Mike Keller Race Report East Port of Spain 10k - 18DEC2011

The pressure was on me, from me. I PR’d in the 10k last weekend and felt like I could PR again, with this Sunday’s race starting earlier (630am) and being cooler. I did take note that the humidity is actually HIGHER in the morning though as the air temp is cooler, so I expected it to be a struggle to PR if I even could.

This race was a great deal at just 5 dollars US! I reminded myself of that before I got carried away with any disappointment in the race...the only two things that even irked me were the 32 minutes late start (due to the assigned police officers all showing up late) and there were less water stops than I was told. (3 vs. 4) Still...FIVE dollars!

Once we started it was two laps around Memorial park (1.6 km) and then one lap around the larger, adjacent Queen’s Park Savannah (beautiful!) before entering city neighborhood streets for the last 5.5 km or so. The humidity showed early and I was drenched by only 3km in or so, holding a nice early pace of about 5:00 per km...I didn’t think this would hold throughout though.

The sun and heat were killing me (715 am here) already by 5km and once we entered the neighborhoods I found more downhill segments, and much more shade and got a few kms of relief. Soon I was just hot and working hard again though, and I began the second half job of walking down runner after runner. A few obliged just as I reached them and switched to a walk, making me blow by them. A few put on a spurt, only to die out minutes later and have me pass them. Down the home stretch, I could literally see the finish line when the urge arrived too strong to deny.


I always said I wanted to be able to puke on the run, without stopping or breaking stride, because then I would be so tough. For now, I am not. I found I instinctively HAD to pull over, and after three strong dry heaves, I hurled three more good wet pukes to the hot sidewalk. A few hard spits for good measure, and I raised my head to find three guys I had passed in the last kilometer had snuck by while I tossed chunks.

Well, that just gave me the chance to pass them AGAIN! Two of them anyhow.

I bore down, hit the pavement hard and passed two of them again to hit the finish line in 52:12, another new PR (notably in my Forget the PR tshirt, always a special added bonus.) As soon as I crossed the timing mat, I pulled over to a spot away from the chute and broke another PR right there. TEN more vomits. (yes I am stupid enough to count.) A total of 13 Vomits in the last half km broke my previous PR of 10 vomits just after the Lake Chelan (WA) marathon! Who gets to set two PR’s all within the same few minutes!!! Only a true NEO Trail member in my opinion!

Race Report: Mike Keller Mayaro Triathlon 10k

Knowing I would be in Trinidad on vacation for almost three weeks, I looked for a race to run, hoping for a marathon (there was one in Barbados, but I didn’t want to leave Trinidad.) So I found the Trinidad RoadRunners club site advertising a 10k race in Mayaro which is on the far eastern side of the island, along the coast. Signed up right way, it was 40 dollars TT, which converted to USD is just under 7 dollars to run a 10k. No tshirt, but who cares?

I tried to train somewhat leading up to the race, and did run 60 miles over the two weeks leading up to the race here, but wouldn’t say I “trained” like some kind of goal race. I was happy to do those miles though just to be prepared for the heat and humidity. Come race day, the start was at 4pm, and we started about 5 minutes late.

I knew ahead of time I was going to suffer with the heat and humidity (86 degrees, and high humidity along the coast) but would do my best. I also had the misfortune of stubbing my second toe pretty badly about two hours before the race playing barefoot football (soccer) with some young kids from my girlfriends family. I would just have to deal with it, it’s not like I haven’t ran countless miles before with my toes throbbing from my messed up toenails...:)

Started out near the back of the pack which gave me the always happy result of only passing people throughout the race. I passed probably 30 people over the first 5k, and only one lady passed me back at around the 7k mark, and I just couldn’t recapture her. There was a water station every 2km and I took one at the first two, but after that, I resorted to taking two at the 6k, and 8k marks, and pouring one over my head, and drinking the other. Unlike the states they had no trash bins for the bottles of water they handed out, so people just tossed the bottles to the curb.

I really hurt to keep my pace up over the last 3-4 km, but I just had to refuse to back off, and before long the turn into town and the finish line were in sight. I know I used up all I had in that weather, but had hoped to be down around 50 minutes. In any case, I still PR’d by about 4 minutes over my older and weak 10k PR and came in at 53:28 for a pace of like 8:37 per mile.

After the race I found another 10k to sign up for in Port of Spain, Trinidad and even bargained the race fee down to 30 dollars TT from 40 since I was signing up “early.” So I get to do this one for 5 bucks USD equivalent. (6:1 exchange rate.) Let’s hope for another PR, even if just a small margin...this next race starts at 630 am, so it will be cooler, although that also means the humidity will be higher....

Also after the race, I approached the woman I couldn't catch and told her how well she did holding me off...we got to chatting, and her husband (who was there as well) is an ultrarunner with UTMB, Marathon De Sables, Badwater, and many other races under his belt. I bumped into that couple twice more again since the race (on the other island no less, over in Tobago) and we exchanged info, so I have a running friend if I go to Barcelona.

Freedom Park Ultra Recap

Click Here to read Mike Keller's recap from this year's Freedom Park New Year's Ultra.

Click Here for final results.

Ten....More....Miles! Challenge

Similar to the One....More....Mile! Challenge that ran through the month of November and was won by Erik Barr of El Paso, TX, Mike Keller is putting on the Ten....More. ...Miles! Challenge.

The Premise: Each month in 2009 you have to increase your long run by 10 miles to stay in the challenge, starting with 10 miles in January. Runs done and posted by midnight (local) of the last day of the month.

The Entry: $10. All proceeds to charity, split (50/50) the same as the One Mile Challenge between the race decided charity and the winner's charity of choice. The One....More....Mile! Challenge winner also received a small prize package from Vertical Runner.

The Entrants: So far Don Baun, Ted Niemann, and Jeff Genova. How about we get some NEO Trail members to sign up (and win it for the club!!)? If you want an entry form just email Mike Keller at mailto:ultragomer@gmail..

Sleepy Hollow 12 Hour Rogaine

Tonight at midnight Mike Keller will be participating in the Sleepy Hollow 12 hour Rogaine orienteering event in Chillicothe, Ohio (Scioto Trail State Park). Following this event Mike will be posting a detailed report on his blog.

If you're not familiar with rogaining, it is a sport of long distance cross-country navigation, in which teams of two to five people visit as many checkpoints as they wish in a set time period. The traditional Rogaine is 24 hours in duration, however, there are also shorter events of 6,8 and 12 hours. Most rogainers are on foot and held in attractive bush and farmland locations, however, some events are held in metropolitan areas (Metrogaines), or on bikes (Cyclegaines).

The parts of the course you visit are entirely up to you and your team members. There are no set routes and you don’t have to spend the whole time on the course. You can return to the ‘hash house’ at any time for hot food and rest around the campfire, or sleep, before heading out again. Some competitive teams may cover 50km in a 12 hour event and even more in an event of 24 hours duration. However, the distance you travel is entirely up to you. The satisfaction comes in finding your way around the course according to the route you have chosen and navigating back to the finish within the time limit. For more information, check out the US Orienteering Federation website.