon it was still fairly nice, not sunny but at least warmer and drier. Just before race time a light drizzle started and that seemed to cool everything down rapidly. Nothing like last year’s conditions though!

The race grew quite a bit since last year with about 400 more runners registered this . Maybe because the race is seeing a little more advertising and publicity. Last year I only heard about it by noticing a flyer at the Detroit Turkey Trot race. No web site was found on it, maybe a few of the running web sites listed it, but in general it was a secret race. This year it was on several of the news channels the day before, and can be found via Google or other search engines. Also, and I think a BIG plus is this year had online registration! Prior years required a paper entry from be completed and mailed in, then either verified via email or trusting they got it and you just showed up and hoped your packet was ready. There is no early packet pick up, everything is done the day off the race. Notice to late comers… you can register right then fairly painlessly if you suddenly decided to come out and freeze your tuskus with the rest of the crazies.

Last year they gave each participant a wooden plaque, this year was a medal.

The online stats listing was published pretty quickly after the race.

You can see the full details on the running stats web page.(Index) or this specific race.

h) had a great time – which is always the goal right?… Right!

Until the final resolution is kept,

George

Holiday Hustle 5K – 2009 Dexter Michigan

Posted on December 13, 2009May 7, 2022 by GeorgeK

This weekend was the Dexter Michigan “Holiday Hustle” put on by Running Fit. (The local running supplies store here in Ann Arbor.) A nice brisk day of 28 degrees greeted the runners and kept everyone from getting overheated. Starting right in the center of downtown at the gazebo the couse then winds through some of the nearby housing additions and loops back on itself to the finish line. A few short but steep hills on the way, but they are short enough as to not present that much of a challenge.

This year the race had over 1200 entries, (and finishers) while last years results list only 658 finishers, so it is rapidly growing in popularity. I got out pretty strong and avoided the real crush of traffic and managed an 8 minute first mile. (Way to fast for me, but since it was only a 5K managed to hang on to the end anyway.) The overall time of 26:32 is a new PR by about 16 seconds over the 2009 spring race. May have to start doing a little more (some, any) speed training if I want to keep getting PR’s at this distance.

Lots of people dressed up for the event, including Santa’s, Mrs Santa’s, lots of reindeer and one very complete Christmas tree! The race did sort of go to the dogs, since there hey were more people running with their pets than any other race I remember. Maybe since it is shorter and also was very cool they thought the dogs could handle it better. The pets didn’t cause any problems that I saw anyway, unlike the runner who stopped short right at the starting line to retrieve a glove she dropped causing a lot of evasive maneuvering on the part of the people behind her trying to break out of the starting gate!

The usual photography team accompanied me to the race and took a lot of excellent photos before, during and after the race.

“The Holiday Hustle 5K 2009 Photo Album is complete!”

The official bib number.

The start of the race, off like a herd of turtles!

The race almost doubled in size since last year, with over 1200 runners.

…. and I made it to the finish.

Some results, sixth out of 18 in my age group.

You can see the full details on the running stats web page.

h) had a great time – which is always the goal right?… Right!

Until “The Hustle” becomes a Waltz,

George

Big House Big Heart 2009

Posted on October 9, 2009May 3, 2022 by GeorgeK

The Big House Big Heart 5K – 2009 running “The Big House Big Heart photo album…. will be here some day” with a finish on the 50 yard line of the University of Michigan football stadium.
T

he Big House Big Heart Flyer.

The official bib number, and a picture of the course captured by the Garmin FR 305 during the race.

The age group results for the race…

… and the total stats.

You can see the full details on the running stats web page.

The course started just North of the University of Michigan stadium, winds through nearby neighborhoods, then returns to the campus and enters the tunnel to the football field. Once through the tunnel a half lap of the field is made coming back up to the 50 yard line to finish.

Until college football is extinct,
George

United States Air Force (Half) Marathon

Posted on September 22, 2009May 3, 2022 by GeorgeK

The United States Air Force in Dayton Ohio held the 13th annual Marathon weekend September 19, 2009.

This was the first time I ever ran the race. I debated for awhile whether to run in this race or the Fort For Fitness the following weekend. Dayton appeared to be a fairly flat course and I was unsure about the Fort4Fitness course. The other reason was they had pace teams for the half marathon that you could join. Since my goal was to try and get under two hours I elected to try Dayton and go with a pace team. Main reason I wanted under a two hour time was to try and get a better starting position in an upcoming race.

At the start I was pretty fresh, and ready to roll and hung with the 9:10 pace for about 4.5 miles, then I gave out. It was just a little to ambitious I guess.

It didn’t take to long to discover that I wasn’t ready to maintain this pace for the distance. Dropped down the pace a bit, but it was to late, the legs had already gone south. I kept hobbling on to the end, but not all that happy with the time. Out of the three half’s I have run this was the slowest.

Still, it was fun. A night at the top of the line Super 8 hotel only about two miles from the race. My photographer learned how to use the “continuous” mode on the camera so got a good series of the finish line, including the good shot with the finishing time showing.

They gave out a really nice finishers medal, some day going to have to do something with them other than toss them into the shoe box.

Some stats for the race:

a) 13.1 Miles
b) finished 2132 out of 3839 overall
c) finished 61 out of 114 in my age group.
d) finished 1347 out of 1930 men.
e) had a 10:26 pace, 2:16:29 total. (Definitely not a PR.)
f) You can see the full details on the running stats web page.
h) had a great time – which is always the goal right?… Right!

You can view all the photos if you are tired of watching the grass grow.

Until the Sky’s of blue are no more,

George