Team HillRunner.com

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Al’s Run is, of course, always the big Team HillRunner.com event of the year. This is the 13th year we’ve entered a team under the HillRunner.com banner. As always, I’m very touched and honored by the great group of runners who agree to run under the HillRunner.com banner.

This year was a struggle from the start, though. Due to injuries and other issues, a handful of recent Team HillRunner.com members were unable to make the race this year. While this hurt the team’s depth, I still felt we were fielding a solid team. Unfortunately, we had another runner bow out after registering due to not being race ready. Before I go any further, first let me wish all those who couldn’t run this year well on your recovery efforts. I hope to see you at Al’s Run next year not just to solidify our compeitive pursuits but because it’s always sad for me to see team members missing.

To further complicate things, my personal registration got messed up somewhere along the way. I was given the wrong bib (I believe it was a walker bib which means it didn’t even have a timing chip) when I picked up our team packet a week before race day. I reported this to the people there and one of the individuals told me she didn’t have a replacement bib on hand but could either leave one at the registration table on the day of the race or overnight one to me. Due to everything I have going on race morning, I requested it be overnighted to me. My understanding was that it would be issued Monday and I’d have it by Tuesday. When it didn’t arrive, I called Wednesday morning and was assured it should be arriving that evening. When it didn’t arrive by Thursday evening, I called again and left a voicemail. Friday morning, I got a call and was told to go to the registration table and request a replacement bib. Great but two problems. First, that’s what I was trying to avoid because I’m just too busy on race morning. Second, last time a team member had to do this, he never showed up as a member of our team. I pointed this out to the person who called me and she assured me I would be counted as a member of the team. So, on race morning, I asked the guys I carpooled in with to take team packets to our meeting spot and I headed straight to the registration table.

This is when the pre-race fun began. I went to the "problem solver" table and told them of my situation. First, I was told that I did receive a bib. Right here, it says you received bib number 15. One problem. I never received it. They didn’t want to believe me so argument #1 started. Finally, they either believed that I never received it or just gave up and issued me a new bib number. Then I asked if they could ensure that this bib number get properly added to our team. Argument #2: you can’t be added to a team on race day. You need to register with a team. I did! You guys screwed up my registration! After another argument, they took down the team information and repeatedly ensured me that I would be included as a member of the team.

Then it was off to our meeting spot to catch up with the rest of the team. As I arrived, I saw that the crew was there except for Peter and our one new recruit for this year’s race, Peter’s son Mike. I pinned my newly issued bib on my singlet, hoping to no end that I would actually be included as a member of the team but not counting on it based on past experience. I then chatted with the guys while going through my usual pre-race routine. Just before warmup time, as I was preparing to leave Peter and Mike’s race packets behind, they arrived. I said hi to Peter, we caught up quickly, then I introduced myself to Mike and we had a quick chat. Then it was warmup time.

As usual, we warmed up down Wisconsin Avenue, over the opening portion of the course. At one point, I swung off to drop a gear bag at my car. As I rejoined the team, I just kept thinking how cool it was to see the line of blue HillRunner.com singlets going down the road. That will never get old and it will always give me chills. I rejoined the group and we continued on our warmup.

On the way back, I again stopped at the car to change to my race gear. Then I ran by myself back to the starting area. After a few strides and a bit of loosening, I went inside and found the team and we headed out to the starting area together. A little more warming up, then we were lining up. In a classic Double move, he saw someone who shouldn’t be toeing the line of a large race like this and shouted something like "Alright, big guys in pairs, small guys in bunches!" You could hear a pin drop in the moments after that but the "big guy" didn’t take the hint and ended up toeing the line.

As the race started, I got out well. Quick but comfortable. The wind was a little tricky, generally a tailwind but at every intersection swirling around the buildings and creating cross winds and even headwinds. The gradual downhill almost to the mile marker, though, left me feeling like I was just in cruise control while going pretty quickly. I found myself in a gap so, when the crowd stayed to the left as I knew we were approaching a quick jog to the right, I went to the right. I wasn’t in position to pick up a draft anyway so I might as well take the shortest line. Nothing much happened from then through the mile mark, which I hit in about 5:31. I was targeting something around 5:30 so I was feeling good about this.

