Lee Caves

Centurion Runners Monthly News Bite…. 1

Month – October 16 Editorial I have decided that each News Bite we will have a cover star, for this edition it is Lee Caves, well done Lee. We have some varied articles this month including a labour of love from my friend Bob in the USA, I hope you enjoy reading it and I’m sure that he and our contributors would welcome your comments.

Thanks to …... Lee Caves, Ed

On another note as autumn approaches it’s time to embrace our favourite regular events, the Centurion Grand Prix and of course the return of the cross country season of which the dates are now out. If you’ve never tried any of these events please give them a go, you won’t regret it and you will most likely have some fun in the mud.

Wallace, and overseas occasional contributor Bob and Renee Paulsen.

Neil Wilkes

Index Page 3 – Kenilworth half marathon Page 4 – Lee Caves, first Ultra Page 6 – English half marathon Page 7 – Ladies Relays Page 8 – Disneyland Marathon weekend California

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Kenilworth Half Marathon 4 Sep 16 13 Centurions were present for the Kenilworth half Marathon. Near perfect temperatures and a cool breeze helped runners on what is an undulating route through the Warwickshire countryside and the villages of Haseley Knob and Beausale. The race is excellently organised and you receive an impressive long sleeved technical top for your efforts. If you haven’t tried this one before it is part of the Warwickshire Road race League and well worth the effort. Just get your entry in early as it often sells out before race day. Thanks to Centurions roving supporters on their bikes, Gavin and Andy (and I think I saw Neil P as well) for their support. Tea/coffee and a brilliant selection of cakes were also available. Results

Neil Wilkes

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Lessons learned, my first Ultra For those of you that don't know, The Dig Deep weekend is a festival of running up in the Peak District. They have four races, the 60 mile Ultra Tour and 30 mile Intro Ultra on the Saturday, followed by the 12.12 mile and 10k races on the Sunday. All four are on undulating trails with plenty on accent. HQ is at the lovely Whirlow Hall Farm Trust with plenty of cheap camping for the weekend. Last year I went up and did the 12.12 mile route in the respectable time of 1:50. This year, after completing my first marathon I thought I'd give the 30 miler a crack. I started with a nice early night after listening to the guest speakers in the barn with a couple of real ales from the local brewery. Alarm was set to give time for my cups of tea and bacon & sausage sandwich before the 8:00am start. Weather was set to be wet, windy and warm, but this turned out to be showers rather than torrential. I turned off the display on my watch as I wanted to run to feel, I just had the distance showing so that I knew when the checkpoints were getting close. The plan was to take it easy during the first half, walk the hills, run comfortable on the flat, and open it up as much as possible going down again.

Mistake 1: I started towards the back and straight away this felt too slow so gave it more effort to break through. Then came a series of styles and steps the caused a little queuing. Everything then felt pretty good, I left the pack behind me, opening the gap at every decent whilst slowly moving up the places.

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Last year the 60 and 30 mile races were not marked and required navigational skills. This year all routes were fully marked with little orange flags. That said there was a section where we turned off the road to follow a trail up along a ridge line where the arrow was missing and there were no flags for a concerning amount of time. I uneasily followed the others whilst digging out my map and eventually came across a lonesome unmanned dibbing station, what a relief. I had previously printed out a little book of the checkpoints containing a photo and the distances so as not to miss one. After the last one it was only half a mile to the next and I realised shortly past that we had missed it and so doubled back to log it. At half way I was still feeling good and so hit Win Hill hard passing another couple of runners. Checked in at the trig point, had a quick photo, then off the edge and onto a trail. Mistake 2: According to my little book the next checkpoint should have been about 1.5 miles at a road crossing. We were at 2 miles and no sign of s road, but it was OK as there were still runners out in front and behind and we were still following the marked route. Maybe they got the distance wrong, I thought. That was until a guy from in front came running back asking if I thought we'd gone wrong? By now, 2 miles past our checkpoint we realised that we were following the 60 mile route and should have turned off way back by the trig point. We found another trail to descend down into Hope but unfortunately the checkpoint was out of reach so decided to take the hit and get back on track. The rest of the race went fairly smoothly, I was continually passing people (although they should have been behind me anyway) and was happy to hear the 30 mile bleep on my watch. Unfortunately I still had another 4 miles left to go. Still, it was a great experience and I still positioned well with the extra 4 miles and a half hour time penalty. I'll just call it a reccy for next year. Lee Caves

