beer and racing

2012 North Carolina Beer Runs

2012-02-09T12:15:00.000-05:00

With the 2012 calendar year in full swing, its the time of year that I start planning my spring, summer and fall race plans. Unlike previous years, I have a big race coming up this month as well but looking past that and into March, I decided to throw a list up of beer runs across the state. I'll update this list as I learn of more races but for now, take a peak and find a beer run or two to target of your own. Please let me know of any races I've missed.

In case you are new to the concept, a beer run in this context is an organized run or race that includes the serving of cold beer at the finish to participants. While tasting good and making you feel good, beer is also an excellent way to aid the body in recovery following a distance run.*

*Nonalcoholic Beer Aids Marathon Recovery

*BEER RUN! A (somewhat) scientific look at how a postrun pint (or two) impacts your favorite activity.

March 3 - St. Paddy's Run Green 8k

4th annual event finishing at Tir na nog Irish Pub in downtown Raleigh. Post-race street party, beer truck. Last year's party included Craggie Brewing beers. See my 2010 report.

March 17 - Old Town Beerun 2012 5 Miler

Annual race held at the Old Town Draft House on the edge of UNC Greensboro campus. Starts and finishes outside Old Town with Natty Greene's Brewing Company beers on draft at the finish. Each registered runner gets two beers with their entry. See my 2011 and 2010 reports. Register for 2012 HERE

March 18 - Tobacco Road Marathon and Half Marathon

3rd annual race held in Morrisville and run on the flat and fast American Tobacco Trail. Post-race party includes the Natty Greene's Beer Garden. A Natty's beer truck will be on site, each runner gets two free beers.

March 24 - Race the Bar 5k

A new race, part of the new Race the Bar series that will include 4 events in 2012. This event will be a 5K at The Last Resort and Meltdown on Deacon Blvd. in Winston-Salem, featuring beer from Carolina Brewery.

March 31 - The Kinston 8000 Run for the River 8k and 1 mile fun run

7th annual event finishing within a block of race sponsor Mother Earth Brewing in downtown Kinston. The Mother Earth taproom and brewery will be open at 10am following the race.

March 31 - Black Mountain Greenway Challenge 5k and 10k

5th annual event held at Pisgah Brewing Company. It's a safe bet that there is beer at the finish of this one.

April 19 - The Foxhunt 5k

2nd annual evening event held in downtown Raleigh at Natty Greene's Brewery. Each registrant receives two beers with entry. See my 2011 report.

May 12 - Race the Bar 5k and 8k

A new race, part of the new Race the Bar series that will include 4 events in 2012. This event will include a 5K and 8K race at Lindley Park Filling Station and Sticks and Stones at the corner of Walker and Elam in Greensboro, featuring beer from Highland Brewery.

May 19-20 - Warrior Dash North Carolina - Huntersville

A national mud run race event series. Seems a bit corporate to me, not sure what beer they serve but each entrant gets a beer at the finish.

June 2 - Running of the Bulls 8k
4th annual race held in downtown Durham near the historic Durham Athletic Park. Event sponsor Fullsteam Brewery is just around the corner from the finish and I recall their taproom was open for business after this past year's event.

In addition, let me remind everyone you can make any race or run a beerrun by enjoying a cold craft beer after your run. Just pack a can or two in a cooler, find a bar or tailgate nearby and recover. Enjoy!

The Killer Years

2012-02-08T12:36:00.004-05:00

Recently while researching an upcoming Hollywood film about Formula 1 directed by Ron Howard to be named "Rush", I stumbled across a recent BBC documentary about the same era. "Grand Prix - The Killer Years" is a documentary about the 60's and 70's, a period in F1 history when many drivers were killed each season during Grand Prix weekends. I've studied F1 history for years, I've seen some of the crashes, read about the drivers who perished, heard about the lack of track and car safety but this film really does put it all out there with perhaps a bit of television glorification of the dangers F1 drivers faced. Below you can watch the entire one hour documentary that aired on BBC. (Yes, it does contain some graphic content)

40 Days & 40 Nights, My Holiday Run Streak

2012-01-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

To end another personally accomplishing year as a runner, I wanted to finish out 2011 with a race or goal that would keep me motivated to run over the holidays. I considered a 5k here or a 10k there, maybe a New Year's Day event somewhere but really nothing caught my eye. Than I came across a challenge of sorts from Runner's World magazine via their twitter page. The challenge was to run at least one mile per day from Thanksgiving Day to New Year's Day - a holiday run streak that is. 39 days straight of running at least a mile, every day. While still considering the idea, my friend Tim - the beer runner in Wisconsin with Draft Magazine, a man known for his own run streak posed a twist on the challenge suggesting running at least a mile and drinking a beer every day. I've followed Tim's own run streak over the past 15 months or so that he started on his 29th birthday and has continued on past his 30th birthday. I've got a few years on Tim but I figured what the hay, I'll take on the challenge from both @runnersworld and @draftmag's @thebeerrunner and see where it takes me.

Having run 3 out of the past 5 days (including the beer mile on Saturday) before Thanksgiving, I went into the start of my streak plenty warmed up. My biggest concern was getting sick from running outside in the cold or inflaming one of my knees. My expectation is that I would be running on the treadmill a lot and most of my runs would be 1 to 1.5 miles per day. Generally, I take December and January off from running because of the holidays and that is when its cold, gets dark early here in NC. By February, I feel guilty and fat and start working to recover for the spring season.

Michelle, her parents and I were headed to the coast to visit my family for Thanksgiving Day so I had to get my run done early or it wasn't going to happen. I started the streak with a 4.3 mile run from home out and around my part of town. The runs came quickly over the coming days and I quickly learned ways to fit them in my schedule making adjustments on other things in my life to accommodate the need to run. On Day 4, I even made it out to North Raleigh to a new, flat section of greenway along the Neuse River for a fast 5.1 mile run. My pace was fairly close to my race pace from several 5 mile races I ran earlier in the year. I felt good that the streak was possible as I completed the first week. Over the first 7 days, I averaged 2.85 miles per day with every run outside. In addition tracking my mileage via GPS on RunKeeper and LogYourRun, I also reactivated my Daily Mile account and recorded my mileage there. Daily Mile is a social tool for sharing and motivating with other runner friends virtually while recording mileage and viewing your progress.

Moving into December, I maintained my schedule with relative ease. I had to run indoors on the treadmill once due to a cold snap one evening but overall, I was feeling good, logging my miles and enjoying tasty beers daily. Within two weeks of running daily, I had lost about 4-5 pounds and hadn't changed my diet at all. I was lighter than my summertime marathon training weight. On December 15, which was three weeks in, the weather in North Carolina was simply amazing. We had springlike temps in the low 70's so I couldn't resist the urge to run twice outside that day snagging two 3 mile runs before dark. Looking back, I never ran less than two miles a day from December 13 on. I was simply amazed how easy the run streak was going for me and how great I felt most days. Even on a day following a little too much partying, I quickly recovered knowing I had a run to get done.

Along with recording my miles, I was using twitter and to a lesser extent facebook, to interact with other holiday run streakers. At the suggestion of Runner's World and Tim, I tweeted my daily results with the hashtags #RWrunstreak and #BRrunstreak. I also followed others on their reports which was added motivation. The best thing was I didn't feel sniffly or come down with cold symptoms as the days wore on. In the past, running in the cool air has gotten me sick with lung infections (I was actually told by my Dr not to run in the cold) but as the December days counted down, I didn't have a problem. Another benefit to my daily runs is that I was motivated to go out weekly and run with the Big Boss Run Club at their winter location on Tuesday nights, starting and finishing at Bottle Revolution, a local bottle shop. Always a great group of enthusiastic runners and beer runners, it was nice to join them each Tuesday over the holidays.

As Christmas approached, I reviewed my results and set a few more goals to keep me pushing through the run streak finish line. I decided to try and make December my biggest mileage month of the year, to run at least 100 miles over my 39 day streak and to run at least 700 miles total for the year. Thanks to my LogYourRun log, I could easily calculate all of these. Christmas eve was a 5 miler, Christmas Day - a 2 miler, New Year's Eve - a 4.1 miler with the NC Roadrunner's Club, New Year's Day, a 3.3 miler and to make it 40 days, I ran January 2 to complete my 40 day run streak!

In the end, I met all my goals including making December my biggest mileage month of 2011 and making 2011 my biggest mileage year ever. I ran over 715 miles for the year without even training for a full marathon. I averaged 2.9 miles per day for the streak and probably tasted about that many beers per day as well. Best of all, I avoided holiday weight gain for the first time in many years and built a nice base for the running season as 2012 approaches.

I enjoyed many a fine brew over the holidays of 2011 including a slew of them at our 2nd annual Holiday Bottle party. Thanks to my Untappd account, I also shared my beers consumed with friends and checked out what they were sipping along the way. Due to some fine friends and fine beer retailers, there was no shortage of fermented offerings in the fridge to celebrate each day's run.

With the run streak complete, I'm still running into January, just not everyday. I managed a 7.1 miler this past weekend and plan to register to run a half marathon in less than 6 weeks. Cheers and Carpe Viam!!

Holiday Laps 2011

2011-12-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

Last month, I made it up to VIRginia International Raceway with some friends to participate in the annual Holiday Laps for charity event. Each year, VIR holds this public event as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army of Virginia in which anyone can drive their personal vehicle on the 3.27 mile road course for a $25 toy, food or cash donation. I went in 2009 right after I got my 2006 MINI Cooper S but missed the event in 2010.

Several friends joined me for the 75 minute drive up from Raleigh - each in their own rides including several Audi A4s, a Hyundai ~~Elantra~~ Sonata, a VW GTI and BMW M3.

It was a sunny but chilly fall day at the track in which hundreds of other drivers showed up for the chance to drive the historic course. Each of us drove the track in an approximate 20 minute session behind a pace car with varying degrees of excitement depending on the speed of the pace car driver and the ability of the other drivers in the group.

While my straight line speeds were down from the 2009 event (due to more conservative pace car driving), my laps through the turns and uphill esses were probably more exciting as the pace was quicker through them in my sessions. Overall, it was a fun and safe event; well worth the $50 in donations and fuel expense for the day.

Running the Beer Mile

2011-11-22T12:20:00.001-05:00

Over the past couple years, I have taken to the idea that beer and running most certainly go together but normally, not in that order. Yes, I have indulged in a pint before a three or five mile run at Big Boss Run Club over this past summer but generally speaking, I prefer to indulge after my run or race. It's a proven fact that beer helps with recovery and in my humble opinion, it just tastes better than water or sports drinks after a good workout.

So setting that premise to the side for a moment - about a year ago I learned of an event called the Beer Mile in which participants must drink four 12oz beers while running one mile. Earlier this summer, a friend of mine hosted a running of the Beer Mile here in Raleigh. I was out of town that weekend and missed it but finally got my chance last weekend when another running of the Beer Mile was held at a local track for all those willing to take the challenge.

As a Beer Mile competitor, I studied the rules and did a little research online to see what tactics I would need to finish the race. Basically, each beer runner must provide his or her own beers - four 12oz cans or bottles of 5% ABV or higher fermented beer. Each runner must run the race in the following format - drink a beer, run a 1/4 mile (1 lap on a 400m track), drink a beer, run a 1/4 mile, drink a beer, run 1/4 mile, drink a beer, run 1/4 mile and done. You have to drink the beer within a designated box at the start/finish line before each lap and no tricks are allowed. ie. no straws, no punctured cans, no shotgunning, no bongs, no running with your beer and so forth. If a runner pukes during his 1 mile run, another 1/4 mile must be run as a penalty lap. Those are the basics behind the Beer Mile but there are plenty more rules also posted at the beermile.com.

For my beer, I wanted to go with something fairly light in body but with enough flavor that I would enjoy chugging four of them. I considered several different NC canned beers but in the end went with Ska Brewing's Euphoria Pale Ale. I liked the can label and I liked the beer so that was good enough for me.

Race day came and I met my fellow competitors (including our race organizer who was also running the Beer Mile for the second time) at a local public school's track. Several friends of the group showed up to spectate and assist with recording the moment as six of us hurled ourselves around the track for the sloshy one mile sprint.

When the time had come, we each opened and chugged our first beer. I finished first and took off on my first lap belching loudly the first 100 meters. I picked up speed, rounded the last corner and slowed down to trot into the start for my next beer. From there, I just repeated the steps three more times paying close attention to where the rest of my competitors were. Luckily, the urge to vomit never hit me and I finished the mile with a winning time of 8:38.

The rest of the field powered through the mile as well with only one runner puking. He was drinking an oatmeal stout from the bottle which seemed a rough challenge in itself.

While I don't intend to make a habit out of running the Beer Mile or drinking and running, I do expect to run it again in the future and defend my title as the Triangle Beer Runners Challenge Champion.

Big thanks to Kevin for organizing the event and Dave from the Craft Beer Collective for the video recap.

Battleship Half Marathon in the Port City

2011-11-15T10:54:00.001-05:00

To follow up my recent half marathon in New Bern, I decided to run the Battleship Half Marathon in Wilmington, North Carolina only three weeks later. I had planned early this year to do these two races since they had been on the 'to run' list in my head for some time. I took this year off from marathoning so running two halfs so close together seemed an attainable substitution. The Battleship Half was my 10th 13.1 mile race since I ran my first in the October 2005 Baltimore Running Festival.

We got down to Wilmington the afternoon before the race and I got settled in for race day. It has been a normal routine for me and Michelle knows it as well as I do. Race check-in at the expo, accommodations check-in (in this case at a friend's house), make dinner plans (which usually involves pasta, salad and bread at home or in an Italian restaurant), race gear selection and layout, a bourbon or two on the rocks and off to bed.

Race morning was interesting as we took race organizers advise and parked in downtown Wilmington and I took the river taxi to the start area by the Battleship USS North Carolina. It was fairly chilly with a steady breeze and plenty of cloud cover. The air temps were deceiving and I wore 3 layers awaiting the start. A sleeveless t, a long sleeve t and a hoodie.

Once the race started and we headed out to cross the river for the first time, I knew I was overdressed so I ditched the hoodie. As planned, Michelle was awaiting me (along with a surprisingly huge crowd of spectators) along River Street around mile 3. I ditched my sleeveless t and went on my way for the remaining 10 miles much of which involved running around Greenfield Lake. Coming out of that area and back towards the second river crossing back to the battleship, the wind off the river was back. It seemed like the temperature had not really gone up since the start and I was running into a headwind as I approached and crossed the scary grated bridge to complete the final 2 miles of the race. I felt strong though and picked up my pace as I caught and passed runners ahead. In my head, I just kept repeating "drop the hammer," "kick it," and "push, push, push" - almost as if I was my own cheerleader. Even though for the majority of the race, I was surrounded by dozens of other runners, I was relatively alone for the last mile of the race.

In the end, I crossed the finish with a time of 1:41:01 placing me 83rd overall out of 1245 finishers, 10th in my age group and just a minute and half off my PR time set three weeks ago in New Bern. I lost time removing my top layers and relocating my race bib number in the first couple miles; probably enough to match the 90 second slower time. This race had more hills, more traffic and a chilly wind to slow me down as well so overall I feel the race was equally as strong an event for me as New Bern.

The post-race celebration in front of the battleship included complimentary cold beer (a growing trend) from Raleigh's LoneRider Brewery. I enjoyed two pints of Sweet Josie Brown Ale before departing by water taxi back across the river with Michelle. Lunch followed in downtown Wilmington at Front Street Brewery which included their seasonal stout, my favorite style following a long, cold run.

