Ft Lauderdale A1A Race Report

The A1A weekend brought three St Croix Valley runners—Randy, Steve, Candy—and a couple of their friends together for a great time. Captain Randy was a gracious host, coordinating dinner reservations/locations and race logistics.

Lady Chateau

The runners and their support teams met on Randy’s Lady Chateau before heading out for a pasta dinner on Saturday night. A discussion about race logistics and our departure time from the hotel the next morning turned into a bit of a negotiation between Randy and Steve. As always, Randy wanted to get to the start line about an hour before race time. That gives him enough time to take in the crowd, drink some extra fluids, and revel in the atmosphere. Steve, on the other hand, prefers to step out of the vehicle and into the running queue, getting all the beauty sleep he can and wasting no energy on frivolous, pedestrian activities. As it turned out, we were very early and it got to be uncomfortable standing in that cold, blustery wind.

The Runners--Steve, Bobbye, Candy, Randy, Juliana

The Support Team--Jerry, Robin, Gary

The weather conditions for the 6:00 am start were much cooler than in past years. The temp was 45° F at the start, or 38° F with the wind chill due to a 17 mph wind out of the north. This was a bit of a concern because the route for about 11 miles of the marathon and 4 miles of the half was straight into the wind.

Staying warm--Bobbye, Steve, Juliana, Candy, Randy

The first priority during those early morning hours was staying warm. The high temperature for the day was somewhere in the 60s.

Randy placed second in his AG in the marathon and friends Juliana and Bobbye nailed down PRs in the half. Steve ran the half with Juliana, and Candy managed to drag her butt across the finish line logging one of her slowest times. All were very interested in Candy’s time in that she was trying a new training technique. It’s the Hanson-Brooks method, and for those unfamiliar with it, they stress running on tired legs with the longest run at 16 miles. She followed the program pretty well, but a bout with the Minnesota “crud” wasn’t on the schedule, and she found the running against the cold wind quite challenging.

Randy expanded his host duties on Monday by taking our merry group on a boat ride along the Intracoastal Waterway. Among the notable things to see was Steven Spielberg’s yacht that is parked a dock away from the Lady Chateau.

Cruising the Intracoastal Waterway--Bobbye, Candy, Robin, Juliana (ouch that is sunburn) 

The Spielberg yacht--complete with indoor swimming pool

Thank you Captain Randy for the Ft. Lauderdale adventure!