I know my best races at Al’s Run always consist of a relatively slow mile 2 as we climb from the river toward the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. I’ve learned to not fight this slowdown. When I do, I end up running poorly. So I didn’t push when we started climbing, actually just before the mile mark. Nobody was getting away from me, though. There were some swapping of positions but nothing major. By the second half of mile 2, I had my mark. Two Marquette uniforms put a PRO guy out the back and he was struggling to hold on. I knew he was my next victim and I was working on gradually bringing him in. I was closing in at the 2 mile mark, which I hit in about 11:32 for a 6:01 second mile. Not spectacular but within range of what I wanted.

Early in mile 3, we ran past a spot with a particularly strong gust of headwind and the PRO guy as well as the second Marquette guy both did not handle that gust well. It also hit me hard but not as hard as them. Shortly after that gust, I made the double pass. PRO guy was a little back of the Marquette guy but fought to stay with me. As I was approaching Marquette guy, I actually thought for a split second I could rub PRO guy off using Marquette guy but I’m not that kind of runner. I left room for both of us to get past without incident (or I hope I did at least, I was trying to). Near the end of mile 3, we head down Lafayette Hill. I always let loose on this downhill. In doing so this time, I gained on the Marquette guy ahead of me. Surprisingly, though, someone caught me. As we leveled off and cruised through the 3 mile mark in about 17:24, a disappointing 5:52 mile, I held with him and thought we might be able to work on two Marquette jerseys ahead.

Into mile 4, this is typically my "drop the hammer" mile. It’s a mile that can be very demoralizing if you’re not in the zone along here as you’re running a flat, relatively straight mile, staring at the east side of downtown Milwaukee the whole way. If you’re struggling, it can crush you. I like to attack, partly to keep my mind in the right place and partly because I know passing someone along here can help crush their spirit and prevent them from coming back on you. This time, though, the guy who caught up to me going down Lafayette Hill began edging ahead of me. I tried going with but just couldn’t. I did my best to focus in on this mile, ignore the city skyline off in the distance and just focus on the guys ahead of me. I did that well but I just couldn’t get my legs going. I didn’t pass anyone in this mile, which is the first time in probably at least a few years that has happened.

I finally got myself to the 4 mile mark but can’t remember the split. I think it was a low 23, probably around 5:50 again. At this point, I just told myself give it all I have. The guys ahead of me were pulling away but I could tell there were guys close behind. I was going to do all I could to have enough of a gap on them to be safe in the kick. This final mile has several turns. Right, left, right, left, left, finish. I did all I could to prevent myself from looking over my shoulder on any of those turns. I didn’t want to show any sign of weakness. Right, left. No looking back. Guys ahead are pulling away. Right. They are already going left. Have to gap the guys behind me. Left. Don’t look back, don’t look back. Go, almost in. Left. I see the finish line. I can’t see the clock, though. This year, the speakers are above the finish line and the clocks are off to the side. I can’t see them until the time is ticking past 28:40. One of the photographers is directly in line with my shortest path to the finish. Playing chicken with him. Eventually, he takes a couple steps to the side and I pass by without incident. Is anybody coming on me? I don’t know, I’m not even thinking of looking back. Drive through, every second counts.

I end up crossing the line in 28:52. 25th place overall. Not what I was hoping for but far from a disaster. Given the fact that I let myself waste energy by getting more worked up about my registration mix-up than I should have, combined with the fact that I was coming down with a cold, I’m not going to complain.

I then backtrack to catch my teammates. First, Cameron coming in just under 31 minutes. Then Double and right behind him Ed about a minute behind Cameron. I walk around the last turn and see Josh coming. I give him some words of encouragement. In retrospect, I should have been telling him the finish is just around the next corner so he knew he was close. We have two more runners coming. So I can catch everyone shortly after our last runner is in, I begin walking back toward the finish line, frequently looking over my shoulder to watch for the blue uniforms coming. Somehow I almost missed Peter as he went by but he called out and told me Mike was right behind. I hung around for Mike, gave him some words of encouragement, then went back around the corner to find my teammates. Unfortunately, we missed Peter and Mike but the rest of us chatted a bit, then went out to my place for a little (or not so little) unhealthy food and healthy war story swapping.