And with that, my 2011 race running season is probably over. I met my goal of achieving a new half marathon PR and I did it twice with my last two races. Now, what to run in 2012?!!

Neuse River Bridge Run

2011-10-28T15:05:00.003-04:00

Just posting a quick entry about the Neuse River Bridge Run Half Marathon that I ran a couple weeks ago in New Bern, North Carolina. It was a fantastic day overall as I set a new half marathon distance personal record with a clock time of 1:39:29. Sub 1:40 baby!! This was my second half marathon of the year and my finish time broke my recent PR which I set at the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon last October.

The race started and finished along the picturesque waterfront of the Neuse River in downtown New Bern. Race day weather was about as perfect as you can ask for a half marathon. Mid 50's at the 7 am start, no wind and clear skies. A good portion of the course was shaded by trees and the only hills (modest hills at that) were in the first 3 miles. Personally, all of these factors combined was a recipe for success.

I had a bit of mysterious right leg pain that affected me during mile 11-12 but I hung in there and finished fairly strong and pain free. It was nice to have not only Michelle but my mom and Rocky, our boxer at the finish line as I crossed an overall 34th place of nearly 400 starters.

My GPS and tracing the course on gmap.pedometer.com both recorded a race distance of 13.25 miles but the race organizers assure me that the course was 13.1.

I went into the race with a goal time of 1:45 so sub 1:40 really made me smile. Of course, now I know how much harder I will have to work in the coming years to top that time. Perhaps I can find another flat, fast course for that attempt.

The post-race gathering was relaxing and the recovery foods including pizza and Natty Greene's Brewing Company bottled craft beer was a nice touch.

We finished the afternoon with a visit to the beach in Emerald Isle as I refueled with a brew from the other Emerald Isle.

Stay tuned as I potentially have another half marathon coming up in the coming weeks....

Today we lost Dan Wheldon

2011-10-16T21:01:00.002-04:00

Two-time Indy 500 winner and 2005 IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon passed after being involved in a violent 15 car crash during the opening laps of the IZOD IndyCar Series World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

To me, no driver embodied everything that was good about the sport of IndyCar racing more than Dan Wheldon.

I met Dan on at least three occasions during the past 7 years that I attended IndyCar Series races he competed in. Each of those times reinforced to me why I love auto racing. Dan was not only an excellent open-wheel driver, he was a class-act personality that represented motorsport and IndyCar to the public like few racers can.

I'm so very sad for his loss today and my thoughts go out to his family, his team, former teams and the entire IndyCar racing community who mourn his loss.

Baltimore Grand Prix was a charmer

2011-09-29T12:04:00.006-04:00

So I am a little late on posting here about the Baltimore Grand Prix weekend I attended with friends in the Charm City over Labor Day weekend. I do have excuses but I won't bother. The weekend went fantastic and the City of Baltimore, the IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series did an amazing job at putting on a killer first year event. Personally, I went into the weekend with modest, if not low expectations for the event. I've been to Baltimore many times, I've been to many IndyCar and AMLS races and I figured there were plenty of ways for someone or everyone to screw up the inaugural event. Luckily, my expectations were far exceeded and I think most spectators, racers, vendors and organizers would agree.

We arrived on Saturday morning for day 2 of the 3 day event. Saturday was qualifying day for everyone and race day for the AMLS. Sunday was race day for IndyCar. We lucked into a hotel stay at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore with a room overlooking the Inner Harbor and turns 3 and 4 of the track. Our pool deck provided for an overhead view of turn 4 which is where most of my race course photos of the weekend were taken from.

We bought General Admission tickets and Paddock Passes for the weekend which meant no grandstand seating for the races. Now that I've been, I'd have to say I would have preferred Grandstand seating though we were fortunate enough to watch most of the races from above at our hotel. The downside being it was impossible to follow the audio or video of the race since no jumbo screens were really in view. A scanner would have taken care of that....if I had brought one. The thing about General Admission for street races is that it is nearly impossible to find somewhere to sit or stand where you can actually see the cars. With all the fencing, banners and such in the way, your General Admission ticket basically gets you the opportunity to be there, people watch and party.

Baltimore was the first time I've ever seen a paddock that was totally indoors. The IndyCar and Indy Lights Series were in the air-conditioned comfort of the Baltimore Convention Center. Not just their race cars and garages but everything including their team haulers. The sheer size of the convention center seemed to allow promoters to sell unlimited paddock passes as it seemed like half the race attendees were in and out of the paddock throughout the weekend. We often dropped in not just to see the cars and teams at work but just to cool off from the humidity outside. As an IndyCar fan, it was cool to watch drivers and IndyCar team members milling about their garages, tune cars for qualifying, rebuild wrecked cars on Sunday morning before the race and see national media members interviewing drivers. The AMLS paddock was unfortunately located outside the track and required exiting the infield and than waiting in line to get back in the track on Saturday. Probably my biggest complaint of the weekend was that there were not more pedestrian entrances south of the track considering there were vendors, the AMLS paddock and a huge car show which required exit and re-entrance to visit.

Along with attending the race weekend, I was also excited to visit Baltimore with buddies to explore the local craft beer scene. We were able to make it over to Pratt Street Ale House a few times who serves Oliver Ales craft brews along Pratt Street which was also the high-speed front stretch of the track. We visited the legendary Max's Taproom in Fell's Point where we called it a day on Saturday evening after having many pints of America's finest craft beers on tap. On our way out of town, we stopped in Brewer's Art which certainly lived up to the hype. Unfortunately, time did not allow for a visit to Clipper City Heavy Seas Brewery however their beer was on tap in our hotel and in Camden Yards whose vendors were open for the race weekend. I also grabbed a pint of Baltimore's Natty Boh in Camden Yards (though I hear its brewed in NC now). This leads to my other big complaint of the weekend (though I understand the big dollars behind the decision). Anheuser–Busch InBev bought the exclusive rights to the Baltimore Grand Prix beer selection so the only beers sold by race vendors and in the race beer garden were crappy A-B products. As noted though, we didn't let that stop us from drinking great, local craft brew from area bars.

Depending on your perspective, one of the more exciting moments of the weekend for me was witnessing the two big crashes on Sunday morning during the IndyCar Series warm-up. I had just walked over to turn 1 with my cup of coffee and a camera to see the cars on track close-up before the crowds arrived. That was when Tony Kanaan had his big moment and lost his brakes at the entrance to turn 1, crashed into Helio Castroneves, got airborne, crashed into the wall and ended up in the tire barriers. I was actually looking to my right when the crash occurred to my left but I guess I could say I was there and saw the aftermath. Once the cars were cleaned up, on the restart, I watched JR Hildebrand dive inside Ana Beatriz in turn 1 and they made contact. She went up and over him before both cars stopped and a third car came along and plowed into both of them blocking the track. At this point, my expectations for the race disappeared as I expected much more of the same drama in the race.

We hung out in the paddock later in the morning and watched as KV Racing rebuilt Tony's car and we got an up-close look at Ana's car being repaired by her Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team as she stood by doing the same.

Luckily I was wrong, as were most media outlets and the IndyCar race itself went off fairly clean and trouble free later in the day. Perhaps for one rare occasion, the drivers learned to be patient from seeing the opening lap pileup in the AMLS race on Saturday and the crashes in the morning warm-up. It was truly amazing to see IndyCars hit speeds of nearly 180mph on the city streets of Baltimore and because of that, I'll hopefully be back next year to see the new IndyCar turbocharged Dallaras singing around the Inner Harbor.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2011-08-31T11:29:00.002-04:00

This coming weekend, I'll be up in Baltimore for the Grand Prix of Baltimore featuring the American Le Mans Series and the IndyCar Series racing on the streets of Baltimore around the Inner Harbor. I am pretty excited as these are my two favorite racing series in America. Michelle and I got to see both of them together in 2009 at Mid-Ohio and I have been waiting for this Baltimore street race to happen since than.

In talking to a couple friends last night about it, they told me about a recently filmed internet movie featuring high-definition video from the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Some may recall I also posted another movie - Truth in 24, several years ago about the Le Mans 24 Hours which is considered to be the greatest road race in the world. Check out 24 Hours In 19500 Frames below.

Along with the Baltimore Grand Prix, I am also excited about finally seeing the long awaited release of SENNA, a biographical documentary about Ayrton Senna, one of the greatest Formula One racing drivers of all time. Ayrton passed away after a massive crash during the 1994 Grand Prix of San Marino which was the first full season of F1 that I watched on a regular basis. It was during the previous season, that I discovered IndyCar and Formula One racing while channel surfing so little did I comprehend at the time just what a massive loss Ayrton's death was to the sport. I could go on and on about SENNA, the movie and all the awards and acclaim it has already received. Several of my friends have already seen it in Austin, Texas (home of the next F1 United States Grand Prix in 2012) and in England. I plan to see it soon enough in Raleigh. I've been excited about this film since its inception many years ago. I have always said the best racing movies are documentaries. Check out the international trailer for it below and let me know if you are interested in joining the viewing party in Raleigh at The Colony theater in September.

I also wanted to share this clip from a recent episode of Top Gear on the BBC. It's their tribute to Ayrton with some great footage and stories.

Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival Cary Recap

2011-08-08T14:26:00.004-04:00

This past weekend; the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ traveling festival came to Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheater so a couple beer loving friends and I headed out for the Friday night session. I believe this is the fourth or fifth year of the event that has been coming to Cary since it started. I also made it out last year and had a good enough time to go again this summer. If you know me in real life or follow my twitter feed, than you know I also love good pork BBQ and Kentucky bourbon nearly as much as craft beer. Growing up in NC, loving pork BBQ came naturally and traveling through Kentucky along the Bourbon Trail in 2006, I learned to love bourbon.

While the festival itself has a bit of a corporate feel to it, I think it generally achieves the goal of introducing folks to different styles of whiskey and bourbon, other spirits, local and national craft beers plus offers a chance to partake in eating BBQ. Though as a NC BBQ guy who also eats many other styles too, the BBQ part of the festival was the least impressive.

I followed the other guy's lead and ate early on which was a good decision considering the lines for food grew in length after the first hour. I went with a BBQ plate from Black Sauce Kitchen which turns out is a Baltimore based food truck. Not a place I would have thought of for BBQ; crabs and crab cakes on the other hand..... The pork BBQ was fairly bland, the sauce seemed to be their claim to fame along with the sandwich being served on a biscuit versus a bun. The biscuit didn't do it for me either - it crumbled apart after the first bite. Don't get me wrong, the food was fine but there were also some other BBQ vendors from NC which might have been a better choice for my palate.

For me, the highlight of the festival is the spirits. Primarily speaking, the opportunity to try many different brands of whiskey and bourbon whiskey along with some other random selections is worth the price of admission. Of course, its hard to take advantage of all the spirits options (by design I am sure) since they are mixed amongst the beer and miscellaneous vendors. The quality spirits are in short supply and go fast despite the 2 oz pours being offered. I was happy to find the table with a 23 year Pappy Van Winkle early on. A friend and I got the last of the bottle when the festival was only 45 minutes old.

It was good to sample all three new flavors of Midnight Moonshine made in Madison, NC. I saw a recent story on News and Observer.com that highlighted the new fruit packed mason jars of legally distilled 70 proof sipping shine. I'm not one for fruity drinks however this stuff was smooth and tasty.

As far as the beer selection and presentation at the festival goes, it was nice to see a couple NC breweries represented. Being equally devoted to bourbon and beer, I would personally have liked to been able to grab a pint of brew to carry around with me; even at an extra charge. Between bourbon booths though, that might not be the most responsible offering for the general public.

For what it is, the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival was a good way to spend a hot summer night on a Friday. It's good to see an event like this going on well in the Raleigh-Durham Triangle area and I hope it keeps coming back each year.

Hey, look at me!

2011-07-13T11:12:00.028-04:00

It's been a while since I posted about auto racing or motorsports. Long enough that I am really starting to miss blogging about it. I've been busy with running events lately but I still make the time to watch the races and keep up with my favorite series - Formula One and Indycar.

The IndyCar Series in particular has made a stellar comeback since landing Randy Bernard as CEO last year. The races are better, the schedule is better, the TV coverage on Versus is the best ever and the big sponsors are slowly coming back to the series. These are all signs of life I've been looking for since the late 90's as IRL/IndyCar/Champ Car's light dimmed.

I am so excited about IndyCar's comeback that I'll be heading up to Baltimore on Labor Day weekend to check out the new Baltimore Grand Prix doubleheader weekend featuring the American Le Mans Series and IndyCar Series plus several other support events. A friend and I have already ordered our tickets which include weekend paddock passes.

Generally as a race fan, I really enjoy the paddock walks and weekend access. Paddock passes give you as a fan - more access to the cars, the teams and the drivers. While I try not geek out over meeting a driver or racing celebrity, I do like to chat with them as a normal person and often ask for a photo as my own souvenir. A lot of fans seek out autographs which I too rarely turn down the chance to get but a photo is a better memory of a fun day at the track in my book. That said, I thought I would post a self-indulgent post showing some of my collection of photos taken at races where I met drivers or other racing personalities that you may have heard of.

Let's hope Baltimore promoters put on a good weekend on Labor Day and that our $55 paddock passes get us up close with some of the weekend's cars and stars.

IndyCar Champions Jimmy Vasser and Juan Pablo Montoya at the 2000 Indy 500 won by Juan the following weekend.

3 time Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser and me at the yard of bricks at the 2000 Indy 500. Like my fanny pack?

Former IndyCar, Grand Am and Le Mans driver, current NASCAR driver Max Papis at the Grand Prix of St Petersburg

Former Formula One, Grand Am and IndyCar driver/owner, Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever at GP of St Petersburg

4 time Champ Car champion, Formula One driver, current Le Mans and IndyCar driver Sebastian Bourdais at Grand Prix of St Petersburg

Indy 500 winner, 3 time IndyCar champion and current team owner Bobby Rahal at Richmond International

IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay at Champ Car Grand Prix of Montreal

Former Formula One and NASCAR driver Scott Speed in Indianapolis after the 2006 US Grand Prix

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick answering a question I asked her at private event in Richmond. Never have been able to get a photo with her or an autograph because of all the fan attention she gets.

IndyCar driver Graham Rahal at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

IndyCar media legend and hater Robin Miller at Mid-Ohio

Grand Am winner, Le Mans, IndyCar and NASCAR driver Milka Duno at Virginia International Raceway.

NASCAR legend and 2 time champion Ned Jarrett in Charlotte

Grand Am Champion driver Scott Pruett at Virginia International Raceway

IndyCar Champion and AMLS driver Tony Kanaan at Road Atlanta

American Le Mans driver Luiz Diaz and IndyCar/Champ Car/AMLS driver/owner Adrian Fernandez

American Le Mans Series Champions, Grand Am drivers Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas at VIR

AMLS driver Simon Pagenaud and Gil de Ferran, former IndyCar driver and Indy 500 winner at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

IndyCar/AMLS driver Scott Speed and Le Mans driver David Brabham at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Grand Am driver Memo Rojas at VIR

and last...Michelle with IndyCar driver, 3 time Indy 500 winner (and Dancing with the Stars champion) Helio Castroneves at Mid-Ohio

Bikes, beer and so much more

2011-06-28T11:48:00.006-04:00

The day finally came this past weekend when New Belgium Brewery's Tour de Fat graced the Triangle as their first stop of the 13 city annual tour to spread bicycle cheer. If you haven't noticed, I've blogged a bit lately about the event as the date approached for the Durham event on the American Tobacco Campus. It was a big deal to promote Tour de Fat through social media utilizing a grassroots approach since its free to attend and all proceeds raised were to go to several local charities including Triangle Spokes Group.

