Baton Rouge Beach Marathon and Half
www.brbeachmarathon.com
Baton Rouge, LA
December 4, 2004
Barb Dutrow 1:38 4th F; 39/358 overall

By Barb Dutrow

The 11th annual Baton Rouge Beach marathon and half began with a mass start of about 600 runners at 7am on a cool, crisp, clear day; only water and mud puddles remained from the torrential rains of the day before. The 13 mile course begins near the Baton Rouge "Beach" at University Lakes, runs through the campus of Louisiana State University (LSU) including up one of the only hills in the city, around the University Lakes, and through a residential neighborhood up over an overpass. These two hills punctuate the flat course and are about the only rises in the entire city! Half marathoners completed a single loop, marathoners completed two loops. I ran the half because of a nagging hamstring injury.

With rain the night before, plenty of humidity drenched the runners and, despite the cool temperatures, we were profusely sweating. It was odd to pay to run a race on the daily running path! The most spectacular aspect and highlight of the race was the nearly 300 American White Pelicans, greeting the runners while floating in mass around the lakes. Their yearly return signals winter and with the fog and calm lakes, it was incredibly picturesque.

My hamstring was so tight that by about mile 8 I wasn't sure I could finish. But I stuck it out to finish in 1:38 for 4th Female (2nd Masters Female) and 39th overall.

Thanks to Polar Heart Rate systems for keeping me going and to Thorlo for padding my feet.

B&K Banks's Goldenfliers 5 and 10 Mile Road Race
www.lawired.com/csr/home.htm
Baton Rouge, LA
December 18, 2004
Barb Dutrow 1:14 3rd F; 1st F40+

By Barb Dutrow

You can tell winter is in the South because long distance races occur with frequency! This race was the first Goldenfliers 5 and 10 mile road race. It was held on a picture perfect day; blue skies, 40F temperatures, and no wind. The race began on the Louisiana State University campus and had the added pleasure of being staged near the (posh) Alumni Center. LSU kindly opened the Center and runners were treated to real bathrooms and a warm warm-up area! The course followed a familiar 5 mile path around the University Lakes. The 10 milers completed two loops. 

Over 300 runners began, the 10 milers about 100 yards ahead to account for the second loop distance. Within minutes of beginning, the 5-milers were racing past. Runners were again treated to lake views complete with American White pelicans (see photo)! After the first loop with its many runners, running the second loop was rather lonely. One woman paced off me, and ran about 20 yards back the entire second loop. Then, only 50 yards from the finish line, she began to sprint. I just could not let her go, so ended up sprinting to the finish - beating her by a mere 0.02 seconds! That's electronic timing for a finish in 1:14:41; (slow, but my leg was still bothering me) for 3rd overall female and first masters female.

Thanks to Polar Heart Rate systems (see watch in photo) for keeping me going and to Thorlo for padding my feet.

Santa Fe Snowshoe Classic
www.santafestriders.com
Santa Fe, New Mexico
December 18, 2004 

By Jan Bear

Well the Santa Fe Snowshoe Classic for 2005 is history. This year Team Santa Fe worked in conjunction with the Santa Fe Striders in putting on this great event. We had beautiful weather for this year's race, it was cool but sunny skies prevailed. Forty-five racers came out to compete in both the 5 and 10K events. There were almost equal numbers of racers in the 5K and 10K races. The race was held at the Santa Fe Norski loop about 18 miles from downtown Santa Fe, this loop is 5 kilometers long with lots of ups and downs but nothing to steep. The course was prepared by Dave Wykoff the Norski trail master with his mini snow cat. We had several racers take advantage of the rental snowshoes from Crescent Moon who had donated samples of their running and racing shoes. The race started just a little after 10AM allowing all the stragglers to make it to the start and get there snowshoes on. The mass start quickly stretched out as the first climb began just 100 meters into the race. The trail is plenty wide to pass in several places so the racers quickly dialed in their pace and the long string of racers continued out on the first lap. At the end of the first lap the 5k racers were done and began to cheer on the two lap racers as they passed the start finish and stopped for water. As the 10 K racers continued on their second lap it seemed like the temperature went up a few degrees, maybe I was sweating too much. The second lap was very fast and the first male finisher was in at about 43 minutes unofficially. After the race awards were handed out as were several door prizes. It seemed like everyone won something and everyone had a great time. Team Santa Fe members Kim and Jan Bear helped set up the event and participated, Jan finished in 58 minutes for the 10 K and Kim in 68 minutes. I'd like to thank our great industry sponsors; Crescent Moon Snowshoes, Montrail Running Shoes, CW-X Apparel, SealSkinz Gloves and Socks, Dermatone and Boulder Bar, also our local sponsors, Wild Mountain Outfitters, Running Hub and Bike and Sport for making this event a success.

The official results will be available on the Santa Fe Striders web site www.santafestriders.org in the next few days.