Final results for Team HillRunner.com:

25) Ryan Hill, 28:52.0 (2nd 35-39)

53) Gerald Cameron, 30:52.0 (2nd 40-44)

78) Dave Dehart, 31:55.5

81) Edward Pankow, 31:59.2 (3rd 40-44)

238) Josh Jackett, 36:46.0

324) Peter Diamond, 38:13.4

867) Mike Diamond, 44:32.1

For the record, there were 2,560 finishers listed in the run and total participation, run and walk combined, was reported to be over 16,000. Very solid results all around.

Also check out our cleaning house in the middle-aged male age groups. Nice job guys!

It took them two days to get some team scoring issues worked out but I believe the final result is in and, battling all the adversity we faced, we still hung tough for a top 5 team finish with an overall team time (top 5) of 2:40:24.9.

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

As always, this is one of my highlights of the year. The great people who are willing to sign up to run as members of Team HillRunner.com always amaze me. While our numbers and depth were down a bit this year, the greatness of the people I was surrounded by on Saturday never disappointed.

This year, we definitely had some turnover on the roster. I counted 5 team mebers from last year who were not on the roster when I picked up packets a week before race day. Woody and Laura made it to the race and Woody attempted to get himself on the team but we’re not sure if he succeeded. Regardless, it was great to see them and thanks Woody for the attempt. Other holdovers from last year were Tim, Jerry, Ed, Charlene and of course myself. New to the team this year were Peter, who is a team veteran who had not run with us for a few years, and newcomer Josh. Josh is an interesting story. He actually came across HillRunner.com when he found my Al’s Run report from last year while searching for another runner.

I felt we would log a team time that was slower than last year’s team time but likely not enough to affect our place in the standings. Unfortunately, I got a little concerned when Tim informed me that he strained his hamstring. My first concern was of course his health but I knew that had the potential of affecting our team time even further as I was expecting him to be running neck and neck with me as first or second runner on the team, much like we did last year. Any time you replace a #1 or #2 runner with a #6, your team time is going to take a hit. That said, I still had confidence in the team and of course Tim’s health came first.

On race day, I carpooled in with Charlene, Josh, Jerry and Peter. We had a good talk on the way in and everyone seemed relaxed and ready to go. As we got to the team meeting place, Ed was there ready to go and Tim arrived shortly later. The word from Tim was that he’d warm up and see how things went. Everyone else seemed ready to go. Personally, I was feeling good. The weather was favorable. Probably about 50 degrees with a northwest wind. On this course, a northwest wind is pretty favorable as the finish is southeast of the start. Still, I figured I was in shape to run about the same as I did last year. That meant hit 5:40 pace, give up some time in mile 2 and see if 28:20 is in the cards.

During the warmup, I was feeling pretty good. As with last year, I found myself at one point being 3 team members seeing those HillRunner.com uniforms in their full glory and I got a chill. How cool is that? I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling that way when I see a group of people willing to represent this site.

The whole team this year lined up on the north side of the starting area so I was able to give everyone one last greeting before finding my position for the start. I also saw Woody and Laura and that’s when Woody informed me that the Al’s Run people seemed receptive to adding him to the team. I also heard from Tim that he was going to give it a shot but ease into it. I said one last time to him to be careful out there and then it was time to go.

At the start, I quickly realized that the sides were more even this year. Typically, the top runners line up on the south side and the north side offers more of a clear path. I would say the sides were about balanced this year. No big deal, just an interesting observation. I settled into pace, reminding myself that the first mile was a long, gradual downhill with the addition of a tailwind this year. That means keep it nice and relaxed. Let the downhill and wind take care of the first mile and save my legs for later. As it turned out, as soon as we hit the big buildings in downtown, I realized the wind was going to be a little more tricky. Every block, the wind was swirling around the buildings and creating a headwind. That didn’t change my strategy, though. I just eased through mile 1. I was honestly surprised to find out I hit the mile mark in about 5:28.