As avid bike2beer beercyclists, my wife and I were onboard early on and many of our friends showed up for the ride and/or the post-ride festival at Diamond View Park. I volunteered for the early shift to help get arriving cyclists signed up for the parade ride and to than help lead or marshal the 4 mile parade around downtown Durham. As the 10:00am start time approached, the crowd of cyclists grew quickly and by 9:45am, Blackwell Street had swelled full of cyclists. I could already tell that the parade had attracted far more riders than New Belgium or Triangle Spokes Group had anticipated. Five motorcycle officers from the Durham Police Department were onsite to lead the parade and close intersections as the parade would pass.

We rolled out shortly after 10am and as we headed down Durham's Main Street, it was amazing to see the long line of riders that stretched from one end to the other. I helped lead the parade and dropped back to take photos and usher riders to the right lane. I don't think enough riders realized that the roads were not closed in both directions. As we approached Duke's East campus, the parade had stretched out to a point that the police were having trouble covering all the intersections that needed closed. The ride continued down 9th Street and onto Markham St. where we made the call to pause the parade to bunch everyone together and give the officers a chance to rest and catch up. That worked out well and we were off again headed towards are next big turn on Washington St. for the hill past the historic Durham Bulls Park and back to downtown. As we followed the downtown loop back to ATC, I stopped at the train tracks to take in the parade as a spectator and hang out on the tracks for a bit. The parade had been a huge success and now it was time for some fun at the festival.

The unofficial count and estimate of riders in the parade was 500-600. There were at least 400 registered and that probably does not include New Belgium employees or the many riders who did not register but rode anyways. Registration was simply signing a waiver, no payment was due; though donations were accepted. Based on those numbers alone, New Belgium was happy to report that Durham was the largest showing for a first year TdF city ever! (in it's four year history) It seems that would good enough to guarantee their return next year.

My recommendation for 2012 would be to either have the route closed off or double the amount of officers brought on to close intersections. Perhaps using patrol cars to lead the parade and control the pace with motorcycle officers ahead to close the intersections. That said, the Durham officers did an outstanding job last weekend leading and controlling the parade. One of them told me how much they enjoy doing events like this. I hope they got to enjoy a little of the festival that followed.

The festival itself kicked off with beers and cups of H2O available from New Belgium. The beer tents were pouring 1554, Ranger, Fat Tire, Somersault and Mothership Wit. Just like Clips of Faith and many beer festivals out west, each token purchased gets you one beer. I like this method.

Now for the entertainment...WOW! What an amazing collection of shows, games and interactive displays?! There was almost no way to see and do everything but I know a lot of people tried. The main stage at live bands and even a Dating Game featuring folks from the audience including the lovely Hop_Zilla in her New Belgium bottle cap helmet and a buddy of mine - Troy - a fellow beercyclist and mountain biking madman from Raleigh. Fellow beer bloggers from Craft Beer Collective and Geistbear Brewing Blog were there plus all the regional Beer Rangers from New Belgium. How do I get that job anyway?

It was also great to see lots of folks from McKinney - the Durham based advertising firm from across street that were there too. There were also dozens of people I recognized from Big Boss Run Club and the Team on Draft and TriBeer Meetup groups in both the ride and on the lawn at the festival.

The bike pit was friggin awesome with dozens of bizarre bicycles you could test ride in the grassy enclosed area. I gave a few of them a try including the Fat Tire bike and some recliner bike. I probably should have tried the bikes BEFORE I had 4 Ranger IPAs, ha!

One of my favorite shows I saw was the end of the side show on stage where the grand finale was a guy juggling a running chainsaw (with a blade on it), an egg and a bowling ball. Don't believe me? Watch the video I shot below.

Here are some additional links to photos and blogs about Tour de Fat that I have come across.

Craft Beer Collective

Triangle

News and Observer
The Herald-Sun
Food, Sweat and Beers
Durham Magazine

All I can say is that I CANNOT wait until next year when Tour de Fat hopefully returns to Durham. Until than, if you have the chance, check out one of the remaining 12 cities on the 2011 tour.

Huh? What is Tour de Fat?

2011-06-23T14:20:00.005-04:00

In New Belgium's own words: What would a Bike and Beer festival be without a bike ride? Simple: just another beer festival. One of the most integral elements to the TDF’s atmosphere and message come through crowd participation. Each Tour de Fat greets its attendees first and foremost with a morning bike parade. Our Parade’s focus is to bring bike lovers together to make new friends and enjoy themselves without the fast-paced, overly serious feel of races. This will be a slow ride with many stops for photos, tying shoelaces, sightseeing, bell ringing, etc. Stopping to smell the roses is ENCOURAGED. Kids need to learn this early, and so do many parents. No matter what town, this parade is open to road, mountain, cruiser, and family riders. Our only pre-requisites that all riders come prepared to have fun, and decorate either their bicycles, or themselves! Costumes are enthusiastically encouraged.

In my own words: Bikes, Beer. Duh.

Tour de Fat Durham Pre-game

2011-06-22T14:13:00.006-04:00

Just a quick post to pass on some details for Saturday's New Belgium Tour de Fat event happening in Durham from 10am-4pm. Be there early to sign-up for the ride and note that the event is taking place on the large, grassy area between Blackwell Street and the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) known as Diamond View Park. see maps below

There will also be a pre-party event happening at Tyler's Taproom in Durham. New Belgium will be hosting the Joy Ride from 7-10pm on Thursday.

Most of the details I have are posted in my previous post. I can confirm that enough volunteers were signed up for Saturday so big thanks to everyone who will be out there helping out. Remember all proceeds from this event (ie. donations, beer and merchandise sales) will go to four selected local charities! Those charities are The North Carolina Active Transportation Alliance, The Triangle Spokes Group, The Durham Bike Co-Op and The Durham Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC).

Below are maps of the 4 mile parade route for the ride and the layout for the Tour de Fat carnival that follows

See you there!

Tour de Fat headed to Durham!!

2011-06-13T15:51:00.002-04:00

Last Fall, I blogged about the Clips of Faith film festival that New Belgium Brewery brought to downtown Raleigh and how it benefited a local charity that buys new bikes for kids in need. Along with Clips of Faith, New Belgium also hosts several other tours that travel from city to city across the US to spread beers and cheers. The event that I consider to be the biggest, most kick-ass of them all is Tour de Fat - a traveling festival that hits 13 cites nationwide during the summer to spread the good word about the bicycle as a mode of transportation. While vacationing in San Francisco last fall, we missed the festival by a day as it was happening in Golden Gate Park while we are on our way to Seattle. The Tour de Fat is a combination bike parade, beer festival and carnival all rolled into one family friendly and fun event.

Than over the winter, I learned that New Belgium was considering bringing their festival to North Carolina for a stop in either Charlotte or the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). As an avid craft beer drinker, Asst. Organizer of Tri-Beer and Bike2Beer cyclist, I was invited to participate in a round table planning discussion with the folks from New Belgium who were in town to check out the area. We had a great meeting and I felt good that New Belgium would make the right choice and select either Raleigh or Durham for the event. In the end, they did and Durham is now the first stop on the 13 city tour this summer. Tour de Fat 2011 will launch at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham on Saturday, June 25th from 10am - 4p.

Besides promoting bicycling, the coolest part about Tour de Fat is that New Belgium funds the entire festival and donates the proceeds from beer and merchandise sales to selected local charities that support alternative transportation; namely the lovely bicycle. Each Tour de Fat festival stop starts with a bicycle parade open to ALL cyclists of all ages on all types of bicycles. The event is free to attend and participate in - wearing unusual costumes and riding unusual bicycles is encouraged! Following the four mile parade ride on the American Tobacco Trail, the festival than gets started with live music, New Belgium beer and a zany circus-like atmosphere.

One of the local charities that will benefit from Tour de Fat Durham is the Triangle Spokes Group - the same awesome charity that organized and benefited from Clips of Faith Raleigh. Triangle Spokes Group's mission is to purchase new bicycles for need-worthy children each Christmas season that would likely not receive them otherwise. Their co-founder and a friend of mine - Rich Nowalk again contacted me to help spread the word about the TdF Festival and solicit volunteers to help work at the event. They need approximately 50 volunteers from the area to help out with a variety of tasks on June 25. I've already volunteered as a bike marshal for the parade ride so I encourage you to volunteer your time as well. Volunteers receive a free t-shirt, free beer and the satisfaction of helping out with a kick-ass event that benefits the community. As of last Friday, they still needed 30 more volunteers.

For you road cyclists, TdF encourages you to ride from home to the festival in Durham and leave the car at home. As an avid beercyclist, I wholeheartedly agree!

No advance tickets or registration is required to participate, just show up early and register for the 10am ride/parade.

More info is available at the following links or you can just click HERE to volunteer and sign up now.

New Belgium Tour de Fat

Tour de Fat Durham

Triangle Spokes Group Announcement

Share / RSVP on Facebook Events

New Belgium Facebook Events calendar listing

New Belgium Tour de Fat video on YouTube

Birthday Beerrun

2011-05-31T13:01:00.000-04:00

So after running the InsideOut Sports Classic Half Marathon last Sunday, my normal routine would be to take a day or two off from running before easing back into the mileage. Instead, last week seemed like the perfect week to do back to back to back beerruns and support my local craft brewers that are hosting weekly runs around the Raleigh-Durham Triangle area. My legs actually felt great come Tuesday thanks to my spring training plan and racing primarily on dirt during the half marathon distance.

I decided to take on the challenge of running the Big Boss Run Club, the Fullsteam Ahead! Run Club and finishing by racing the new Natty Greene's Foxhunt 5k on Thursday which was the night before my birthday.

I started with a 3.1 mile run at Big Boss on Tuesday and ran with a friend - Rich who is training for the New York City Marathon this fall. Rich is one of the founders of Triangle Spokes Group - a great local charity I have blogged about before and will be writing about again really soon. My legs felt great after the run and the Big Boss D'Icer pint tasted great.

The next evening, I headed over to Durham for a run at Fullsteam Brewery. This was my second time running with Bull City Running at Fullsteam and I went with the 4.2 mile run that circled downtown and Duke's east campus. It was in the low 90's so by the time I made it back to the brewery, I was drenched in sweat. Luckily, I made it back fairly quickly and didn't have to wait long for a pour of their seasonal Summer Basil farmhouse ale and a slice of pizza from Pie Pushers - a sweet little food trailer serving up the Durham food truck scene.

Thursday night, I joined some friends from the Big Boss Run Club and a fellow beerrunner from LoneRider Brewing for the Foxhunt 5k at Natty Greene's Brewpub and Restaurant in downtown Raleigh. This was an official race with timing, closed streets and beer at the finish. Natty Greene's also hosts the Old Town Draught House Beerun that I have run the past two years in Greensboro. The temperatures were up again but I felt great and fairly hydrated at the start. Following a similar format to the old SkirtChaser 5k series, the ladies started first at 7pm than the guys lined up for a 7:03 start. The goal is to catch the ladies including the fox, a single runner who started up front. When we guys took off running, I started much faster than I would normally start a 10k or half marathon but still considerably slower than many of the other guys around me. The first mile was mostly uphill following Hillsborough Street to the first roundabout so I was surprised to pass the first mile mark at 7:06! After the initial start, no one ever passed me as I pushed myself past some of the guys and than some ladies all the way back to the finish. As I came round the final turn to the finish, I was actually alone and could hear more than just Michelle yelling my name. She had rounded up a group of friends to come surprise me at the finish and share a beer. It was really cool to have those guys and gals there for me as I crossed the finish.

In the end, my 5k time was 23:04 which is officially a new 5k PR for me beating my time from the Second Empire 5k that I ran in the same area of Raleigh in September 2007! It also gets me close to my 5k times from high school when I was about 35 lbs lighter than I am now.

My next goal is to break my 10k PR from November 2003 and I am hoping to do it at the Historic Beaufort 10k in July. It's a flat race but its likely to be burning hot like last year so we'll see if I am up to the challenge. In the meantime, come out for a run or a walk with me and the crew at Big Boss Brewery any Tuesday night this summer. Cheers!

Spring Half Marathon...Done!

2011-05-25T13:30:00.003-04:00

Over the winter, my lovely wife Michelle decided she wanted to run a half marathon this spring. While I was mostly slacking in December and January, she was running on the treadmill and occasionally outside in the cold. It turned out that she was looking at running a few distance races in the coming months - a decision she made on her own with no pressure or even suggestion from me.

She started by running (but not eating) the 4 mile Krispy Kreme Challenge back in February. It's a run I have done twice in the past and it's certainly not a run for slackers considering its got a bunch of hills along the out and back downtown Raleigh course. She ran that in the pouring rain without issue and than joined me to run the Old Town Draught House 5 miler in March. We both than ran the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k in April and targeted the InsideOut Sports Classic Half Marathon in May. I certainly give Michelle full credit for this plan as I have been a fall marathon runner for the past 6 years and struggled to motivate to run anything further than a 10k before September. I've also never run much in Umstead State Park where the IOS Classic takes place.

It all changed this late winter and spring as I ran regularly alone and with the Mrs during our training for the 13.1 mile distance. I am in better shape this spring than I have ever been this time of year as a runner.

This past weekend was race weekend in Cary where the IOS Classic starts and finishes. The race is an out and back 13.1 taking runners into Umstead Park and back along the Black Creek Greenway and Lake Crabtree. It ended up being a great morning weather-wise though a bit hotter than most runners would prefer. The 9 miles or so of the run through the park was just beautiful and one of the most peaceful races I have ever run. The lack of spectators was made up for by the awesome volunteers at the water stops throughout the park. I found running on dirt and crushed gravel was also a lot more forgiving to my leg muscles and knees than all my previous races on pavement.

In the end, I finished with my second best half marathon time to date with a time of 1:48:11 while Michelle finished within her goal as well having run the entire distance mostly smiling to the finish. I am very proud of her for this big accomplishment and have to thank her as well for motivating me to run a spring half marathon for the first time.

Shout out to my friend Betsy who I met the weekend of the 2009 Marine Corps Marathon. She is a fellow beerrunner in Connecticut and supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. I recently received a shipment of canned beers from New England Brewing Company where she volunteers and enjoyed a few of them at the finish line Sunday.

I'm now looking at half marathons to run this fall since I didn't get into the NYC Marathon via lottery again this year. That will most likely not happen until 2013. Carpe viam (Seize the road)!

Grand Am Series In The Wet

2011-05-17T12:37:00.002-04:00

If you follow my blog or know me, than you know I love Virginia International Raceway and go there a lot. While VIR offers a variety of activities to get folks to visit throughout they year, I generally end up there as a spectator. This past weekend was the annual Bosch 250, which brings the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series to the historic track for a usually exciting race that features many of the same cars and drivers that compete each January in the legendary Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. Along with the Rolex Series, the Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and the SCCA Trans Am Series were also there to race. This was the first year I recall that the race weekend was in May, having been in late April for the past number of years. Originally, Grand Am raced in the fall at VIR before eventually moving both races to the spring. Looking back through my old galleries, it looks like Trans Am first raced there in 2002 and Grand Am in 2003. That's a lot of professional sports car racing over the years at VIR.

This past Saturday, the Mrs and I rode up to VIR for the day. It's just a little over an hour's drive from Raleigh. We had to drive our Subaru Outback as I broke a spark plug wire on the MINI Friday night and wasn't able to get the repair part in time for Saturday. However, having the Subaru worked out great once the weather turned wet at the track later in the day.