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English Half Marathon (Warrington) Bit of a long story this one. A university friend invited me to take part in this half marathon earlier in the year. But due to personal circumstances she was unable to run. So I dragged Ex-centurion Emma Donnelly with me, not that she needed dragging when the m word is mentioned. The 6am departure time was a bit early for a Sunday morning but I think it was worth it! We got there in plenty of time with free parking 5 mins walk from the start/finish line. There were half marathon, 10k and mile options on the day with about 5000 runners in all. The course was a similar layout to Kenilworth an out and back with a big loop. Flat until a big bridge over the Mersey then a gradual climb for a couple of miles the 3 downhill miles. Then back over the same bridge and a loop around the city including an unexpected trip through the Warrington Wolves stadium.

Ed and Emma On the whole it was an enjoyable course and very well organised. Only negative comment was the speakers on the start line were very loud. Emma was happy enough with her 1.43 time as a bit of a training run. I was really pleased with a 1.31.30 pb and 131st place. Bit of a trek but if you fancy a good half it’s worth a look next year, t-shirt and huge medal included! Ed Wallace

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Ladies Relays Sutton Park 24 Sep 16 Well done to the ladies relay team 24 Sep 16. There were some improved times and good running. Here are the ladies results. A team Theresa Woolley 19.10 Jeanette Robathan 20.10 Andy Burnett 20.09 Louise Kemp 22.06 B team Janine Thomas 20.54 Sam Horsfall 26.57 Clare Colquhoun 23.39 A team were 48th out of 81 teams & B team was incomplete. Mary Williams

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Disneyland Marathon weekend Sept 2-4, 2016 For us it was our Coast to Coast run. Some people call it Castle to Castle. To qualify for the Coast to Coast medal, you must do a half marathon on one coast Disney park first and then the other park in the same calendar year. In other words, if you decide to do a half marathon in Florida in January during the Walt Disney World (WDW) marathon weekend and then go to Disneyland for their marathon weekend in Sept, that qualifies you. But it does NOT have to be those weekends only. It can be any half marathon at either park anytime in the year as long as both are done in the same calendar year to receive the Coast to Coast medal. As an example, some people were in Disneyland running the half marathon in Sept and then they are going to WDW in Nov for the Wine and Dine half. Two halves Coast to Coast receiving the medal. Being that we live in Florida, we chose to run the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge. In April, our friend Michaela, (refer to April 2015 newsbite of the Glass Slipper Challenge) who came to Florida from Pittsburgh, PA, ran in the Dark Side Challenge with Renee. Michaela, Renee and I ran the 10k one day. Michaela and Renee ran the half marathon the next day. By running that Challenge, it gave Renee the qualifications to run the Coast to Coast and Dumbo Double Dare in Disneyland. The opportunity arose when RunDisney posted the opening of registration for the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge at Disneyland in September on Labor Day holiday weekend. Which was also the last weekend of Disneyland's 60th birthday celebration. All the people and runners who came from all over the world for the half marathon weekend, were treated to, not only a great running event, but also colourful night-time parades at Disneyland as well as fireworks. The parade was called "Paint the Night" parade. Many videos on youtube. At California Adventure, they had what was called the World of Colour. Dancing fountains to music and various colours to highlight the dancing fountains. Really beautiful. (On a side note. Full marathons are not run at Disneyland Anaheim. Not enough space on the streets to run the full). By running half marathons only, you get the Coast to Coast medal plus the half marathon medal. If you run a 10k and a half marathon at both parks, you not only get the Coast to Coast medal, but you also get the Double Dare medal and a half marathon medal as well. So you do a 10k one day, get a medal. The next day you do the half marathon, you get the coveted D half marathon medal, the Double Dare medal, and the Coast to Coast medal. For a total of 4 medals for 2 runs. I did the 5k, Renee did the 10k and the half, with a total of 5 medals for 3 runs. A nice collection to take home. April weather in Florida was beautiful and Sept weather in Disneyland Anaheim was beautiful as well. All the running events started at 5:30am on Disneyland Drive and ending on Downtown Drive near the end of Downtown Disney behind the ESPN Zone. Staying on Disney property in one of their hotels made it very convenient for us. The Disneyland Hotel was right next to the Finish line and the California Grand Hotel, the one we stayed in, was in Downtown Disney, just a 5 minute walk away from the events and start line. There were many volunteers and great security for the runners and families. Everything was set up so nicely. Great signage and great customer service to all. All the volunteers were great. The running course was in coordination with Run Disney and the people at the running store in Orlando, Florida called Track Shack. And another sponsor was Celebration Florida Hospital. If you, the reader of this story, have ever been to WDW in Florida for any of the race events, but have not been to Disneyland California, it is a miniature size of the one at WDW because of the limited space there. Even though it is small, the energy and the spirit of the runners and people 8

