Runner's World Half & Festival 2013 Review

The Runner's World Half & Festival for 2013 was held in Bethlehem, PA, October 18th-20th. What a beautiful venue; the town has been going through constant revitalization, but you still get to soak in all of the history. Based on the location of race events, I found the Sands Casino Resort and Hotel to be the most convenient place to stay. It was definitely not the cheapest, but staying there you could basically walk to everything, plus the starting line for the half was there.

As a recommendation for new and seasoned runners, don't make the noob mistake I did. I figured the hills wouldn't be any worse than what I trained on near my house, and I didn't really study the course or the grading. That hurt me big time, as I trained on hills a lot less steep than what I ran on, and the super hill in the Half killed me.

Shake Out 3 Mile Run

The Shake Out 3 Mile Run was free to anyone...you just had to show up and sign a waiver. It was held on Friday by the Runner's World staff. It was really fun and we did just over a 3 mile trail run. If I had realized it was so close, I would have ran over instead of driving. However, I knew I would be doing enough walking with the expo and for the non-racing stuff, so it was probably smart I drove over...plus parking was free for this.

5k Race

The 5k race started out right on schedule, 8am. The National Anthem is my absolute favorite pre-race "thing" that really gets me going. Sorry if that seems cheesy, but it motivates me like crazy. And then followed by some older dance music right before the gun. The course itself was fun. There was 1 decent uphill, with an equally steep downhill. The bridge was a very gradual uphill / downhill, so I don't count it.

Personally, I had set a goal of coming in under 23 minutes. I got 23:20, which was still a PR for me, but not what I was aiming for. The uphill was a little more challenging than I had originally thought it would be, which based on my TomTom info, is where I lost the 20+ seconds.

10k Race

The 10k race also started on time, 9:30am. Since the National Anthem had already been done for the 5k, they didn't do it again. I am embarrassed to say I wasn't paying much attention and I forget what song they did; I think it was God Bless America. Anyway, the course included the same starting leg and finishing leg of the 5k. This was really nice, as I visually knew when to kick at the last mile. The course had 1 extra uphill and downhill, both of which were fairly steep, but nothing too crazy. The first uphill started at 0.3 miles in and was 2/3 of a mile long, but 100 ft. elevation gain. The second uphill was around 1.8 miles in and was about 0.9 miles long, but had a slight downhill half way through, with a total elevation gain of 134 ft.

I was prepared for the first hill, however, and the second wasn't too bad since I expected it after dealing with the 1st hill and knowing there were 2 uphills. My goal was 9:30 min/mile since I figured I would be dead from the 5k and wanted to make sure I would be good for the half the following day. I was energized like crazy and I ended up getting a 50:54, or an 8:11 min/mile pace and destroying my previous best. So, 2/2 on PR's for Saturday.

Half Marathon Race

The Half Marathon started at the entrance to the Sands Casino. This was nice because I literally rolled out of bed less than an hour before start, got my free continental breakfast, and walked through the heated casino and was at the starting line. This was nice because Sunday morning was a good 8 degrees colder than Saturday.

There were 4 uphills for the half. The first one was around mile 1 and was about 0.5 miles long with an elevation gain of 74 ft; not too bad. The next uphill was around mile 2.2, and was even shorter. The next 2 uphills were technically part of 1 super long gradual uphill, with a few mini and short downhills before continuing the climb. This started around mile 3.8 and went until about mile 7.7, with a total elevation gain of about 172 ft. After that is was basically downhill until the end.

My goal was to beat my Philly Half Marathon time, which meant doing better than an 8:30 min/mile pace. I was kind of on track until mile 6, which was the start of the worst part of the super long hill. I was able to regain my pace a little miles 7-9, but my legs were completely shot and my mile times exponentially jumped up after mile 9, causing me to finish with a time of 1:53:12, or an 8:38 min/mile pace. Still not bad mind you, but I wanted to not only complete the Runner's World Hat Trick, but I wanted to get a Hat Trick with PR's. Nice dice; so 2 out of 3 PR's for the weekend.

Expo

The expo was pretty good. I am used to the gigantic expos for the largely publicized races, like the Rock 'n' Roll series races for example. So the expo was mini comparatively. However, for a smaller venue expo it was really good. The best part was really the seminars. Having the runner's world staff and other pro's giving advice was priceless. To add insult to injury (for my half race), I had gone to a seminar on proper fueling, and what did I NOT do for my half race...properly fuel of course. Hah! Oh well, lesson learned and kind of funny looking back. The pictures are of the ArtsQuest building where the expo was held and the 3 story spiral stair climb for swag pick-up (the blown glass sculpture was AMAZING!). The start and finish lines (except for the half start), were here as well.