We arrived before the start of the CTS race and got to walk the paddock area as I normally do. Most of the Grand Am teams Rolex Series teams were prepping their cars for the next race and the CTS cars were already on the track. VIR is a unique place to spectate as a standard ticket gets you access to the paddock area all weekend long including the ability to walk along pit road and view the pits from outside the fence during the race. For most other race series and venues, this would be a very limited privilege with a high price tag attached. While strolling by, I saw Memo Rojas, the co-driver for the Team Telmex Ganassi race team walking away from his hauler. Memo has co-driven with Scott Pruett to many race wins and championships over the past several years.

We decided to drive over to turn 14, also known as the Oak Tree turn (top picture) to watch the first race and were lucky enough to find a pull thru spot with a view of the entire south end of the course. This worked out great because as the rain sprinkles came and eventually the pouring rain for the start of the second race, we were able to sit in the back of the car with the hatch open and stay dry.

Since I know what sells tickets (wrecks and grid girls), I have to mention that the CTS race included a spectacular single car end over end crash by a race driver in a Porsche Boxster. It happened right in front of us at the approach to the turn. From the in car video below, you can see the driver got off track and hit a hole in the wet infield before turning backwards into the wall. Luckily, he walked away though his Porsche was pretty beat up.

The Bosch 250 started under caution due to the heavy rain showers but it was pretty awesome to see the Daytona Prototypes come round the turn spraying rooster tails of moisture out from their rear ends. After a bit, we moved to the Roller Coaster turns near the end of the course to watch the cars come up and over the hill that leads through a winding downhill portion of track. Believe it or not, I have never been to this part of the track before as a spectator. Again, we backed the Subaru right up to the edge of the fence and watched the race with others as the Rolex cars got to racing.

For the finish, we drove over to the top of the hill in turn 4. This is my normal place to watch a race at VIR and good place to be at the finish. There are often big passes between turns 2-5 and its also close walking distance to winner's circle. In the end, Action Express Racing took the win with Team Ganassi a close second. The win by Action Express earned them an extra $25k bonus from Grand Am who had placed a 'bounty'on Team Ganassi who has dominated the series since last fall. Ironically, one of the Action Express drivers - JC France, is a member of the France family who owns NASCAR and the Grand Am Series. Just saying...

Here are a couple more shots I took from winner's circle with the trophies going to the top 3 DP and GT teams. This years pictures aren't what I have shot in the past but only because I didn't take my SLR camera. I made do with my point-in-shoot Canon.

Not sure if I will make it back out to VIR to spectate this year but I am considering their annual holiday charity laps event in November. It would be nice to drive the MINI on track again but in the dry. Cheers.

Big Boss Run Club Launch

2011-05-13T21:33:00.002-04:00

This past Tuesday night, some new friends and I held the first weekly beerrun at Big Boss Brewing Company in Raleigh. Dubbed the Big Boss Run Club, we plan to meet at 7 PM on Tuesday nights at Big Boss all summer long for a run and post-run beers on the patio.

Our first run was a 5k distance out and back along the Raleigh Greenway that parallels Crabtree Creek - a portion of greenway I often run during marathon training season and bike during Bike2Beer rides. There was a total of 47 runners who signed in for the first night and we could not have been happier with the turnout.

The Big Boss Taproom is being kind enough to offer a weekly special for our group which will usually be a selected pint of Big Boss beer for $3. This week it was Blanco Diablo Wit ale. As things get going, we are hoping to set up a few incentives to award people for coming out regularly (ie. glassware, shirts etc.) and that once the City of Raleigh works out their differences with food trucks, we'll be able to get some grub onsite to go with the fine beers.

I met fellow Big Boss Run Club organizers Win and Ben recently at a Fullsteam Run Club run in Durham and jumped at the chance to help them get a run club going at Big Boss in Raleigh. We chose 7pm on Tuesdays for the runs since its tough for a lot of people like us to make it out before than. Another interesting fact I learned this week as well - Ben and our fourth organizer - Greg were two of the original founding runners of the Krispy Kreme Challenge. If you aren't familiar with the KKC, check out my posts from 2009 and 2010 on the Raleigh event now known nationwide.

Please join the new Big Boss Run Club Group on Facebook to stay connected on upcoming news related to the weekly runs or visit Big Boss online for details about the runs and directions to the brewery. You can also email me at racephan@nc.rr.com with any questions or comments about upcoming runs.

Triangle Area Beerruns

2011-05-06T11:42:00.004-04:00

As you know I like running and I like beer. Okay, I looove them. One of my favorite ways to combine the two is to go out for a long, hot, sweaty run and cool off afterward with a pint or two of craft beer. This includes solo runs, group runs and races. If you promote your race by offering beer at the finish, preferably local or craft beer; I am your runner. Yeah, I also appreciate the big events that serve macro beers from one of the big three but please, stop with the low-calorie watered down stuff. We just ran 13 miles, I think we can take the caloric content of a standard macro-lager.

Lately, the Triangle area of NC where I reside has seen has seen a huge growth in craft beer while continuing to host a large population of runners and run/walkers. We have 12 craft breweries and brew pubs that make up 14 locations. There are dozens of beer bars and restaurants across Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Hillsborough and Chapel Hill that each offer something unique.

Taking advantage of these great places to grab a pint are folks from all ages and walks of life including the Triangle running community. There is no question about it - runners drink beer.

This spring and summer, there are more organized beer runs popping up in the Triangle than ever before. Now I don't want to confuse beerrunning with hashing. Typically, beerrun means going for a run than having a beer afterward. This is the focus of my post. I wanted to highlight several of the regular beerruns in the Triangle below and hope to get more runners drinking craft beer while also getting more craft beer drinkers out on group runs or walks. I've participated in some of these runs and plan to be out for more of them in the coming months. There are also more organized road races in the area than ever before. Some of them are offering beers at the finish and that is always a plus. Check out the listing and I hope to see you there.

Nog Run Club

Monday nights weekly at 6 PM

Tir Na nOg Irish Pub - 218 South Blount Street Raleigh, NC 27601

more info available at Nog Run Club or Facebook Groups

Ordinary Beer Run
Monday nights weekly at 6:15 PM
1750 Ordinary - 6490 Tryon Rd Cary, NC 27518
more info available at FSSeries

Big Boss Run Club
Tuesday nights weekly at 7 PM, starting May 10th

Big Boss Brewery - 1249 Wicker Drive Raleigh, NC 27604

more info available at Facebook Events or TriBeer

Fullsteam Ahead! Run Club

Wednesday nights weekly at 6 PM

Fullsteam Brewery 726 Rigsbee Avenue Durham, NC 27701

more info available at Bull City Running Co.

Dos Taquitos Centro Miercoles Margarita Run

Wednesday nights at 6 PM

106 S. Wilmington St. Raleigh, NC 27601

more info available at Dos Taquitos Centro

NC Roadrunners Club Summer Social Series

Thursday nights weekly

Location and time changes monthly - more info available at NC Roadunners Club

Natty Greene's Foxhunt 5k

Thursday, May 26 at 7 PM

more info available at FSSeries

If you know of any other beerruns or events coming up this summer, email the info my way or ping me on twitter. Cheers!

Hickory Hops

2011-04-26T11:51:00.006-04:00

This post below is a repost of a submission I made to Craft Beer Collective - a friend's blog that covers the NC craft beer scene. While no racing, biking or running was involved, I was happy with the way a lot of the photos came out from the day. I thought I would share the post here including the photos selected for publication by Craft Beer Collective.

A group of us made the trip to Hickory, North Carolina last weekend for the 9th annual Hickory Hops Beer Festival. While the weather forecast was looking sketchy for the day, by the time we arrived to town, the skies had cleared and the rain had passed. Little did we know that significant storms with tornadoes would soon be moving into Raleigh where we had just come from.

We made it into the festival after pre-gaming at the Hickory Mellow Mushroom for a bit filling up on pizza and pints. As expected, the festival was jam packed with NC breweries and a few other southern breweries from SC, GA and even TN. We started with Pisgah Brewing and worked our way through the festival tents with the occasional break to enjoy the bands playing on stage throughout the 6 hour festival.

Highlights of beers and breweries that stood out to us included newcomers Nantahala Brewing‘s Noon Day IPA, Loe’s Brewing Chocolate Stout XS and Birdsong Brewing‘s Saison. Out of the established breweries, we couldn’t get enough of Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery. Apparently, the judges couldn’t either. The day also includes the Carolina Championship of Beer which happened in the morning. Medals and plaques were given to brewery winners in many categories of beer styles. Liberty seems to have easily won the most medals and they drew us back to their booth 3 times for their various timed releases throughout the day including several fantastic sours and their Black IPA.

One of our local favorites from the Triangle, Aviator Brewing made their first visit to Hickory Hops and won 5 medals for their various styles of brew. Surprisingly, HogWild IPA was not one of them! The Olde Hickory Brewery had a full line-up of their brews including a special Imperial Stout with honey that clocked in at 10.5 ABV. Natty Greene’s Brewery had several special brews for the day including a Barrel-aged version of their Black Powder Stout and Anniversary Sour which took home the Best in Show award. Sadly, while Pisgah Brewing also won a medal for their Bacon Stout, it was not available for tasting.

It was also great to visit with the brewers at several of my favorite NC breweries including Carl at Wedge Brewery, Josh at Mother Earth Brewery, Mark at Aviator Brewery and Paul at Duck-Rabbit Brewery.
By the end of the day, we managed to visit and sample nearly every brewery booth at the festival. Cheers to Hickory Hops and NC craft beer for a tremendous day.

Craft Beer Collective contributor @beerandracing – a NC craft beer fanatic, motorsports junkie and avid runner. Author of Beer and Racing. Operator of Bike 2 Beer.

Bike 2 Beer and (Larry's) Beans

2011-04-12T13:19:00.006-04:00

On Saturday, we went for our first bike ride of the year dubbed the Bike 2 Beer n Beans. Two friends joined us for the 10 mile ride to Larry's Beans coffee roaster near downtown Raleigh for their open house and tour. It's an event I had been wanting to do since last year and I was able to get us on the list for their April tour. I figured it would be a good way to start the B2B season early since Larry's also has Big Boss Brewing beer at their tours given their partnership with the local Raleigh brewery. Larry's beans are used to make the Aces + Ates coffee stout that comes out each winter from Big Boss.

Our ride to Larry's got off to a late start so we had to crank it to get there in time for their 11:30am start. We arrived just as Larry and his colleague Kevin were introducing themselves and the operation to the crowd of over 100 people. The tour than split up into two groups as we first learned about their many methods of environmentally responsible operation including use of 100% bio-diesel fuel to run their delivery bus, rain water collection system for flushing toilets, and windows that allow less use of electric lighting. The second part of the tour took us in the roasting and packaging house to learn about the process of preparing the many types of beans they use. The final portion of our tour included a tasting of fresh coffee made from three distinct beans and to sample the differences between the three.

In between the two sessions, Larry's gifted us with a nice selection of finger food from Neomonde Deli in Raleigh. We love Neomonde food so it was an awesome addition to the tour. By the end of the tasting, having also had 2 cups of coffee upon our arrival, I was pretty hyped up on caffeine which made it the perfect time to switch to beer to bring me down.

Larry's broke out draft beer from Big Boss and I started the afternoon with a pint or two of Bad Penny Brown and Angry Angel Kolsch. Thanks guys!

We departed Larry's and headed over to Five Points to scope our next stop. We settled on Lily's Pizza and I went with a Bell's Two-Hearted bottle which was poured into a frosty glass. Booo! Lily's is a hipster pizza and draft joint so the beer selection mostly reflected that. I did spy some French Broad Brewing bombers in the cooler but went with a 16 oz bottle for this stop. Lily's could benefit from adding a few local taps to their draft selection. The pizza is pretty good though Lynnwood Grill's is better (a future stop for a Bike 2 Beer ride I am sure).

Heading home from Lily's, we stopped in Crabtree Tavern behind Crabtree Mall. It's conveniently located right off the Crabtree Greenway. I went with a local brew this time - a pint of Aviator Brewing's Hot Rod Red. This was their first beer release when the brewery opened their original location at the Fuquay airfield and it has improved mightily since than.

We than departed Crabtree and rode the last 4 miles back to the barn. 20 miles, 3-4 cups of coffee, some education, 3-4 beers. Not a bad way to get back in the saddle for 2011.

Bridge Run weekend in the lowcountry

2011-04-08T11:42:00.004-04:00

Guess what? This past weekend, we ran and drank beer. Nothing new I know but this time we were down in Charleston, SC for the Cooper Bridge Run. It was a little spring time getaway for the Mrs and I to explore the up and coming Charleston beer and food scene while finally running the annual 10k race from Mt Pleasant into downtown. Our fellow beer knurd friends Dave and Hoey from Raleigh were also in town for the Furthur Festival and to partake in the beer scene as well.

We stayed in an old row house not far off King Street that we booked a room in for the 3 day weekend. It ended up being a great stay and couldn't have been a more convenient location in relation to the race and historic Charleston's offerings.

Race day came on Saturday morning and the weather was absolutely perfect. The wind that had whipped through the city all week died down and the sun came up well before the 8am start. As expected, the crowds at the start and throughout the race were insane. Estimates were that 40,000 runners and walkers took to the start with thousands more crowding the streets cheering in downtown Charleston.

All in all, we both had a good race though the challenge of running around and through hundreds if not thousands of walkers and slower runners for the 6.2 miles was daunting. Kudos to race organizers for switching to a wave start with corrals this year but shame on the folks who lied about their predicted pace or snuck into corrals up front that they had no business being in. Despite the crowds, my time was within 3 minutes of my 10k PR that I set back in 2003. I would love to run this race again and start closer to the front, I think a new 10k PR would be doable considering the majority of the race is flat. Running up the bridge was challenging but no more so than the hills we regularly run in Raleigh. The bridge's downhill and flat finish more than rewarded us for the run up the other side.

As she did in Greensboro, Michelle did a great job running her first 10k distance. She managed to run the entire distance and maintained her pace to finish within her targeted time. I was very proud of her for making it look so easy. The goal of running a half marathon this spring is looking promising right now.

Our post-run celebration quickly moved from Madison Square to Closed 4 Business on King St. C4B is a new craft beer bar and restaurant that we quickly became fans of upon our arrival to Charleston. They really serve up some great local and national brands of brew. Following lunch and pints at C4B, we headed over to The Griffon, another older bar in Charleston that also serves up craft beer on tap and bottle. After another round or three with the guys, we headed back to the house for some rest.

Along with the run and tasty meals around town, we also found time to visit three Charleston area craft breweries. Our first night in town took us out to Coast Brewing in North Charleston and Westbrook Brewing in Mt Pleasant. We had heard a lot about Coast but nothing about Westbrook being that they are so new. Both offered tasty brews that we really enjoyed. We sampled 4 beers at Coast and 6 at Westbrook. Our favorite beer of the night was predictably the HopArt IPA at Coast though their All Simcoe Pale and Milk Stouts were particularly awesome as well. It was good to chat with the owners and brewers at Coast - good folks who just love good beer. We got to Westbrook pretty late after the tour hours were ending but we still got to the bar for a quick word with the bar manager and a peek in the massive brewhouse. They definitely have a future ahead of them.