made it feel like a very large setting. The outpouring of support by all was amazing. The event was all about the runners. At WDW Florida, if you have ever experienced it, the talk is about making sure you maintain 16 minute miles or less. To stay in front of the balloon ladies who are walking and maintaining that pace at the end of each corral. If you are not maintaining that pace and falling behind, the security threatens to pick you up and take you off the course or put you on the buses if you cannot keep up. Thus not receiving the medal for that run. That is the pressure that is placed on you if you are not a fast or seasoned runner at WDW. At Disneyland, the atmosphere and feeling was very different, comfortable and nice. It was all about the runners and what fun there is to be had. No pressure of balloon ladies, security, buses, none of that. They didn't care if you finished the 5k in 2 hrs, you still got your medal. The medal for the 5k race was actual medal and not plastic or rubbery type. It was so very nice. There were several corrals for each run and only a 5 minute starting gap between each corral so there wasn't a long waiting period to start your run. Thursday, Sept 1, is when the Run Disney Expo started. We went on that day. It was held in the Disneyland Hotel Convention Centre. A really beautiful setup. On one of the walls was displayed Celebration Florida Hospital. They were one of the sponsors. We walked all through the expo buying t-shirts and such and found Jeff Galloway. He has been running all is life. Such an inspiration he is to runners. The expo was great.

Expo -----5K Run Sept 2, 2016—— The run started precisely at 5:30am. I was in Corral C and we started around 5:45. While waiting for our corral to start, there were announcers throughout the corrals with lights and cameras talking to the runners and broadcast all over Downtown Disney and ESPN Zone so everyone could see and hear who they were talking to. The announcer, with the bright lights and camera was talking to one runner at the front of my corral. I happened to be almost directly behind them. While they were talking to the other runner, myself and a few other runners were waving and cheering and having fun which could be seen by the spectators in the stands. After the run was over, 9

Renee mentioned to me she saw me hamming it up for the camera and clowning around. "What a Ham" she said. I just smiled. The camera crew then departed and our corral got the go ahead with the "3, 2, 1 GO". And we're off.

Bob Paulsen armed with a banana

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We ran up Disneyland Dr. past our Hotel entrance, (California Grand). A few blocks later we then took a left and entered into California Adventure Park. We came in the back side of Cars Land, then ran along Radiator Springs Blvd. As we passed the Cozy Cone Motel, there greeting us and cheering us on were Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and Red. As well as many Disney Cast Members. We ran through Cars Land, zigzagged around, went partially through Paradise Pier, and then came around the fountain through Hollywood Blvd where there was the 1st water stand. After the water stand, we ran out a side street and now on the outside of California Adventure running past the bus parking on Magic Way. Around the 2 mile mark we entered through a back road into Disneyland behind Space Mountain and along a few streets in the park and then ran through Snow Whites Castle. Somewhere between Space Mountain and the Castle, we encountered 2 service road tunnels. The first one wasn't too bad. We no sooner came out of the 1st tunnel, then took an immediate left and then down another tunnel. Which was steeper than the first. Seems like we almost had to crawl up the tunnel it was so steep. We all made it. After going through the Castle, we then ran down Disneyland Main Street, to the right of the Main Street flag pole, out the main entrance and into Downtown Disney. Through the main street of Downtown Disney, past the shops to the Finish Line. Once crossing the finish line, the volunteers continued directing us to continue moving. We kept walking forward away from the finish line to receive our medals. We continued moving on to get our goody boxes (we call them Binto boxes. The term used in Hawaii as a small container with food). Then got our bananas and drinks and then on out to greet our loved ones and friends. That was a nice enjoyable run.