Into mile 2, a climb away from the river and toward the bluffs overlooking the lake and turning north more into the wind. This mile is always slow and I realized my best strategy is to accept that I’ll give up some time and not fight it. Surprisingly, I was still passing a few people even with this strategy and I don’t recall anyone passing me. Not too much happened along here. Reeling in a few guys but not getting crazy. I cruised through the 2 mile mark in 11:24 for a 5:56 mile. A little slower than I expected after opening up with 5:28. However, I’m starting to think I could try to break 28 minutes. Get back on 5:30 pace and I’ll slip under. I start pushing harder in mile 3, working my way past guys and through the field. I kept doing that until the downhill into the 3 mile mark. I’m usually good on downhills and I made a solid move here last year. This year, though, I felt like I ran it well but the 2 guys who were around me actually gained on me. I must have in the "good downhill runner" pack this year. No worries, though. I’m heading into mile 4, the make or break mile for me, now. Through 3 miles in 17:05, a 5:41 mile. Not bad for a mile that had some headwind and is probably the second most challenging mile of the course regardless of weather. Also, 5:30 pace over the last 2 miles would still give me a shot at sub-28.

Mile 4 for me is hammer time. This is a stretch along the lakefront where you’re running back toward downtown. Not much is going on around you there, there aren’t many spectators through most of this mile and it can really wear on a runner. A lot of runners fade in this mile and it’s a great chance to make an early move. I always try to hammer this mile and this year was no exception. I had two guys in my sights ahead of me. One, wearing a UW-Milwaukee shirt, who pulled away from me on the downhill and another, wearing a hoodie. No way I’m just letting a guy racing in a hoodie beat me. First up is UWM guy, though. I close on him and, just before I catch him, he surges. I had nothing to surge so I just held pace until his surge faded out. Then, as I pass him, he surges again. Again, I had nothing to respond to the surge so I just held position until the surge was over. Then it was on to hoodie guy. This guy was tougher to break than you’d think a guy wearing a hoodie in a race would be. It was tough enough to bring him in but I managed that just before the 4 mile mark. Once I did bring him in, I couldn’t break him. He just clung to me and even attempted to repass me. Man, this guy just wasn’t giving up. We passed through the 4 mile mark together somewhere in the 22:30s I believe. I kept pushing to challenge him, knowing I didn’t want to let it come down to a kick. I got ahead of him but I could never drop him. He just kept hanging right there on my left shoulder.

As we made a right turn, he made his move. He was ahead of me and I had nothing to respond with. Shortly after, we took a left turn. Showing how hard I had run and how dead my legs were, my right knee actually buckled going around the turn. I didn’t hit a bump in the road or anything like that, I just had a momentary loss of strength. I was able to correct, though, and get back on track. I couldn’t gain on hoodie guy no matter how hard I tried but I sure could try as hard as possible. Around a couple more turns, then a longer stretch into the final turn. Coming off that final turn, there was James Daul, who always seems to be around me in results, flying past. No response. I tried but my legs were spent. I then watched the clock tick through the 27:40s, then the 27:50s. Then it hit 28 flat. There goes that but I did get across in 28:02 to overperform my expectations.

I then looped back to catch the other team members coming in. Tim looked healthy (most important thing) and crossed the line in the mid-29s. Jerry was shortly behind, just over 30 minutes. Woody came through in just under 31 minutes and Ed was just under 32 minutes. Charlene was in the mid 33s, Josh came through in the 34:40s to slip under the 7:00/mile target he had. Peter, who twisted his ankle on the course, managed to finish on his banged up ankle in the mid-36 range.

As a team, we finished second to the always strong PRO team in our division, third overall including community teams (Marquette Running Club was a few minutes ahead of us, Marquette University was 4 seconds behind us). We also scored 3 age group medals. It was a disappointing day for a few runners, most notably Peter who came out injured. However, I think it was a good day in general for the team.

After the race, once we got everyone rounded up and back to their cars, the entire team except Woody and Laura were able to make it out to my place where Lisa was gracious enough to treat us to some excellent homemade Asian food. As always, it was great to sit back, relax and talk running as well as whatever else came up (anyone up for a stair climb?). Again, I’m always amazed by how great the people on the team are, both as runners and as people.

I’m very proud of everyone. Thank you all for representing HillRunner.com and for making Saturday such a fun day. I look forward to doing it again next year.

Individual results

Team results