Saturday evening, we headed out to Folly Beach for the heck of it. No idea what we would get into but as we pulled into town, I noticed a sign along Center St that said Brew Pub. After exploring Folly a bit, we walked over to the Brew Pub to check things out. Turns out, we were at Folly Beach Brewing Company and it didn't take long for me to meet one of the owners and brewers, Andy introduced himself and showed me around the "brew house." Folly Beach Brewing is likely the smallest brewery I will ever see as its only a step above a lot of my friend's home brewing operations.

Andy was very cool, explained that they recently ran out of beer and would have more ready in a week or two. Given the size of their operation, that was totally understandable. He mentioned that they make a lot of IPAs and that their hefeweizen is very popular. Even though they were out of their own brew, the bar had a great selection of craft brew taps and a cold box of bottles to choose from. Andy broke out a couple specialties he wanted to share with us and the day continued into the evening. It didn't take us long to become fans of Folly Beach and I predict a return visit for a longer stay real soon.

All and all, another great weekend of beer and racing with the Mrs and friends. Charleston is definitely a great spot for enjoying both.

Beerun 11

2011-03-30T12:41:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Michelle and I headed over to Greensboro for the 2011 Old Town Beerun (spelled with one 'r'). I ran this race last year with a friend while Michelle and my friend's husband watched. This year, Michelle ran the 5 miler with me while our same friends watched. I just got back to running several weeks ago after taking the majority of the winter off while she has been running in preparation of her first 10k next month and a half marathon later this spring.

Just like last year, the weather in Greensboro was awesome for a mid-March run. It was sunny and warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt. My run went fairly well and I managed to finish about 1:15 minutes faster than last year but about 2:30 minutes slower than the 5 miler I ran on Turkey Day. I had forgotten how many long rolling hills there were on the Beerun and I was concerned how Michelle would do on them as she ran behind me. To my delight, she powered through them all and finished her first 5 mile race under an hour. On top of her time and finish, she looked good at the finish and even let me convince her to have a pint of brew. Old Town Draught House, the event's host which is somehow connected or owned by Natty Green's Brewery served up three of Natty's tasty year-round craft beers, two pints per person at the finish for every 5 miler runner.

Unfortunately, nearly two weeks after the run, our names and times are not confirmed on the Beerun's results at bigfootrunning.com. I have an email in to them about it hoping they update the results but have received no response from them so far.

If you're a runner in the NC Piedmont area, check out Beerun 12 next March and come out for the race. Cheers.

2010 in the rear-view: A year of beer and racing

2011-01-12T15:23:00.020-05:00

As 2011 is getting started, I thought I would take a belated look back on 2010 and my accomplishments as a runner. In the past, I have reviewed the year as a motorsports fan but as the focus of my blog has shifted from that of a race fan to more of a focus on beer and racing, it only seems appropriate.

In 2010, I started the year having come off a successful marathon run in October 2009 finishing 30 minutes faster than my previous marathon with a new, sub 4 hour PR for 26.2 miles. In February, I again ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge sick but with no intention of challenging to eat the 12 donuts this time. I had planned to run the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon the following week but that was a failure on two accounts. I was sick as a dog and the race was snowed out. Even without the snow, I had decided the day before to skip the race at my Doctor's orders. Not a good way to start the year running but looking back, it was more an end to an otherwise successful year or 2009 season of running.

Moving on into March, without any for certain plans for the year, I ran the St Patrick's Day Run Green 8k in Raleigh. It was a race I was ill prepared for but none the less, I finished and had kicked off the running year earlier than ever. Two weeks later, I ran the Old Town Draught House 5 miler Beerrun in Greensboro with a decent finish and two pints of local craft brew included. My participation and blog post on this race led to my being interviewed by the Draft Magazine Beerrunner which was published on their site.

April was intentionally a slow month for me with no races as I needed to recover from my cold that lasted all winter. This was probably due to running outside in the cold - something my Doctor has since told me to give up. My health made a recovery in time for me to compete with my team that I had organized to compete in the Doughman Durham - a charity event that is the only relay eating quadrathon in the world. Together with my team of 3 friends, we finished the eat-bike-eat-run-swim-eat-run-eat-run event in 12th place overall out of 70+ teams. Our enjoyment was short lived though as we were disqualified the following day for a traffic violation committed by myself. To this day, the facts and my dispute of them have never been addressed by race organizers however in the end, we had a blast competing and hope the event continues in Durham. While I cannot commit to organizing and registering a team again, I would love to race on another team that would have me.

June kicked off a very short triathlon season for Michelle and I as we both ran the Smile Train Triathlon again in Wake Forest. We both improved our overall finish times from 2009 despite being slower on the swim and run. The course was the same, the heat was the same but our training of those two disciplines in April-June was not as dedicated as 2009. Despite swallowing an entire beetle during my ride, I was able to improve on my time enough to PR the sprint tri distance.

In early June, we had spent a week on vacation in the Outer Banks and I ran every morning on the beach. While I have never been a beach runner, it seemed like it would be no problem since the sand is hard packed and mostly flat. I wore my running shoes with socks and expected it would be a great idea. My shortest run was 3 miles, my longest was 6 miles and during one of my runs on the 3rd or 4th day - I experienced a sudden, very painful inflammation in my left (my good) knee. The pain went away and didn't affect me the rest of June or July.

For July, Michelle and I ran the Historic Beaufort Road Race. She did the 5k while I ran the 10k (6.2 miles) just narrowly missing my 10K PR set in 2003 by about 90 sec. I already plan on running this fun, hot event again in July 2011.

Late July and August is when marathon training really gets going for me. My races for the fall would be the new Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon and the Richmond Marathon. With only 3 weeks between the 2 fall events, I had to be ready to go on my long runs in the first weeks of October. August was also very important because we were going on vacation out west in late September which would leave me little time for training. But than August became a nightmare.

The knee pain I had experienced in June came back with a vengeance. It was brutal and it wasn't going away. After several orthopedist visits, I learned it was caused by inflammation of my patella tendon and I would need to rehab my knee than add dynamic stretching and a foam roller to my pre and post run activity. Because of my knee, my training and mileage in August and September suffered greatly. There were two 8 day periods where I did not even run. In San Francisco, my knee hurt so bad the first 5 days we were there, I could not even run 3 steps. Luckily, walking and bicycling was fine so I was able to get around with Michelle as we explored the city and sampled many beers along the way. Moving on to Seattle, I ran the Fremont Brew Ha-Ha 5k while we were there and surprisingly, finished with a strong 23:25, 7:33/mile pace. Again, I narrowly missed a 5k PR that I set in 2006 by just 19 seconds.

The Brew Ha-Ha really boosted my spirits as I entered October, aka long run season. My runs got progressively better and my knee pain was going away as the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon approached. A friend and I started the race together, a redemption for our missing the other Myrtle Beach Half in February. Again, the finish was a second PR for me in 2010 with a time of 1:46:21 at a 8:06/mile pace. I had finally cracked my PR for the half that I set at Virginia Beach in 2007. I had wanted a sub 1:50 13.1 for three years.

With little time to go, I focused on running and keeping my knee pain free for Richmond. Race day came quite quickly as Michelle and I made the quick trip to town just the evening before. The second half of the race was a massive struggle for me just as I expected given my limited training running beyond 18 miles in 2010. In the end, I finished under 4 hours and only missing beating my 2009 marathon PR by less than 90 sec. Considering the ups and downs of the season, I was happy.

As the holidays rolled around, I decided to add one more race for the year, the Ridgewood Turkey Trot in Raleigh on Thanksgiving Day. Despite the cool weather, I joined about 3000 other people for NC's biggest Turkey Trot and finished with another 2010 PR. My 8k miler time was 38:32 with a 7:45/mile pace - a fantastic way to end the year.

For the year, I ran 10 races with 3 PRs, narrowly missing 3 more PRs. I logged 642 miles running and 378 miles biking. In October alone, I logged 100 miles running.

On top of running and competing in 2010, I also organized and lead two more Bike 2 Beer tours in Raleigh and Durham. Together with friends, we visited 3 craft beer breweries, 2 brewpubs and countless bars by bike logging nearly 50 miles between the two events. Michelle also led her own abbreviated all girl Halloween Bike 2 Beer tour again visiting our buddies at Big Boss Brewery as well as several craft beer bars in Raleigh. In San Francisco, we took our own Bike 2 Beer tour around the city, logging over 20 miles of hills and visited 2 brewpubs along the way.

Now that 2011 is here, I'm not sure what lies ahead but I would venture a guess that the year will include more travel, half marathons, PRs, beerrunning, Bike 2 Beer tours, auto racing and lots of dynamic stretching.

Carpe Viam

An Afternoon of Beer and Racing History in Hillsborough

2010-12-13T16:35:00.002-05:00

About 10 days ago, we had a free Saturday available and decided to ride over to Hillsborough for an afternoon of hiking with our dog Rocky and to check out a local pub. It was about this time last year that we first visited the old Occoneechee Speedway grounds so I decided to stop by there again to see how the place is looking. First though, we visited Occonechee Mountain State Nature Area and hiked the trail around the 'mountain' along the Eno River to the top. It was Rocky's longest hike with us so far and he seemed to enjoy the workout on a cool fall day as much as we did.

After a nice hot lunch and ironically; several Highland Brewing Cold Mountain Winter Ale pints at The Wooden Nickel Pub, we headed over to the former speedway to take a walk around the historic 1 mile oval.

During our visit last year, I mentioned the land was on the chopping block as the NCDOT considered building a new highway bypass directly through the middle of the property. Fortunately, those plans were scratched and the historic dirt track from NASCAR's founding decades will remain for others to enjoy.

Since last year, the Historic Speedway Group has continued to make repairs and upgrades to the property and they were easy to see and appreciate as we made our way down the track's front stretch. Along with improvements to the property, HSC also recently launched an updated website with more facts about the racing history at the track. According to the signage at the track and information on their site, they plan to one day build a museum near the site that will house artifacts and displays relevant to the racing heritage at Occoneechee Speedway.

Our visit that day reignited my interest in historic NASCAR Grand National Division dirt and paved speedways of North Carolina from their early days before becoming the Winston Cup in 1970 and now the Sprint Cup Series. Subsequently, a little research online pointed me towards two former tracks that existed in Raleigh which I plan to blog on in the near future.

Number 10 for 2010

2010-12-01T09:56:00.006-05:00

This past week was Thanksgiving and I decided to run the Ridgewood Turkey Trot in Raleigh that morning. I had ran a few times after the Richmond Marathon so I felt certain I could run a competitive 5 miler on Turkey Day. The Ridgewood Turkey Trot is a race I have wanted to run for at least 4 years now being that its close to my home and the largest Turkey day run in North Carolina. I've only run a Turkey Trot once before back in 2006 - the Inside Out Sports TT in Cary which was about a month after running my first marathon ever.

Thanksgiving Day came and the weather was in the high 30's with sun and little wind. Michelle, Rocky and I headed out to the start along with approximately 3000 other runners who were competing in either the 5 miler or the 1 mile fun run. Having reviewed the course online and knowing the area, I couldn't help but notice the course was basically 2 miles downhill, 1 mile of rolling hills than 2 miles back uphill. Based on that basic premise, I planned my run accordingly.

As the start time neared, I handed my hoodie sweatshirt over to Rocky to keep him warm and lined up for the gun. This was the first time ever that I chose to run in just shorts and a T-shirt when it was this chilly. However, my recent cold weather start at Richmond gave me confidence that I would adapt quickly. My goal was to PR for the 5 mile distance and beat my previous best time of 39:56 from 2006.

With the start, I took off and set into my race pace immediately. Running downhill is very deceiving at a start because your legs want to go so much faster but I know from experience that I'll need them the last two miles more. Runners of all ages and sizes were blowing by me as we headed down Ridge Road but I held back. As we hit the half way point, I held my pace and stayed comfortable as we ran through the rolling hills, up and down, midway through the 5 miles. I was tracking my time and course on my smartphone with RunKeeper but it was tucked away out of view so I had no idea what my actual time was.

As we rounded back to Ridge Road for the 2 miles uphill to the Start/Finish, runners were slowing and dropping to a walk now. A couple kids - boys probably no older than 10 ran by me as we headed uphill. One was wearing a 1 miler bib but the other was wearing a 5 miler bib. I thought to myself - WTF! How could this little kid run that pace and I'll be damned if he is going to beat me. No, I didn't trip him, I just hung on their back and with 1.5 miles to go, they slowed and I pulled away. A group of 3 men than ran past me who were dressed as pilgrims. Thinking back to the Freemont Oktoberfest 5k, many runners were in costume which while awesome, also gives me incentive to push past them. I refused to let costumed runners beat me so I upped my pace and pushed past them with less than a mile to go.

At this point, I felt a little weak and tired but I reminded myself that I had only run 4 miles so whatever it took, I could push myself hard for the final mile uphill to the finish. No pain would even come close to those final 6 miles of the Richmond marathon a few weeks earlier. After all, it was only a mile to go so I picked up the pace and kicked it to the finish. As I rounded the corner to the finish line, I saw the gun time clock was 38:xx which told me I was setting a PR. I sprinted across the finish to find Michelle and Rocky. I received a text message almost immediately from timing and scoring with my time - 38:31 - a 7:42/mile pace! I'll take it.

This was my 10th race of 2010, my 3rd 5 miler of 2010, my 3rd PR of 2010 and my second fastest race pace since 2007 - the other being this year's Freemont 5k which was almost a PR as well. It was a great way to finish out the year running and worthy of a beer immediately. After cooling down for a moment, I headed into Whole Foods and grabbed a Highland Mocha Stout, one of my favorite brews from Highland Brewing Company in Asheville. Maybe next year, Michelle and Rocky can join me for the trot. And incidentally, this is my 150th post since launching this blog back in March 2006. Cheers!

Richmond Run

2010-11-18T14:08:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, I joined approximately 15,000 other runners in Richmond, Virginia to run one of the three Suntrust Richmond Marathon events. Dubbed "America's Friendliest Marathon," the event offered your choice of an 8k, half marathon or full marathon distance race. Michelle and I headed up the afternoon before to check me in for the marathon which would be my third full marathon run. My previous two marathon runs to date were the 2006 and 2009 Marine Corps Marathons in Washington, DC. Earlier this year when I registered for the race, I targeted improving my marathon PR at Richmond.

Well, 2010 has ended up being a bit more of a challenge for me than 2009 because I've struggled with severe knee pain and inflammation off and on since June. Fortunately, the last 5 weeks leading up to the race have gone pretty well and my knees didn't slow me down at all when I ran the flat and fast Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon just 3 weeks ago. I even trimmed almost 5 minutes off my half marthon PR set in 2007. In addition, my longest marathon training run of the season was just over 19 miles 4 weeks ago so I went into Richmond fairly certain of finishing but much less certain of a PR or even finishing under 4 hours.

On Friday night, we were able to check-in to our hotel near the start than stop in the marathon expo across town before a quick visit to do some bottle shopping at Once Upon A Vine - Richmond's best craft beer store. It was certainly worth the stop as I picked up some great selections from east and west coast breweries that do not distribute in NC. Thanks to following the #runrichmond twitter feed that was being updated by local and visiting runners, I found out about a great place to hit up for dinner called Joe's Inn. While the name didn't jump out at me as a place for pasta and carbo-loading, their website did so we headed their way for an earlier than normal dinner. Luckily we beat the dinner rush just barely and only waited about 30 minutes for a seat. Not only was Joe's Inn a great place for dinner but they had a kick ass selection of draft and bottled craft beer. Being that Virginia allows happy hour specials, almost all draft pints were $2 until 6:30 too - sweet! While I normally try to avoid beer the night before a marathon, I do like to sip on a bourbon or two to calm my nerves. Joe's Inn bar had a Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout on draft so that ended up being my booze for the night and it paired quite well with the amazingly awesome plate of 3 cheese spaghetti and meat sauce I ordered for dinner. After some additional bottle shopping at Shield's Market across the street from Joe's Inn, we headed back to our hotel for me to prep for the morning.