Bob and Renee Paulsen

-----10K Run----Saturday, Sept 3, 2016. Now time for the Disneyland 10k. Renee and I woke up at 3:30am. Got ourselves dressed and was out the door by 4am. Even though the run did not start until 5:30, it gave us time to mingle, stretch and walk over to the 11

corrals. As we entered area where everyone was mingling and stretching, that's where the stage, announcers, music, porta-a-johns (portable loo's) and all was there. It was an abbreviated version of the Disney World Florida run greeting area. The first booth was the information booth. There in the booth was Betsy Hughes. The owner of Track Shack Orlando. She recognized both Renee and I from frequenting Track Shack in Orlando. She was glad to see us there. Renee headed to her Corral on Disneyland Drive and I headed to Starbucks to enjoy a nice hot cup of Mocha. The start had gone along the Disneyland Drive, out of the property area, crossed W. Katella Ave and onto S West Street for a couple of blocks. Turned left onto Transit Plaza Road, ran behind the Anaheim Convention Centre past Hilton Anaheim, left on Hotel Way and back into Disneyland property. That was the 2 mile mark. Circled around the backside of Cars Land. Half way around Cars Land was the 1st water stand. Went through Cars Land, circled around the backside of Paradise Pier, through Hollywood Way, through the back streets toward Cars Land, but then took a left to exit California Adventure. Mile 4 was near Magic Way where all the buses are parked for guests. Continued running along the street side of Disneyland and then entered into the back of side of the park into Toon Town and past “It’s a Small World” attraction. Ran along the Parade route, around Dumbo Ride, past Mr Toad’s Wild Ride and headed toward Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Ran through the Castle, down Main Street toward the Disneyland exits and took a right toward Downtown Disney to the finish off the 10K. -----Carbo load----Most runners who are running long distance runs, usually have a meal the night before that will provide the energy needed to endure the distance, meals with pasta and anything light to keep them from slowing down for the run. Not us. We decided we were going to indulge and have ourselves a really great meal. We went to Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Hotel. Steakhouse 55 is a rather pricey restaurant compared to others in and around the Disneyland parks. We were also celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary so we treated ourselves to a nice steak and potatoes dinner, and then for dessert, we had the famous 24 layer chocolate cake. It was so very good. You cannot find that cake anywhere else in the nation except there. We took advantage of the time we had and enjoyed ourselves. So the meal and dessert we had, did not slow down Renee in the least for tomorrows half marathon. However, she did tell me she paid for that cake at mile 8. LOLOLOLOL…

Carbo loading Disney style 12

-----Half Marathon----Sunday, Sept 4, 2016. Time for Disneyland half marathon. Early morning rise, and headed to the Corrals for the start of the Half marathon. Renee and I lingered a bit in the fun waiting area where they played music, got runners motivated before heading to the start Corrals. Renee headed toward her Corral area and I headed back into Downtown Disney to grab a cup of Starbucks coffee. As a chEAR squad member, we had our private viewing area. I and several others headed out of Downtown Disney toward California Adventure. We had waited at one end of the entrance gates while waiting for Security to let us in at about 5:15 am. We were finally allowed in and the chEAR squad guide had walked us to Hollywood Blvd where our chEAR area was. 5:30am the half marathon has begun. Our waiting area in California Adventure was at the runners Mile 1. We were on the one side of the street right down from the corner where the runners turned onto Hollywood Blvd. We were there cheering for all the runners that were coming through. I had no idea when Renee was going to reach that point, so I was in a conversation with another chEAR squad member. We were talking and shaking our clappers. We had not noticed our wives running toward us until they were right in front of us. They had to holler at us to get our attention. On the opposite corner of Hollywood Blvd was a stationary trolley car. The driver would ring its bell and pull the air horn greeting the runners passing through. The runners continued along Hollywood Blvd and ran past Hollywood Tower of Terror Hotel. They partially ran through California Adventure and on out of

