Run, Karla, Run!

Trailin’

Starting with the Altra Trail Run presented by REI, I set out to run 26.2 miles in three days at the Runner’s World Half & Festival in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Runner’s World brought me out to the race as their guest, along with a cadre of other bloggers.

I was half successful in my quest, thanks to a shiny, new running injury. Despite that, I had a phenomenal time.

The Runner’s World Half & Festival is basically fantasy camp for runners. All participants—not just bloggers—at the weekend’s events had the opportunity to meet Deena Kastor, Bart Yasso, and the entire Runner’s World team. Seminars, running clinics, kids races, a dog run, pasta party, and other events filled our days and nights with all things running.

I’ll recap all the races and events—including random, last-minute, totally unrelated to Runner’s World, free tickets to see Pat Benatar on stage!!!!! But for now: Let’s talk trail.

The Altra Trail Run Presented by REI

The first 3.8 miles of our marathon journey was Runner’s World‘s first trail race starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, October 16. Nearly 225 participants braved the event.

The Altra Trail Run was beautiful, going through the Pennsylvania woods in Bethlehem’s South Mountain Park, much of it on a single track. Bart Yasso, who designed the course, called the course pancake flat, that is, blueberry pancake flat—with lots of bumpy “blueberry” hills filling the pancakes. I prefer chocolate chip pancakes myself, but the metaphor still works. There were lots of hills to climb and rocks to trip over. Maybe it was blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes.

The Altra Trail Run course

The team from Altra Running, based in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, was on hand with trail running pointers. My big take home? Quick, small steps are the rule on the trail, so a foot is always beneath you. Read the rest of this entry →

Heartbreak Hill Half medals. (Photo: Grace Donnelly)

The Runner’s World Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival from June 5-8, 2014 in Newton and Boston, Massachusetts felt a lot like running camp. But the titular half-marathon lived up to its name: it was a bit heartbreaky and a bit hilly. And I loved almost every minute of it.

Taking the Heartbreak Hill Half seriously. (Photo: @myEPevents, Inc)

I attended the race courtesy of Runner’s World as part of their official blogger crew. (They covered my race entries, dorm room and some meals. I covered my transportation to and from Boston and other meals.)

The race was a chance to run along the most famous section of Boston Marathon course. For Boston Marathon qualifiers and hopefuls, it was a chance to test their legs on the storied climb. For runners like me—for whom qualifying for Boston is a distant “someday” dream—it was a chance to know exactly what all those faster runners are talking about when they dismiss Heartbreak Hill as “not that bad” or confirm its notoriety as “brutal.” I’ve heard the hill described both ways and was excited to find out for myself.

Roughly 6,700 finishers from 47 U.S. states ran in the 5K, 10K, half-marathon, kids’ run and dog run at the weekend. Exactly 3,074 runners finished the half-marathon; 1,838 completed the 10K; 1,565 crossed the line in the 5K, and 69 doggies finished the Eukanuba Dog Run.

The post-race festival. (Photo: Brita Meng Outzen)

There’s too much for me to cover in one post, so I’ll share all my doings at the race over the next few weeks. I already covered the Runner’s World 5K, Expo, Festival programming, on-campus accommodations and blogger crew in Race Report: Runner’s World 5K at Heartbreak Hill Half.

Up now is the half-marathon! Read the rest of this entry →

The Runner’s World 5K. (Photo: Grace Donnelly)

The Runner’s World Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival from June 5-8, 2014 in Newton and Boston, Massachusetts was a genuine celebration of running. I attended the race courtesy of Runner’s World as part of their official blogger crew. (They covered my race entries, dorm room and some meals. I covered my transportation to and from Boston and other meals.)

Running the 5K. (Photo: @myEPevents, Inc)

Roughly 6,700 finishers from 47 U.S. states ran in the 5K, 10K, half-marathon, kids’ run and dog run. Exactly 3,074 runners finished the half-marathon; 1,838 completed the 10K; 1,565 crossed the line in the 5K, and 69 doggies finished the Eukanuba Dog Run.

Something about the weekend made it feel like running camp. Maybe it was because I was staying on Boston College’s campus in a dorm. Maybe it was the programming, including seminars, movies, meet and greets with runners like Shalane Flanagan and Sarah Reinertsen, an expo and pasta party. Maybe it was the five races and two race challenges that started and finished on campus.

Whatever it was, it added up to a weekend where I lived, ate and breathed running—in a good way.

Boston College has that leafy New England campus vibe that makes you want to sprawl across a green lawn and sing folk songs in a circle. It reminded me of my undergrad experience attending Amherst College in Massachusetts, just a 90 minute drive due west.

Runners tackle the race. (Photo: Grace Donnelly)

One evening, a group of us bloggers sat on the grass whiling an hour away. We spotted Bart Yasso walking to the dorm and waved him over. He sat with us and chatted a while. The whole weekend had that kind of feel—friendly and relaxed. Everywhere you looked, there was someone running, about to run, just finished running or talking about running.

There’s too much for me to cover in one post, so I’ll share all my doings at the race over the next few weeks, including: Runner’s World 5K, Eukanuba Dog Run, Heartbreak Hill Half, Q&A with Shalane Flanagan, Sarah Reinertsen, tips on building a running blog from the seminar I was a part of, and more. I’ll start with the 5K. Read the rest of this entry →