Race day came bright and early with a start time for the marathon of 8 am. Our hotel was 2 blocks from the start along the race course so there was no need to rush but I still woke up around 5 am and started taking in coffee, water and food to energize me for the race. We were out the door around 7:30 and I headed to the start. Since the temps were in the low 40's, I chose to wear running tights, a short sleeve tech tee and a throw away sweatshirt hoodie. The sun was so bright, I probably could have gone with shorts but I figured the compression tights would help my sore muscles late in the race.

So the race fired off as promised at 8 am on the dot. Michelle was positioned right past the start line and got this photo of me running by.

Running marathons is like anything else in life, the more times you make it to the start, the more laid back and calm you feel when its go time. I eased into my planned race pace pretty quickly and headed off down Broad Street through Richmond with thousands of other runners. I realized within a few miles that I had unintentionally started with the 3:45 pace leaders and that I was hanging with them. I knew this was a bit faster than my race pace but the course was so flat, I felt fine running with them. By mile 3, I dumped my sweatshirt but the sun kept me pretty warm since I was wearing just a short sleeve T.

Moving into mile 4, we turned onto Monument Avenue at the base of one of the monuments and an on course band was playing Tom Petty's "Running Down a Dream". They sounded fantastic and it was one of my favorite moments of the race. Monument Avenue was beautiful with all the trees changing color for fall that hung over the street. This was also the point in the race where I started noticing signs posted along the route by supporters. As I passed the band, I saw one taped on a street sign post that said: "Almost there." About a block later, I saw a matching sign on a tree that said: "Well, not really" - haha!

The first 10 miles of the race were so easy, I couldn't believe it. I knew it was going to get tougher and that my low mileage in training would catch me at some point but I didn't worry. The weather, the course and the spectators were so awesome, it didn't matter at this point. I was still running off the back of the 3:45 pace group as we hit the 13.1 mile half way point at 1:52ish and I felt good.

I had repeatedly heard the most challenging part of the race was mile 16 crossing the Lee Bridge. As we headed to the bridge, I did my best to move up into a pack of people forming to cross over. There was a mild wind coming at us out of the north so it seemed ideal to let the group do some of the blocking for me. It was funny as people piled in behind the 3:45 pace leader - almost like a bunch of baby ducks following behind mama duck. Having crossed Lee Bridge, there was a junk food stop with volunteers handing out candy and other stuff but I passed on by. Mile 17 is where I expected to see Michelle again and I did. Moving on down the road to mile 18, a DJ was telling runners that "if you make it this far, than you will make it to the end". I knew better.

Mile 19 was ahead and my legs started to feel uncomfortable. Not sore, just tired. I did my best to ignore it but I knew it was time to pay. Not necessarily for starting too fast but for not running far enough on my training runs. As bad as I wanted to run 23-24 miles in late September or October - my schedule just got out of whack and 20 was as far as I ever had time to go. So now my legs were reminding me that they hadn't done this distance in over a year and I still had 7 miles to go. I bit the bullet and started taking walk breaks which I hated doing. It just plain sucks walking past yelling spectators who are cheering for you. I consider myself a runner and I needed to be running but I knew I wouldn't finish if I didn't take a few walk breaks. I kept smiling and feeling positive, thanking spectators with a thumbs up or wave and when I got the neighorhood block parties at mile 22, I even slowed up to grab a cup of beer from one of the tables. I saw one group offering bourbon shots of Jim Beam in plastic cups but I wasn't hurting bad enough for that. Moving on past mile 23, I kept running and was getting lots of support from spectators. I can't tell you how many people said "Go Jon" in the final 3 miles as they responded to my name being taped to the front of my shirt.

About mile 24, I was cramping up pretty regularly in my calves and hamstrings. I would walk for a moment than run again but I got this one cramp in my left hamstring that just about made me fall down it stung so bad. I took a few steps off course and rubbed it as hard as I could. I could feel a big knot in my leg and I just hoped the pain subsided so I could get back to my run. This was the point in the race that I realized that I wouldn't PR for the marathon today. I had run out of time to maintain a pace to finish under my 2010 MCM time of 3:54:45 but if my legs would hang in there, I could still finish under 4 hours. I got going again pretty quickly and back into another run. The strange thing was that after each short walk break, my pace was pretty normal and as quick as ever. Now I see how those Galloway run/walker folks finish marathons and how some do it pretty fast.

I made it to mile 25 and was moving towards the finish around 3:48. I was using my wrist watch and my Cliff pace band to track my time and knew the final mile was downhill so I should make it in 4 hours.

From studying the course map, I knew the turn ahead onto Cary Street was the last turn so I picked up my pace. I had cramps in both calves but figured I would go for it and finish strong - or at least make it look like it. Moving into the final stretch, I accelerated and adrenaline took over. It seemed the closer I got to the finish, the more people were yelling my name. I felt like a star as I cruised to the finish. With each step, I felt a cramp in my calf and just hoped that I didn't collapse on the pavement in front of all the spectators. As I crossed the finish, the race announcer said my name and congratulated me on my finish. I stopped my watch and it showed 3:56. It was weird because I was proud of myself for finishing within 4 hours but I was so disappointed my final 7 miles were such a struggle. This was one of those times where no one is a bigger critic of me than me.

I got my medal and moved towards the photo booth and exit. I bypassed the food tent and went straight to the UPS trucks. I wasn't hungry, I wasn't tired - I just wanted a beer. My checked bag was handed to me by a volunteer and I grabbed my stashed can of 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA and stood by to enjoy it while I waited for Michelle to arrive. She had been along the final finish line fence cheering for me and even got another pic of me coming down the hill. Once she found me I grabbed some pizza from the food tent and we headed back to the hotel.

In the end, my official time was 3:56:10 which is a 9:00 mile pace and about 5 seconds slower per mile than I wanted. Luckily, I had enough of a buffer on time from the first 19 miles that my walk/run pace the final 7 didn't hurt my time too much. It was a disappointment to miss a PR by just 85 seconds but I really don't think I deserved a PR today considering how I fell apart the final 7 miles. There is always next time and I can assure you there will be a next time. I would run Richmond again, no question.

In case you are wondering, I did wear my Doughman team shirt in the marathon that I designed for the race earlier this year in Durham.

All in all, it was a fantastic event. I can really understand why Richmond is considered such a friendly marathon. The course was challenging but still easy enough for a beginner. The spectators, volunteers and course workers were amazing. The organization was professional and the post race area was well done. Thank you Richmond and Sportsbackers for an awesome day!

Beercation Slide Show

2010-11-08T08:05:00.003-05:00

Following our recent vacation to San Francisco and Seattle, I sorted all our photos and posted a five part blog series that focused on the beer and racing portions of our trip. You can scroll or click back to catch those posts from October. Along with posting daily galleries from our trip with a combined total of nearly 800 selected photos, I also threw a gallery together of nothing but beercation related photos and the slideshow below is the result. Please sit back with a pint and enjoy. Cheers!

Myrtle Beach half marathon: Take Two

2010-10-26T10:56:00.007-04:00

This past weekend, the Mrs and I finally made it down to Myrtle Beach to visit friends and for me to run the new Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon. The event was a new race for me and for the city of Myrtle Beach. You may recall my failed bid to run the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon in February, a different half marathon which I missed due to illness though it was snowed out as well the morning of. My decision to run the race was prompted by several things including a reduced registration fee (for runners who signed up for the canceled event in February); a new, flat 13.1 mile course and a commitment made over a night of drinking in the summer of 2007.

A good college friend who lives with his family in Myrtle Beach and I agreed that year to run the MB Half together and planned to do so the following year but never got around to it until 2010. Our plans were dashed by my illness and the canceled event so along with signing up for the new October race, we also made a wager over tickets to a Carolina Panthers game. Essentially, the loser buys. Therefore, I had an added incentive to train for and run the event: trash talking.

Race day came this past Sunday morning and the weather forecast was perfect. Low 50's at the 7 am start with sunny skies ahead, no chance of rain and a day time high in the mid 70's. The only downside was the humidity was at 96%. We headed to the start on the outskirts of town in front of the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament hall. The start reminded me a lot of the Virginia Beach start due to the sky still being dark and that everyone was wearing summer clothing. We had driven most of the course on Saturday so I already had a good feeling about the race if my knees didn't give me any problems - a concern I have had all season. The only hill on the course was in the first 2 miles crossing a short bridge over the river heading into south Myrtle Beach. As we got underway, my knees did feel good and overall my legs were well rested. I had not run in 5 days but had run 20 miles only 8 days before.

I won't do the mile by mile race report but I can say that overall, the course was very pleasant. We ran around a big mall, through a park, around Broadway at the Beach and down Ocean Boulevard before coming back up the boardwalk to the finish. The run down Ocean Blvd. was particularly cool as that is where most of the spectators were while we were also surrounded by the beachfront high rise condos and hotels. It again reminded me of the Virginia Beach Half Marathon's run down Atlantic Avenue. The new boardwalk it turns out is partially a twisty concrete path through sand and palm trees. As the final mile took us north along the path to the finish, I was able to break into a full sprint and passed nearly 50 runners on my way to the boardwalk finish.

As I did in the 2009 Marine Corps Marathon, I wore a Clif pace armband to calculate my required time and mileage throughout the race. At each mile, I knew what time I needed to be within in order to achieve my goal of breaking 1:50:00. By mile 5, I had a :50 second buffer and by mile 11, I was on pace nearly :90 seconds under my goal. I knew as I passed Michelle and my friend's family around mile 11.3 that I would set a new PR unless something drastic happened in the final two miles. I picked up my pace as I moved in on the final mile and felt good enough to accelerate faster onto the boardwalk and towards the finish. As I crossed the finish line with a time around 1:46:30, I realized that I had run the final mile in under 7 minutes. This was by sure my best half ever.

I ran through the finish so fast, I basically forgot to get a finisher medal on the other side. A friendly volunteer quickly hunted me down and asked me if I wanted my medal and boy did I. This baby is sweet! It's a surfboard design with a shark bite/bottle opener, removal neck strap and magnet on the back. It weighs about as much as a full can of beer.

One of the best things about finishing a race in the front besides finishing a race in the front is that the lines for beer in the post-race festival are short. I had a big breakfast before the race and ate 4 Gu packs during it so I wasn't hungry but I sure was thirsty. I headed to the beer tent and got a free cup without even a wait before making my way back to the gear check table. There I got my clean clothes and cold cans of craft beer I stashed at the start and headed over to Ocean Blvd. to join Michelle and my friend's fam awaiting his finish.

Needless to say, I won the bet; now it was just a matter of making sure he finished his first half marathon. Some time later, he did run by and we headed to the finish line awaiting his arrival. I was now working on my second can of New South Brewery White Ale - a beer from a new, local brewery in Myrtle Beach. In the end, my buddy did finish the race and he did so having run the entire 13.1 miles, just at a slower pace than me. While I offer my congrats, it's time to pay up. Luckily, he already did and we are headed to the Panthers vs. Baltimore Ravens game next month in Charlotte. Yes, I know our Panthers stink this season but ironically, they did finally win one Sunday.

I had a great time (literally) running the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon. My official time was 1:46:21 with a 8:06/mile pace. For a new event, I thought it went quite well. I really enjoyed the run down Ocean Blvd. and would love for it to be an even longer part of the course next year. The course overall was very forgiving and as good as any I have run. The medal is bad ass and stands out for sure in my collection. A few suggestions to the race organizers - offer energy gel or beans or something similar on course and have signs or flags posted on poles to alert runners of upcoming water stops. Thanks to every volunteer and band who was out on course, you make all the difference.

Beerrunning in Seattle

2010-10-18T16:38:00.006-04:00

Our recent vacation out west took us from San Francisco to Seattle for the second half of our trip. With some luck and planning, our stay in the Emerald City happened the same time as the Fremont Oktoberfest - a 3 day beer festival in the northern part of town. As part of the event, the final day also featured a morning beerrun called the Brew Ha-Ha 5k that finished at the entrance to the Oktoberfest beer gardens.

If you know me than you know my answer was "Hell yeah, sign me up!" I did sign up in advance before our trip however I held out on tickets to the actual beerfest until I knew more about our weekend plans for when we arrived. Luck was on my side though as I ended up winning a pair of tickets for free entry to the festival (which included 5 beer tokens apiece) via their twitter page's weekly contest.

Having struggled with knee pain the previous week during our stay in San Francisco, I had very low expectations of myself the morning of the 5k. My run just 48 hours earlier had gone well but it was relatively slower than normal with a few tiny breaks to sight-see. This was to be my first competitive 5k run in years as I normally run longer distance events or triathlons now. We got to bed relatively early the night before, around 10 PM after our first day in Seattle but the forecast for race day was chilly and wet. I did get in a good dinner that night at Ivar's Acres of Clams seafood on the waterfront and we grabbed a simple breakfast from a Starbuck's coffee van on our way to Fremont by bus in the rain. Being new to riding city buses, we got on the wrong bus initially headed the wrong direction but eventually ended up correcting our mistake and still making it to Fremont early with plenty of time to relax. I have to say that Michelle was particularly awesome and supportive with what could have been a very frustrating morning. She is the best race support ever!

The weather did clear before the race so the run went off in the dry. The air temperature was also up so shorts and a tee was all I needed for the race. Since it was just a 5k and I wasn't too serious about it before our trip, I didn't map the course or the terrain but it ended up being the flattest course I have ever run! The race started and headed what felt like east up about a 3/4 mile incline before turning and running along Lake Union before circling back along the bike path to town. From mile 1 or so to the finish was nearly flat and by mile 2 checkpoint, I changed my pace from a polite jog to a hard run and when I closed in on mile 3, I was sprinting. I crossed the finish line at a full sprint and my knees felt fantastic. The cool, wet air normally causes me more pain but today, I felt great and I hadn't even had a beer yet. My 5k time was 23:25 and good enough for 83rd overall out of 829 finishers, 24 of 139 in my division and 64 of 375 males. I missed beating my adult PR for the 5k of 23:06 by :19 seconds. If only I had known the course was so flat, I would have easily made up those additional :19 seconds in the first 2 miles. Considering the pain I had been through in the previous two weeks, I was more than satisfied with my run and now it was time for some beer!

After crossing the finish line, we headed into the village beer garden for me to have a pint before moving into the larger festival for ticket holders that opened at 11 AM. We had a fantastic time once we got in and I have to say I really like the way the folks do it on the west coast.The festival was run a lot like the New Belgium Brewing Clips of Faith event we had just attended back home in Raleigh. That is, you buy tokens for beers and each token is $1.50 and gets you about 4 oz of beer from whatever brewery tap you choose. The process makes you pay more attention to what you are trying and to put some thought into your selections. Since the festival is open all day, there is no time limit or need to drink fast. It was a much more laid back and responsible atmosphere than I am used to back home with the beer festivals being all you can drink for a 3-5 hour period. While North Carolina certainly has lots of craft beer and breweries that match anything we tried in Seattle, they could learn a lot from the way a beer festival is run out west.

Besides loving craft beer, Seattle also proved during our stay to be a city that loves dogs. Everywhere we went, people had their dogs and included them in their daily activities. At parks, at shops, at outdoor restaurants and even at the Fremont Oktoberfest, our four legged friends were everywhere. The Sunday we attended was not only 5k beerrun day, it was also Dogtoberfest and there were dogs everywhere enjoying the festival.