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Renee

the park on the outside out along Magic Way. Came in through the Space Mountain area, through the park, came around “It’s a Small World”, then came in the backside and through the Castle, down main street, crossed Downtown Disney and partially into California Adventure. Came out toward the back side, followed the road on the outside of the parks and into the streets of Anaheim. At Mile 4, the runners were, now out of Disneyland property. (A note, all along the remainder of the half marathon, many, many people were out all along the streets cheering and clapping for the runners). As they ran along Ball Rd reaching Mile 5, there was an abundance of entertainment, marching bands and people dancing and locals out in the streets. At Mile 5, there were many people and there was a high energy Mariachi Band. Mile 6, there were several tables of people handing out liquorice and sugary sweets to the runners as well as lots and lots of motivational signs placed in the ground. Mile 7 for almost the entire mile, there were many many classic old vehicles lined up showing off their cars and vans. As well as Hawaiian Hula Dancers dancing and entertaining the runners. Reaching Mile 8, there were more classic cars but these were of the Disney classic cars, the Love Bug 53, and many others. Passing Mile 8 took the runners past the famous Honda Centre. The Honda Centre is an indoor arena that hosts sporting events, such as Anaheim Ducks, Mighty Ducks, etc and 14

any other entertainment that can be hosted. Once past the Honda Center, the runners ran along upper edge of the Santa Ana River, which was a rocky terrain. No water in sight. They ran that course for about 3/4’s of a mile, passing mile 9 then finally turning off on a road headed to the Anaheim Angels Baseball Stadium. The runners entered the Stadium property toward the tunnel entrance to the stadium. During the time while Renee and the other runners were running, I connected to the RunDisney app and typed in Renee’s bib number to be able to track where she was. Throughout the entire run, I was able to click on the locator map and follow where she was in Anaheim. The app also sent me updates of her time as she crossed over an electronic timer. The 5k, 10K, and 10 mile time. So to be able to follow Renee on the road, knowing where she was, I was mentally running with her while I was on the Finish Line bleachers (seats) watching on the Jumbotron the runners in the streets. The runners than ran into the tunnel of the Stadium on the outside of field and along the seating area. Locals and spectators were lined along the route, reaching over the wall and giving high fives to all the runners as they ran through the stadium. The lower half of the stadium was packed as if there was a ball game going on. The runners ran almost all around the entire stadium and then exited out the opposite site and ran along the outside of the stadium part way to connect with the road called East Gene Autry Way passing Mile 10. Between Mile 10 and 11, there were marching bands and school bands entertaining the runners. After passing Mile 11, there were Cheering bands and groups of Cheerleaders encouraging the runners. About Mile 10-1/2, the runners took a left on S. Santa Cruz Street, a right on Stanford Court and then running along the side of Santa Ana Freeway for about a 1/2 mile. Once the runners past Mile 11, they could see signs of Disneyland in the distance. The first sighting was the Hollywood Tower of Terror. Taking a left on a side street and crossing under the Santa Ana Freeway, the runners were now on the famous Disney Way. They followed Disney Way toward the bus terminal, which now was Mile 12. They continued following Disney Way around the outside of California Adventure then crossing over S. Disneyland Drive which brought them through part of Downtown Disney toward Mile 13 and the FINISH LINE. Once they entering Disney property, there were barricades along each side of the side. they were lined with spectators cheering on the runners toward the finish line. I had no idea when and where Renee would be nearing the finish line. I was in the bleachers continuously watching to my left toward Disneyland Hotel where the runners were rounding the curve headed to the finish line. I stayed in those bleachers, watching the Jumbotron and continuously watching, probably for about an hour and half. I knew what kind of shirt Renee had on so I continued watching and finally I saw Renee rounding the curve headed toward mile 13. My camera was continuously clicking and getting some great shots of her running towards the finish. As soon as Renee crossed over the timing mat, the announcer hollered out “…and here comes Renee Paulsen from St Cloud, Florida”. YES…Renee FINALLY got a shout out after 10 years of Disney Running 2,000 miles away. LOLOLOL What a moment of excitement she had and raised her arms in excitement. As Renee was crossing the timing mat, she spotted me in the stands and waved and smiled the whole way as she ran in front of me and the Jumbotron. The finish line was right in front of her and she continued on. At the finish line near the archway were Disney Characters. On the left side was Mickey Mouse, Pluto and Chip and Dale giving high 5’s. On the right, to Renee’s excitement was Minnie Mouse and Goofy giving high 5’s as well. (You never see that at DisneyWorld Florida). The finish line was packed with people, but security and volunteers kept the runners moving on to the area to receive their medals and post running goodies, a Binto box of munchies, with Run Disney logo on the box, bananas, water, Powerade, as well as the medical tent and whatever else a runner needed for assistance. After Renee had crossed the finish line, I then left the bleachers and walked out to the waiting area to greet her after receiving her medals and goodies. Even though there were thousands of people, I was able to spot her coming through the crowd after about 10 minutes. As Renee approached, her 15