Other Info

There was also a kids fun run and the Eukanuba Dog Run. Both were great and entertaining. The beer tent was awesome...nothing like some free beer after a race. Overall an awesome event, a great time, and I am hoping to do this again. 

Multi-race and Multi-day Race Phenomina

Are you Dopey? Can you stake claim to a Hat Trick? In addition to multi-sport events, such as triathlons, becoming increasingly popular, another sport is becoming popular as well; multi-race events. I have yet to find a buzz-word for this yet, but basically it means that a race event, usually running races, has multiple runs on the same day or throughout the course of multiple consecutive days.

The pioneer of this is Disney. They started with the Goofy run, which is running the half marathon, then the full marathon the following day. Due to its popularity, Runner's World introduced the Hat-Trick for its half marathon events, which involves a 5k and 10k on the same day, and then the half marathon the following day. More events like this are popping up everywhere. But why are these so popular?

The concept of running multiple events on the same day or consecutive days is nothing new. Many people have done this for a long time. With running such a popular sport for amateurs and pros alike, there are many instances where there are Saturday races and Sunday races. They can be part of the same event or be completely different events in different places. Some people want to do both races, so they do. There is no additional medals for this however; just the personal achievement and bragging rights for having that level of endurance. Other races have a weekend of events, such as the Pittsburgh Marathon, with a variety of races on Saturday, and the half and full marathon on Sunday.

So, with the popularity of these new events, the big question is "How do I train for this?" For the shorter distances, it's not too bad, even for beginners. For long distances, this really becomes challenging, as you are putting your body through a lot in a short period of time.

Shorter Distances

For events where you can do something like a 5k and 10k or a 5 & 5 (5k then a 5 miler), you can basically follow a mix of a 5k and a 10k plan. I won't outline plans, as there are so many available on Runner's World and many other fitness sites. I still may post some training plans at another time, but not in the article. Since the races are short enough, you don't really need to worry about much other than hydration for the races. Which is great, because you can pack light and really just focus on enjoying the races.

Longer Distances

Longer distances are a whole other story. Depending on how long each race is and the time between races, you have a lot to worry about. First, you need to follow a training a plan that is tailored for your max distance you will be running; so if your max distance is a half marathon, then make sure you have a half marathon plan in your training. After this, you have a couple of options. First, you can always just make your later long runs equal to the total distance of all of your runs you will do on race day or race weekend. This is good if you are mixing a half marathon with a 5k or 10k. However, when you start getting into marathons as your max distance, then adding a half marathon and maybe even others to your long run is not really feasible. You might as well just train for an ultra at that point. So, the next option is to have back to back longer run days. So, if Sunday is your long run, say 20 miles, you might want to be doing anywhere from an 8-12 mile run on Saturday, at a little faster pace than your long run pace. The short period between the two training runs will help build up your endurance greatly, and your body will be able to adapt better for recovery. Now, of course, you don't want to overdo anything and you will still need the proper nutrition and hydration.

The good news is that for races like Goofy, if you are already training for a marathon, then the 5k and 10k should not be an issue at all. You will just need to incorporate the second option from above to handle the half marathon after the 5k and 10k, and then doing the marathon the following day.

The Competitors

There are those of your who want to compete no matter what. Therefore, if you are going for time and want to place in these types of events, then you will need to follow a training plan that incorporates everything mentioned above, but also include multiple interval sessions each week. In addition, you will want to make sure your interval sessions vary to cater to each distance you are running. So some weeks you may be doing intervals for your 10k race speed, and another week you may be doing intervals geared towards your marathon speed. You will also want to include training runs where you are doing a race pace run for the short distance, following up with a long run the next day.

Health Notes

As some parting wisdom, don't ever blinding sign up and think you will be able to do the multi-race event with little to no training. You will be putting extra stress on your body than it's used to and it's always good to get a physician approval before embarking on such a tough physical challenge. Also make sure you are getting enough "fuel" and hydration; don't want you bonking on race 2 or 3 because you got over-confident and didn't take those extra water stops. And most importantly have a great time and enjoy your bragging rights when you complete it all!