Following our day at Oktoberfest, we finished our vacation with several more wonderful days in Seattle and enjoyed some fine beers, great food, beautiful scenery and met up with some awesome people. It was a fine end to a wonderful vacation.

Running the Bridge

2010-10-13T15:56:00.005-04:00

One of my must-dos while on vacation in San Francisco was to run from the waterfront across the Golden Gate Bridge to the town of Sausalito. It was a highly recommended event to me by multiple friends during planning for our trip. San Francisco is such a beautiful, urban running city - I had plans for multiple morning or evening runs during our week there however those were spoiled most of the week by tremendous knee pain and inflammation in my left knee. While I always have problems with my knees when running down steep hills, the pain - which was brought on by a 18 mile long run the week before at home; was so severe early in the week, I could not run 3 steps up, down or sideways without agony.

After a bike ride on Monday and many days of walking and driving, I finally felt up to the challenge of running the bridge on Friday - our final full day in the Bay City before departure to Seattle on Saturday morning. Unsure of how it would go, I made a plan and prepared to head out while Michelle would rent another bike and ride the same course across to Sausalito where we would meet for brunch and a ferry ride back. Riding the bridge was also on our to-do list so it was a perfect plan for us both to make the 8-9 mile journey.

After a small breakfast, I headed out to Fisherman's Wharf to officially start the run along the waterfront to the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was absolutely perfect; probably the best day so far during our trip. The sun was bright, there was no fog, no wind, no humidity and the temperature was in the mid to high 60's. Once I got going, my pace felt good and my knees felt fairly fresh. Michelle first passed me as I ran through the Marina District and than waited for me at the Lincoln Boulevard intersection of the path across the bridge. At this point, I had run 3.5 miles when we stopped together for a photo.

As we separated to cross the bridge, I continued on ahead. Michelle hung back to take some more photos and than eventually caught me as we crossed. Pedestrian traffic (mostly tourist groups) was very heavy, making it challenging (but not impossible) to maintain a running pace across the bridge. Unfortunately, I may have brushed a few old ladies shoulders and elbowed a few kids in the back of the head to keep from falling down or having to slow my pace (haha - sorry). I noticed a lot of road cyclists who shared the same path had whistles in their mouth that they blew like referees to clue people into moving out of their way.

We crossed the one mile over the bridge and met up again on the opposite side at the Vista Point overlook before heading on to Sausalito. Once we separated to finish the final 3.5 miles into town, I never saw or passed another runner. The road into Sausalito did not have sidewalks or a bike path but was easily passable by foot or bike.

As I ran into town, I finished up with a extra lap down and back along the water before joining Michelle at the Lighthouse Cafe for brunch. It's a simple breakfast and lunch spot that was also recommended by friends just down the street past all the tourist spots by the ferry landing. I had a fantastic chicken quesadilla and fries while Michelle enjoyed this awesome double bacon BBLT.

Following lunch and a short stroll around town, we headed back across the bay by ferry to Fisherman's Wharf to carry on with our final day about the city. Of course, I completed my morning run with a Lagunitas Pale Ale as we enjoyed the beautiful views of the bridge and the city during our ferry ride back. I had to start thinking about my next west coast run that was less than 48 hours away in Seattle.

Motoring Wine Country and More

2010-10-11T10:56:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we were able to get out of the city on a couple different days of our San Francisco vacation to explore the coast, Sonoma and Napa Valley wine country of California. While in Seattle, we also spent our final day exploring both north and south of the city.

This travel was made possible via day long car rentals from Zipcar. I learned of Zipcar from a friend in Washington DC and signed up over the summer in planning our west coast vacation. Zipcar offers a convenient hassle-free way to rent a car for as little as an hour in many large cities and on larger college campuses across the country. Besides not having to interact with annoying car rental counters, argue over insurance upgrades or pray the car I reserved is available - the best thing about Zipcar is that they rent MINI Coopers.

While Zipcar rents lots of models of cars and trucks, knowing I could reserve a MINI hardtop or convertible during our trip was perfect considering how much I love my own MINI Cooper S that I got last year. San Francisco and Seattle are both MINI Cooper country. While in San Francisco for a week, we rarely traveled more than a block without seeing multiple MINIs either driving by or parked. Zipcar offered dozens of them throughout the city as well as in Seattle.

We took advantage of Zipcar three times in San Francisco to rent wheels for trips up the coast to Santa Rosa, to Sonoma and Napa and an afternoon around town to hit spots we missed during our bike ride or use of public transit on other days. In Seattle, we rented a Zipcar to explore in and out of the city including Discovery Park, Volunteer Park, Alki Beach and the International District.

Our rentals includes two hardtop MINI Coopers, a Honda Civic and our favorite - a MINI Cooper convertible which we had during our first driving day to Muir Woods, Muir Beach, Stinson Beach, Point Reyes, Santa Rosa. Thanks to our Zipcars, we were able to see and do a lot more during our vacation.

**It was not my intention for this blog post to read like a commercial however if you are interested in joining Zipcar, check out their site and follow the Vrooom link or contact me for a referral to save yourself money off your first rental.

racephan Sonoma exploring

2010-10-08T12:47:00.002-04:00

While visiting the San Francisco area, we took two separate day trips north out of the city to explore the coast and wine country. Our first and longest day trip was up the Pacific Coast Highway to visit Muir Woods and than onto Santa Rosa for a beercation must-do stop at Russian River Brewing. On our way back to San Francisco through Sonoma, we passed right by Infineon Raceway. Unfortunately, it was late in the day so the track and store was closed.

On our way back to Sonoma two days later, we stopped at the raceway again so I could check out the on site motorsports store called Wine Country Motor Sports. It was really the only thing open to the public though I joked with the gate security guard about taking my rental car out on the track. Probably not the first time they have heard that!

Once inside the store, I chatted with the staff about their collection of motorsports swag and I was particularly impressed with the vastness of their merchandise and specialty products. Most speedway and race track stores I have been to are either a. all NASCAR merchandise b. a collection of amateur racer products or c. non-existant. WCMS had a massive selection of DVDs, books, clothing, race gear and raceway logo swag. To my surprise, they also had a fair amount of Formula 1 and road racing merchandise including autographed items from famous F1 drivers.

I geeked out a little bit and snapped some pics of the F1 items that the staff pointed out to me but that was all I could do given their price tag. Included in their collection of items for sale were:

-World Champions Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher autographed hard cards from the 2005 GP of Bahrain

-Ruben Barrichello's autographed race suit and gloves that he wore in his win at the 2003 GP of Japan

-Schumacher, Barrichello, Raikkonen and Felipe Massa autographed Ferrari hat, race shoes and gloves.

I also got a good laugh out of a kid's story book about Milka Duno, the female Venezuelan driver currently stinking it up in the IndyCar Series and recently voted the worst driver in IndyCar history. While she is pretty bad, I disagree that she is the worst. Regardless, I couldn't help but laugh how the book presented her as a sexy, grease under the nails, speed demon. In her defense, I can say that Milka is great with the fans and sponsors. I have met her on 4 different occasions - twice at VIR during her Grand Am Rolex Series days and twice at RIR during IndyCar Series race weekends. Sponsor and fan appeal is a big part of racing which seems to be the part Milka has down pat, much like fellow IndyCar star - Danica Patrick.

Perhaps one day we will make it back to Sonoma for another beer AND racing tour in wine country since IndyCar currently races at the raceway in August.

Bike2Beer in the Bay City

2010-10-07T12:19:00.006-04:00

The Mrs and I recently returned from a nearly two week vacation out to the left coast to visit the San Franciso Bay area and Seattle. While we promised ourselves that this was not supposed to be strictly a beercation, we did our best to break that promise throughout our visit. While San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest is known for its craft beer scene and breweries, it also known for its beauty and places to run and bike. One of the many things we looked forward to on our visit was doing just that - running and biking.

Since I am training for marathon season and September is the most important month of the program, I could not afford to let my training slack off for two weeks. The problem I encountered once we were in San Francisco is that my left knee was causing me a lot of pain but only if I tried to run; particularly downhill. It is the same pain that has nagged me now since mid-July that I mentioned previously. San Francisco is nothing but hills so for the first 5 days we were there, I could not run. Instead, we decided on a whim to see some of the city and the many sights we had on our list by bike in one day. That included one of the craft brew pubs on my list of must do's - Magnolia Pub and Brewery.

So on the Monday of our visit, which turned out to be the coolest and foggiest morning of entire week, we set out on rental bikes from Blazing Saddles San Francisco on a 20 mile planned route around the city. We started near our Bay Street apartment where we picked up our bikes and set off on the bike trail that begins near Ghirardelli Square and the turnaround for the Powell-Hyde trolley car. Not fully realizing just what level of ride we were undertaking, we only had yogurt and energy bars for breakfast. Luckily, beer would soon help replenish our energy levels.

Our ride took us by many San Francisco tourist destinations, some of which make up parts of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In order along our ride, we passed or stopped at Fort Mason, Marina District, Crissy Field, Fort Pointe, the Presidio of SF, Baker Beach, China Beach, Sea Cliff, Palace of the Legion of Honor, Cliff House and Seal Rocks. Our intended destination before lunch was Golden Gate Park. Due to the hills along the western shoreline of San Francisco, our pace was slower than expected so when we finally made it to GGP along the beach, we happened upon Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant - a surprise stop we had not planned but found thanks to Google Maps on Michelle's BlackBerry.

Before tackling the park, we pedaled on into Beach Chalet and went upstairs to check out the taps at the bar. The view from the restaurant and bar was fantastic with the beach and ocean stretching as far as you could see. Unfortunately, I didn't get a usable photo of the view due to the sunlight shining in as the morning fog had lifted as we arrived. I inquired with the bartender about their brews and ordered up a sampler flight of every beer they offered. This was our first brewpub stop on our vacation so our excitement to try something new and our thirst from the ride were heightened. Our flight came on a Lazy Susan of sorts and included an extra pour compliments of the bartender - I think he just lost count of the pours while he was answering my questions and asking us about the North Carolina craft beer scene. While any craft beer would have been good about now, we particularly enjoyed the Altbier and the DBA (Dee's Bitter Ale).

Moving on along a ride, we visited the Dutch windmill, Bison paddock and Japanese Tea Garden within Golden Gate Park. While the hills weren't as steep, the hills continued most of our way as we headed east into the beautiful park. GGP was described to me as San Francisco's Central Park and I would say its more than worthy of the title.

Now past lunchtime, our next goal was Magnolia Pub and Brewery located in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of SF. I had heard of Magnolia after they were featured in the same 2009 Draft Magazine article Nine Beer Innovators to Watch as Durham, NC's Fullsteam Brewery. We arrived at Magnolia mid-afternoon after the lunch crowd yet before the happy hour crowd so seating inside and out along the sidewalk was available. We took seats inside along the window and ordered up a flight of 6 beers that we selected from the menu on the wall of 16 beers including five, yes five cask ale selections! If this brewpub was an indicator of the selection at the rest of the places I had planned for our west coast trip, I knew I was in for a good 9 more days of travel. As I would soon learn, Magnolia was like many west coast breweries and featured 4 IPA choices including an English-style IPA and a cask IPA plus variations of hoppy American-style IPAs that both Michelle and I love. Our flight included a wheat, a bitter, a mild, a brown and two IPAs all of which in their own way were outstanding and above the norm in their flavor profiles. Lunch was also fantastic - it might have been my hunger but the grilled boneless chicken thigh sandwich I had was the very best chicken sandwich I have ever had.

We finished with a pint of the Pale Ale and headed off to complete our ride which took us straight back to the Marina District with stops near Alamo Square and the successful ride up the steepest hill I have ever ridden. It was the first time I rode in granny gear all the way up a climb. Luckily, lunch at Magnolia was late enough in the afternoon that it counted as an early dinner as we had a evening tour of Alcatraz to make at 6:30 so as soon as we turned our bikes in, we were home to shower and off to the ferry. Without out a doubt, it was a fantastic and hard earned day of beercycling 19 miles in the Bay City.

New Belgium brews at City Plaza for charity

2010-10-04T15:51:00.003-04:00

Coming at you a few weeks after the fact, this entry is about the New Belgium Brewing Clips of Faith tour hitting Raleigh for one night as part of the 14 city summer tour. Clips of Faith brings small films and big beers from New Belgium out on a cross country summer tour to benefit local charities in each city. Raleigh was one of the lucky cities to be included on this year's schedule with all proceeds going to Triangle Spokes Group, a local non-profit charity that buys news bikes for kids in need as I discussed in my earlier post.

The weather was fantastic on the evening of the event which took place in the new downtown City Plaza at the southern end of Fayetteville Street Mall. Much like many midwest and west coast beer festivals, Clips of Faith offered beer pours in 3-4 oz glasses that cost 1 token each. Tokens were purchased from a booth to be used at the two beer tents.

On the plaza, we were able to BYOC - bring your own chair, and sit to watch the short films made by normal folks across the country most of which involved New Belgium beer in some fashion.

While at the festival, I ran into Steve - founder of TriBeer and Thomas - another local beer geek behind the Geistbear Brewing Blog who were both volunteering at the event. I also met Rich Nowalk of Triangle Spokes Group who was rightfully very excited about the event as the crowd started to grow before sunset. We both discussed how New Belgium may have drawn a larger crowd had they not held the event on the same night as the NC State football game that was being broadcast on national television. Either way, the event appeared a success to me.

Having drank nearly every year-round offering from New Belgium since they started distributing in NC over a year ago, Michelle and I stuck to the Lips of Faith tent and enjoyed the arsenal of specialty beers offered. Being that it's been nearly three weeks since the event, my favorite of the night escapes me. You will soon understand why though as I blog my next post or two that covers what I have been up to the past couple weeks.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to, the workday did not allow Michelle and I to bike2beer for the event though I was very happy to see how many other people did. This night, of all nights was a good night to be living downtown.

Word on the street is that New Belgium wants to bring this event back to Raleigh for 2011. I can assure you I will be there and I would recommend you do the same.

Check out the video of the evening below that I borrowed from the Triangle Spokes Group website.

What I knee'ed

2010-09-07T21:18:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned a while back, I have ambitious race goals for this fall running the new Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon (1/2 marathon distance) and the Richmond Marathon only 3 weeks later. While I've never been a stickler for a set training program, I tend to schedule my long runs leading up to race weekend so I can prepare for them as the dates approach. I've learned the importance of getting in the longest training run a month in advance and tapering down to race day for a marathon. That said, I have my longest marathon training run to complete either 1 or 2 weeks before the Myrtle Beach race.

June and July went great training-wise. I was getting in lots of mileage and running progressively 10,11 and 12 miles Saturdays until I made a mistake in late July that stalled my training. In a rush to get a long run in on a Friday morning due to Friday night plans that would prevent a long Saturday run (beer and bourbon plans), I overdid it on a 9 miler without pre or post run stretching and ended up with severe knee pain that halted my training for much longer than a night of binch drinking bourbon would.

After a visit to the Doctor at my local orthopedic clinic (that repaired my torn right knee ACL in 2001), I learned that I had simply ~~gotten old~~ not been stretching enough which led to a inflammation of my patella tendon in my left knee. So from here, I rested from running for nearly two weeks and visited the Athletic Performance Center for some painful therapy, use of a foam roller and dynamic stretching that seems to have pointed me in the right direction. During my break from running, I did a lot of interval training by bike instead with 15-25 mile trail rides around town.

