Team Inov-8 athlete Wynn Davis won the Securian Frozen Half-Marathon that was shortened to a 10k due to -15 degree starting temperatures. His winning time of 36:20 was stellar under such cold conditions. Wynn wore the F-lite 300's for this road race. Below is Wynn's report on this chilly affair that lived up to it's name.
24th annual Securian Frozen ½ marathon
Early prognostications in weather called for severe sub-zero temperatures for Saturday morning’s race celebrating winter carnival week here in the Twin Cities. While eating breakfast I was browsing through the sports page of the St.Paul Pioneer Press and read that the Securian ½ marathon was going to be shortened to 6.5 miles due to severely cold temperatures. It has happened before, but not to this extent. The 2009 edition would set the record for the coldest temperature—start time was a surly -15 degrees below zero and a bitingly cold head wind funneling down town St.Paul, and out onto the exposed Shepard road along the Mississippi. Bogged down with layers of clothes we shot through the streets and out toward the river. The outbound was a calm but constant rise against the wind. My pre-race goal for the half-marathon despite the conditions was in between 1:13 and 1:14 in flux with training. Once I found out that the race was cut to the odd distance of 6.5 I decided that somewhere in the mid 33-35 minute range would compensate. To be honest, once the race was a few miles underway, all I was focused on was staying warm and getting to the finish. I ran with Paul Kriegler of Team Run N Fun and we basically just kept ourselves from getting frozen. Every so often we would do high steps to get our legs turning over. On the tail wind return trip back to the finish we started to pick it up a bit more and Paul took a slight lead. I tucked in right behind, waiting to surge on the hill to the finish. However, just before reaching the hill, Paul’s chip timer broke off, so he had to quick stop to pick it up. It popped off while I was in mid-stride. I went ahead at that point, but also stopped to wait for him to catch back up cause it was an unfortunate mishap. He signaled for me to go ahead, so I jogged a bit and by that time the hill came I ran up it and soon enough the finish line was there. I was able to win the race in 36:20, which I was a bit disappointed about having done an easy 10miler the week before at 5:42 pace. Paul came in a few seconds behind. Paul has a strong marathon best and I’m sure he was also hoping for the full race as well. It was good times nonetheless and some great camaraderie; seeing familiar face at the start like Joe Ziegenfuss, Ed Rousseau and Rick Cleary. 700+ runners came out to challenge Mother Nature’s sinister skullduggery of winter madness. I should also mention that it was fun seeing all of the frozen faces out there. My right eyelash and lid nearly froze shut from tearing up due to the wind.
I guess that is one thing about the Upper Midwest that never disappoints, and that is the diversity of the weather, which can make racing quite interesting. It’s not uncommon to be running in 100 degree Amazon humidity in the summer and face Arctic conditions in the winter. I wore the F-lite 300’s which were perfect for the course, and the Inov-8 socks kept my feet warm the whole run. I also have to give major props to 2XU. There wicked clothing is without a doubt the best. The fibers wick better than anything out there, keeping me warm after the race.
Results: http://www.andersonraces.com/Results/wcrs09.htm
24th annual Securian Frozen ½ marathon
Early prognostications in weather called for severe sub-zero temperatures for Saturday morning’s race celebrating winter carnival week here in the Twin Cities. While eating breakfast I was browsing through the sports page of the St.Paul Pioneer Press and read that the Securian ½ marathon was going to be shortened to 6.5 miles due to severely cold temperatures. It has happened before, but not to this extent. The 2009 edition would set the record for the coldest temperature—start time was a surly -15 degrees below zero and a bitingly cold head wind funneling down town St.Paul, and out onto the exposed Shepard road along the Mississippi. Bogged down with layers of clothes we shot through the streets and out toward the river. The outbound was a calm but constant rise against the wind. My pre-race goal for the half-marathon despite the conditions was in between 1:13 and 1:14 in flux with training. Once I found out that the race was cut to the odd distance of 6.5 I decided that somewhere in the mid 33-35 minute range would compensate. To be honest, once the race was a few miles underway, all I was focused on was staying warm and getting to the finish. I ran with Paul Kriegler of Team Run N Fun and we basically just kept ourselves from getting frozen. Every so often we would do high steps to get our legs turning over. On the tail wind return trip back to the finish we started to pick it up a bit more and Paul took a slight lead. I tucked in right behind, waiting to surge on the hill to the finish. However, just before reaching the hill, Paul’s chip timer broke off, so he had to quick stop to pick it up. It popped off while I was in mid-stride. I went ahead at that point, but also stopped to wait for him to catch back up cause it was an unfortunate mishap. He signaled for me to go ahead, so I jogged a bit and by that time the hill came I ran up it and soon enough the finish line was there. I was able to win the race in 36:20, which I was a bit disappointed about having done an easy 10miler the week before at 5:42 pace. Paul came in a few seconds behind. Paul has a strong marathon best and I’m sure he was also hoping for the full race as well. It was good times nonetheless and some great camaraderie; seeing familiar face at the start like Joe Ziegenfuss, Ed Rousseau and Rick Cleary. 700+ runners came out to challenge Mother Nature’s sinister skullduggery of winter madness. I should also mention that it was fun seeing all of the frozen faces out there. My right eyelash and lid nearly froze shut from tearing up due to the wind.
I guess that is one thing about the Upper Midwest that never disappoints, and that is the diversity of the weather, which can make racing quite interesting. It’s not uncommon to be running in 100 degree Amazon humidity in the summer and face Arctic conditions in the winter. I wore the F-lite 300’s which were perfect for the course, and the Inov-8 socks kept my feet warm the whole run. I also have to give major props to 2XU. There wicked clothing is without a doubt the best. The fibers wick better than anything out there, keeping me warm after the race.
Results: http://www.andersonraces.com/Results/wcrs09.htm
2 comments:
Way to go, Wynn!
Nice job, Wynn. I can't imagine what the cool down felt like. Hope you've thawed by now.
Post a Comment