The MS Runner

Running While Battling Foot Blisters, Leg Cramps, Black Toe Nails - and MS

Archive for the ‘Runnin' of the Green’


The Cost of Running

Published February 1st, 2010 in charities, Haiti, MS Run The US, Bolder Boulder, Runnin' of the Green | No Comments »

The racing season is upon us.  By that I mean on any given weekend, there is probably a race somewhere nearby that you can do.  A few years ago when I started running, the prices of these races didn’t seem too bad.  Now it seems like the prices have almost doubled in 5 years!  I really want to run competitively more, but who can afford it?  What has happened here?  Every race has a zillion sponsors it seems, so where’s all the money going?  There are a lot of races that are linked to some charity, but do we really know that that money is going to that charity?  And what is the percentage?  Speaking of which, there was this big push to give money to help the relief efforts in Haiti.  All you had to do was text to some number and your money was being whisked away to those Haitians in need.  But if you read the fine print, it says “or other relief efforts”.  What does that mean?  But I digress.  All I’m saying is, I want to race more without the high cost.  The Bolder Boulder 10K is $44.  Wow!  The Runnin’ of The Green 7K in Denver is $40 if you don’t sign up early.

Speaking of charities, if anyone out there can donate some money to a worthwhile charity, consider the one that is near and dear to my heart.  It raises awareness for the fight and the cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Go to this link and see what I mean.

Runnin’ of The Green

Published March 23rd, 2009 in Runnin' of the Green, training, Denver | No Comments »

The first big race in Denver every year is The Runnin’ of The Green in downtown.  It is a 7K and they tout it as being the largest 7K in the country.  It might be the only one for all I know.  The biggest problem with this race is that it’s on Sunday, which is the day after almost everyone parties for St. Patrick’s Day.  So for me anyways, I wasn’t expecting a great time or anything, just a chance to run a race and see where I stand with my training.  There were over 4,000 people in this race, and I think all the slow ones were ahead of me at the start line.  I hate that.  There were even walkers ahead of me.  I think next year I’m going to put on my singlet, strut to the front, and pretend I’m an elite runner.  By the way, why is it that no matter what the weather, the elite runners wear a singlet (tank top)?  There were also strollers and a few dogs.  This is way too big of a race I think to have strollers and dogs.  It’s bad enough that I’m trying to run around the slow pokes, but I have to be careful that I don’t run into little Dakota in her stroller wearing stupid green St Paddy’s Day sunglasses, and a tee shirt that says, Burp Me, I’m Irish.

Otherwise, the race went well, and I did about what I thought I would.  I ran it in 33:47, which is a 7:47 pace.  Out of 4,266 total runners, I came in 557th.  Not too bad.  At least by the time I finished, there weren’t too many people yet in the beer line.

Runnin’ of the Green Lucky 7K

Published March 17th, 2008 in Runnin' of the Green, St Patrick's Day, beer, Denver | 1 Comment »

I wonder if they called it Runnin’ of the Green because most people looked a little green since it was the day after most of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. The day before this race was not a good way to prepare for this run for me. In the morning I ran 12 miles of which 4 miles were at a 7:30 pace. Then Diane and I went downtown and took in the ambiance that was St Patrick’s Day. And although it was 2 days before my birthday, we were celebrating that also.

The race attracted over 3,000 people which is crazy. The thing that gets me is the numb nuts that are up towards the front of the start line, and they have no business being there. There were people (I call them people, not runners) that after a mile were walking! This made for a really slow start for me and also made me frustrated.

The weather was very nice, around 40 degrees, but a little windy. Also downtown Denver has a few streets that are nasty hills! Other than a few dogs and a couple of strollers (don’t get me started on that stuff!), there were no other major incidents to speak of. I ended up doing 32:36 which was not too shabby I must say. That put in in about the top 10% of all the runners that day. 367th out of 3112 runners. The best part however is that they have Killian’s beer at the end. Slainte.