Rob Rose Running Column 3/8/07
Step
right up and take your chances! Come over and spin the
big
wheel! Pick a card, any card! Impress the little lady with
your
skills! You look lucky today!
Excuse
the carny barker intro but I couldn't contain myself.
Although
it may feel like we are on the cusp of spring we really
are in
the midst of lottery season. Runners are gearing up to
compete
in the upcoming racing season but they are also gearing
up to
compete to get into the races that comprise the season.
Twenty
one years ago, my brother-in-law Bill and I ventured to
the
Crystal City (Va.) Marriott from our homes in Sterling (Va.)
for the
1986 Marine Corps Marathon expo. It was the day before
the
race and we went strictly to check out the merchandise as we
were
not running. However, running expos have a strange effect.
The
electricity generated by masses of runners on the eve of a
major
race causes runners to suspend reality and invent false
illusions
of our abilities. Although I was coming off an injury
and
only had a recent long run of eight miles, I seriously
considered
signing up to marathon the next day!
Do most
runners find the most remarkable aspect of that story
my
delusional behavior? No, most runners would be incredulous
that I
could have signed up for Marine Corps the day before the
race!
The
world has changed oh so much in the course of a
generation.
The Marine Corps Marathon is now one of the most
popular
races in America and the days of signing up on site are
memory.
This year's Oct. 28 Marine Corps Marathon will open up
its
lottery on its website (www.marinemarathon.com) on May 9 at
noon
and in a matter of hours it will be closed. It is just one
of many
where runners now have to turn the wheel and hope that
they
can secure a place in the field. Lotteries and first come
first
serve are now the order of the day for runners who want to
get
into the 'destination' races.
Lottery
season started back in February when the New York City
Marathon
opened its lottery. You can sign up on
www.ingnycmarathon.org
and pay your $120 but you need to wait
until
mid June to find out if you won. Last year over 93,000
people
entered the lottery for about 40,000 slots.
Mt.
Washington lottery season opened on March 1. You still
have
until March 15 to log onto gsrs.org to enter the lottery
for the
7.6 mile mountain race on June 16.
On that
same day of March 15, you can jump into the Beach to
Beacon
10K sweepstakes. No lottery here, but its first come
first
serve for the Cape Elizabeth, ME race that was established
by
Olympian Joan Benoit Samuelson. On-line registration opens up
at 9
a.m. at www.beach2beacon.org and the field for the Aug. 4
event
is limited as the 5,500 slots go fast.
Sun
Chronicle Nation's favorite game of chance, the Falmouth
Road
Race Lotto, arrives next. Approximately 300 Attleboro area
runners
run Falmouth each year, so the website gets a workout
from
this region. Race registration opens on
www.falmouthroadrace.com
on May 1 and runners can download race
applications.
They must return them by May 10 and then hope for
good
fortune to reign.
The
list goes on if you want to enter any prestigious race in
the
country such as Grandma's, Chicago, Twin Cities Marathon,
Covered
Bridges Half Marathon, Disney Marathon, etc. Stand in
line
and take a number.
One
salient point that emerges from this is that there is a
direct
correlation between the amount of paper a race uses and
its
success. The less paper the more successful you are. On line
lotteries,
basically eliminate paper produced by the race
organization.
If you are still distributing race applications
you
haven't made the big time yet.
So ....
did I sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon that
Saturday
many years ago? No, good sense intervened and I
refrained.
In retrospect, I probably should have taken the
chance
when the opportunity was there. Now, you need to step up
and
take a chance; spin the wheel, hope the cards turn up right
Do you
feel lucky today?
Footnotes - the next women's running clinic
will be held on
Tuesday,
March 13 at the Attleboro Arts Museum at 7 p.m.;
co-sponsored
by the Wampanoag Road Runners and the Museum, this
session
will be conducted by Laura Hurley, who will address
stretching
techniques geared for women; contact Sandy Sheehy
(508-643-0626
or ssheehy@mindspring.com) for more info ... Want
running
advice from a professional at the touch of a button?
Attleboro
native Mark Coogan is on Exercise TV, an on-demand
channel
on the Comcast Network; the former Olympian has several
segments
that focus on strengthening, stretching and proper
warm-up;
find out how to do the Romanian dead lift; the On
Demand
path to get there is Sports & Fitness/Exercise TV/Sports
Training/Running;
they are available until March 28 ... many
locals
will be running the New Bedford Half Marathon on March
18,
including the Wampanoag Road Runners since it is in their
Grand
Prix series; for those who want an early preview, the
Greater
New Bedford Track Club will hold their yearly fun run
over
the course on March 11; runners meet at the New Bedford
YMCA at
9 a.m.; call Leo Rodeillat 508-998-5068 for more info
....
the Hopkinton Running Club is sponsoring a 21 mile training
run on
the Boston Marathon course on March 25; the club will
charter
a bus and the cost is $11; contact Stephanie Whelan
(stephaniewhelan@msn.com)
by Feb. 28 if you are interested ....