arms were full of goodies and wearing 3 medals. She said, “I sound like a recycling bin”. The medals she received, were the half marathon medal (the coveted D medal), Dumbo Double Dare as well as the Disney Coast to Coast medal. I greeted Renee as she reached me, and had our picture taken together by other runners, as we did the same for them. It was still well before noon on that Sunday. We then headed toward our hotel, the California Grand which was about a 5 minute walk. It took longer BECAUSE ALL THE PARTICIPANTS RESPECTED EACH OF THE RUNNERS COMPLETING THEIR GOALS AND WOULD NOT CROSS IN FRONT OF THEM. THE WHOLE ADVENTURE WAS JUST AMAZING. The rest of the day we rested.

The Bling!

That evening we met friends at the Blue Bayou restaurant inside Disneyland Park, which was part of the Pirates in the Caribbean Adventure. 16

The entire trip turned out to be great fun. -----chEAR Squad----During the time Renee was running the Disneyland half marathon, I was enjoying the luxuries of the chEAR squad at the finish line. There was a section just for chEAR squad participants and could only be entered by a chEAR squad wrist band. Once you enter the area by the finish line, there was a large white tent. The chEAR squad participants were treated to several types of pastries, coffee, tea and juice. Also a Jumbotron TV was on a table so we could watch where the runners were on the course in Anaheim. There were also tables and chairs for us to sit including very nice padded plush sofas and chairs to relax in. The bleachers were on one side of the finish line area where we could sit and watch the runners cross the finish line. In front of were several Jumbotrons where we could watch the runners wherever they were including crossing the finish. Traffic cameras throughout the Anaheim streets were connected together so we could see where the runners were anywhere in the city. The cameras would switch to a different one about every 30 seconds or so. Fun to watch. ——Run Disney video For those who would like to see what it was all about for the half marathon, go to youtube and look up the video, “Disneyland Half Marathon 2016 Race Recap”. Look for Joyful Miles video who ran the course, it will give you an idea of what it was like. -----And on a Sweet note----Refer back to April 2015 Centurions News bite, WDW Glass Slipper Challenge, not only do us Yanks love our ice cream, but we also like a 24 layer chocolate cake from Steakhouse 55 restaurant in the Disneyland Hotel. Enjoyed during the Disneyland run weekend over the Labor Day weekend Sept 2 - 6, 2016. Our own version of carbo loading. We enjoyed these desserts on Saturday night. The next day was the half marathon. That did not affect Renee's running ability at all. "How sweet it is". Bob Paulsen

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“If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it”

That’s all folks!

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