Since getting back to running 2 weeks or so ago, I have run 7.2, 9 and 14.2 mile training runs along with regular shorter runs and afternoons on either my road or mountain bike. My legs are feeling about where they were this time last year and I am hoping for a solid September and October as the dates near for my upcoming races. In the meantime, I will be stretching, strength training, biking to beer, mountain biking, getting in more long runs and running a few 5k races for fun.

Carpe viam!

Bike 2 Beer IV: Durham edition

2010-08-31T16:27:00.005-04:00

This past weekend, I lead another successful 21 mile bike and beer ride to downtown Durham and back. It was my first time to offer a Bull City route so I invited friends from that side of town to join us; some who have rode with me before and some who joined us for the first time. As you can see from the photos below, we had a great time touring the area with visits to several notable breweries and watering holes. Check out the pics below and the full gallery from the day on smugmug.com.

Keep an eye out on my new Bike 2 Beer Tours facebook page and twitter page for all the updates as I expand Bike 2 Beer tours to more trails, more breweries and more friends. Cheers!

racephan Fotos on flickr

2010-08-26T15:02:00.002-04:00

Along with maintaining a large collection of motorsports photo galleries at smugmug.com since 2004, I have also been posting some of my favorites to my smaller flickr gallery feed over the past two years. Check out the slideshow below with over 100 of my favorite shots of sports cars, Indycars, motorcycles, drag racers, drifters, grid girls, MINI Coopers and more. Many of these were taken at VIRginia International Raceway though you might recognize other venues as well if you have followed by blog over the years.

Clips of Faith event coming to Raleigh

2010-08-23T17:33:00.001-04:00

A friend of a friend recently told me about an upcoming charity event that is planned for downtown Raleigh and is part of a 14 city national tour being put on by New Belgium Brewing Company. The Clips of Faith tour features an evening of films made by craft beer fans and what else, craft beer! A charity is selected in each city visited along the tour to be the beneficiary of charitable contributions raised at the event. In Raleigh, New Belgium has chosen Triangle Spokes Group and I was contacted by one of their staff - Rich Nowalk to help spread the word about the event. Triangle Spokes Group is a spin-off from the original Charlotte Spokes Group whose missions are to purchase new bicycles for need-worthy children each Christmas season who would likely not receive them otherwise.

As an avid beercyclist, it did not take me long but a moment to volunteer to lend a hand to help promote such a great event and deserving charity. No child (or adult for that matter) should be without a bicycle and I certainly support the idea of getting new bikes to needy kids in our community.

Triangle Spokes Group is looking for 45 volunteers to staff the event plus for the rest of us to show up, drink New Belgium beer and enjoy the show. Check out the details below and contact Rich Nowalk at RichNowalk@mac.com with Triangle Spokes Group to volunteer.

If you plan to attend, you can also check out the TriBeer Meetup listing of the event for details.

What is Clips of Faith?

www.clipsoffaith.com

-The Clips of Faith is a tour of 14 cities of HANDMADE FILMS while enjoying HANDMADE BEERS under the stars.

-Attached is more information on volunteer duties. And yes you will get some free beers!

Where is the Event

-City Plaza in Downtown Raleigh

When is the Event

-Thursday September 16. Event is from 6:30pm-9:30pm that night but volunteers will be needed at different times throughout the day and night.

Why?

-Triangle Spokes Group (founders Ashley Wilson and Rich & Jenn Nowalk) are reaching out to you because we need your time and energy for this great cause! We want this to be an annual event in Raleigh for the Triangle Spokes Group. Not only will it be fun, but a great way to help our community and more importantly the kids who look forward to getting bikes this holiday season. The Triangle Spokes Group will earn profits from both beer and merchandise sales so it has the chance to raise money for a lot of bikes! If you haven’t had the chance to watch how important the donations are then please watch some of our videos -http://trianglespokesgroup.org/media/videos/. Thanks to New Belgium, 14 cities across the country have a chance to make a difference through film and beer - how great is that! Now its your chance to get involved! Please respond ASAP if you are interested in helping us out, and we will let you know the volunteer opportunities available. Contact Rich Nowalk at RichNowalk@mac.com

AMA August weekend at VIR

2010-08-19T16:51:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday, I got back out to Virginia International Raceway for the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Superbike Nationals. It was the first time I had been able to get out to the track for the hot August event since 2006. A friend of mine who went with me that year has been going back to the track ever since and he met me out there for the afternoon of racing. Thankfully, there was a nice cloud cover most of the day so the heat remained in the low 90's instead of the high 90's as it has been in the past. I made it to the track in time to see all the main events including the Daytona Sportbike race 1 and the SuperSport race 1. Race 2 for both classes took place on Sunday.

VIR seems to have a knack for creating very close racing and record setting - today was no different. The Daytona Sportbike race had a margin of victory of 0.000 making it the closest finish in AMA history. I honestly do not know how officials decided who was the winner as it was the closest to a tie I have ever seen in racing. Officials declared Bobby Fong on a Ducati the winner over a very disappointed Martin Cardenas. The photo below showing the finish is from the AMA website while the rest of the photos here were taken by me.

Not to be outdone, the top AMA Pro SuperSport class (formerly SuperBike) race ended with a 0.005 margin of victory with Tommy Hayden topping Ben Bostrom for the win.

We stuck around for a while after the racing was over for the post-race stunt show with 3 stunt riders showing off between turns 3 and 4 with a couple of the VIR girls as props. As always, it was a great day at VIR.

Historic Beaufort Run

2010-07-19T16:01:00.005-04:00

On Saturday, Michelle and I headed "down east" as we say in North Carolina to the town of Beaufort near the southern tip of the Outer Banks to run in the 31st annual Historic Beaufort Road Race. I chose to run the 10k event while she competed in the 5k run.

For this first time ever, my mom was able to come out and watch since she has never been able to make it out to a race I've run in before. Typically, my races are not in this part of the state though I have spent plenty of time vacationing in the area over the years.

As expected, it was a typical NC summer morning with high humidity and full sun by the start at 8 AM. Luckily, there was a fairly strong and constant breeze blowing off the water which certainly minimized what could have been any even hotter day. The course itself winded east along the waterfront, through residential areas and back to the waterfront for a finish at the same position as the start. This was definitely the flatest course I have EVER run a race on being along the coast and without the hills or any bridges to cross along the way.

All in all, I rate the race as a very good event whose organizers has obviously figured out what works and sticks with it. There were also 10k and 5k walk, wheel chair and baby jogger divisions along with a separate 1 mile walk event. Unlike many of the races I have run in or spectated at in the NC Triangle area, this race also had plenty of course volunteers who were handing out water, cheering and offering cooling stations with their garden hoses. In the 6.2 mile run, I passed six water stops including one that had full bottles of water. At the finish, volunteers handed out full size bath towels to each runner that had been soaked in ice water. The post race snacks were simply done but well done - bottles of water, sliced oranges and bananas. The race was a no frills event and I loved it.

My chip time for the 10k was 50:19 which equals an 8:06 min/mile pace - faster than I have officially run in quite sometime. That was good enough for 6th in my age group and 42nd out of 188 10k finishers overall. I've worked hard this spring to up my game early in the season and I think this shows it. I set my 10k PR in November 2003 running the Old Reliable Run in Raleigh with a 48:43 but that was in my late twenties with a downhill sprint for the final mile. I had hoped for a new PR at Beaufort this month but there is always next year!

Following our run and a cold shower, we spent the afternoon on a secluded beach nearby enjoying the views and a few cold beers. Now that I am back home, its time to start upping the mileage on my runs as the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon and Richmond Marathon are only 3 months away.

Pour de Raleigh Bike and Beer Tour III

2010-07-07T16:52:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, I organized and led the 3rd installment of my bike and beer tour of Raleigh (that I recently discussed in an interview with Draft Magzine's Beer Runner) dropping in on some of my favorite local watering holes and brewers of local craft beer. Based on the success of my first two events in the summer of 2009, I decided to increase the number of locations we stopped at and the number of people invited to join in on the fun this go round. My initial theme and plan for this ride would be a stop at the three Raleigh breweries and brewpubs now operating inside the beltline but once I realized there was time for more, I added stops at three bars that also have good selections of craft beer.

Our group of eight started this tour as the past two from home with the first stop less than a mile away at my new favorite neighborhood bottle shop - Barley and Vine. This wine and beer store is owned and managed by my friend Jen where she has quickly established a great place to drink quality draft beers on rotating taps at the wine and beer bar. I started the day with a half pint of Stone Brewing Russian Imperial Stout which went down quite nicely after our brief ride in the morning heat.

From Barley and Vine, we headed out on a 9+ mile ride to our next stop, my favorite local brewery - Big Boss Brewing Company. Normally their taproom named Horniblow's Tavern is not yet open this time of day so I was able to make special arrangements with my friend Dave who works at the brewery and runs the Craft Beer Collective website to let us in for a round of beers. As a group, we covered the 9 miles on the Raleigh greenway to Big Boss in about 45 minutes where Dave was waiting to join us. Here I grabbed a full pint of my favorite Boss beer - High Roller IPA that I enjoyed with the group as we got an impromptu tour of the brewery and learned how some of their beers are made. As we departed Big Boss Brewing, Dave stayed back to handle some technical difficulties (I broke the front door off the hinges, sorry Dave) with the intention of catching up with us for the rest of the stops.

Our next stop was The Remedy Diner in downtown Raleigh which was about 2 miles away. The route included passing the historic Mordecai neighborhood and by the NC Governor's mansion. Apparently, the heat, the riding and time on the clock made the decision for us that it was time for a snack with our next beer so we bellied up to the bar as a group for some fresh, tasty apps at The Remedy and our next round. I enjoyed another local brew from my friend Mark's brewery in Fuquay, NC - Old Bulldog ESB from Aviator Brewing. My buddy Joey riding in our group snuck in a Bloody Mary but I gave him a pass on that since he has rode an astounding 67 miles earlier in the morning in preparation for his Ironman event this fall. By this time, he needed all the extra nutrients he could get. Dave caught up to us before long and grabbed a pint himself before we headed down the street to our next stop.

From here, the riding got a lot easier. Our next stop was Woody's at City Market, just two blocks away owned and operated by my friend Joe. Joe wasn't home this day but we all hit up the bar for another round and I was ecstatic to find that they had Terrapin Brewing Wake N Bake Coffee Stout on special for $3 a pint. Woody's was on my list because they have a great selection of craft beers at a fair price every day. Feeling replenished from our snacks at The Remedy or perhaps from the caffeine in our coffee stouts, we powered on to the next stop.

Despite concerns from the group, I opted for the scenic route from Woody's to our next stop - Boylan Bridge Brewpub. After a brief ride past the Raleigh Amtrak station and through the Boylan Heights neighborhood where the Raleigh Mayor lives, we arrived at Boylan Bridge for another round. I went with the Public Transportation Pale Ale though my favorite here is the Bruno Bitter. Boylan Bridge's deck has a fantastic view of the city so we lingered outside for some photos and I can not tell you how happy I was to notice that the deck now has more shade from the sun.

Our final planned stop was next at Natty Greene's Pub and Brewing just around the corner for a late lunch and of course - more beer. On the way, we got stuck at a train track crossing by a train so after a short but impatient wait, we took the long way around to our final watering hole. Despite the heat and bright sun, we sat outside under the umbrellas for another round and lunch. I went with a spicy burger, an 8-Pounder Imperial Pilsner and finished with a sample of the Freedom American IPA.

My intention as this point was for the majority of us to pile in the Subaru with the bikes on the back and drive home but a few members of the group wanted more, at least more riding so we decided to ride home from Natty's. I led the ride home as well taking a different and slightly more direct route through NC State University and Meredith College campuses and back to our side of town with mileage for the day totaling 3 breweries, 3 bars and about 25 miles. Wow, what a day of riding, friends and beers!

Big thanks goes out to all our beer stop hosts and especially Dave from Big Boss Brewing Company. Check out his photo gallery from the day over at Craft Beer Collective. Cheers.

DRAFT Magazine interview

2010-07-05T09:14:00.002-04:00

As this blog has evolved over the past four and a half years, I've expanded it from originally describing my auto racing experiences to discussing motorsports in general and than onto covering running events that I participate in. Recently, I've added in discussions on motoring in my MINI and now as the newest topic, I've included my appreciation for craft beer and how well it goes with both racing and running. Over on twitter, I tweet with the handle - beerandracing which drew the attention of fellow runner and beer drinker - TheBeerRunner who is a runner and craft beer drinker with a blog on the DRAFT Magazine website. The Beer Runner who I now know as Tim from Milwaukee contacted me about doing an interview for his blog after reading some of my beer and running tweets than seeing my powered by racephan blog entries regarding post-run beer enjoyment and my Bike n Beer tours in Raleigh.

Check out The Beer Runner's interview with me below that was originally featured on his blog at http://beerrunner.draftmag.com/ Thanks Tim!

Runner with a need for speed - and beer
• Jun 28th, 2010 • Category: Beer Runner profile

“As I become more involved in the local running and beer community,” says Jon Odgers, “I found there is often a common link between runners and beer drinkers.”

Odgers grew interested in craft beer in his 20s as his dedication to running grew, even though at the time craft beer was hard to find where he was living in North Carolina.

He still remembers when he realized a run and a craft beer paired so well. He was walking to his apartment after a run in 90 degree humidity, when he stopped to chat with neighbors who were grilling out and who offered him a cold beer.

“I had never tried a beer immediately following a run before,” he says. “I still recall the refreshment was a monumental moment.”

Odgers talked to the Beer Runner about his passion for local craft beer, why he got into triathlons, his Bike to Beer rides, and more.

Bio
Age: 36
Location: Raleigh, NC
Favorite beer: It’s really hard to pick one but I have found Wedge Brewing’s Third Rail Double IPA from Asheville, NC to be a beer that represents everything I love in a beer. Guinness Extra Stout in a bottle is my favorite all-around beer. It goes down great in summer heat, just ask a Jamaican.
PRs: Marathon 3:54, Half Marathon 1:50, 10 miler 1:24, 10k 48:43
Dream race: to run the Cayman Islands Marathon
Blog: http://racephan.blogspot.com

The Beer Runner: What are your beer runner credentials?

Jon Odgers: My mother raised me in a home where there was an emphasis on healthy eating including fresh fruits and veggies, grilled or baked lean meats and staying away from junk and fast food. I ran track and was active outdoors as a teenager so a healthy lifestyle has always been a part of me.

When I moved to Raleigh and took up running more seriously, I lived on a lake with an incredible greenway system that I ran on nightly during the spring, summer and fall. Today, one of my motivations to run farther and faster is knowing there is a cold, craft beer waiting for me at the finish. While I run because I love it, I also love knowing that one of my passions helps balance the other.

BR: How did you get into running and triathlons?

JO: Running for me has always been my favorite form of exercise and competition. I was never a stick and ball athlete as a kid and tried track and cross country as a teenager instead. The sense of accomplishment after every run just stuck with me and became a great way to stay fit and see more places as an adult. Once I was running 6-7 miles regularly, a friend suggested I join them to run a half marathon. After the race, my friend had access to a hospitality tent, so we spent the hours following our race enjoying beers on the house and cheering runners to the finish. From then on, I was hooked and have run numerous half marathons and finished two marathons - both the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC.

Last year, my wife, who is my biggest supporter, suggested that we participate in a triathlon together. While active and athletic, she was not at the time a runner or triathlete - this was something new for both of us that we could do together. We finished two triathlons last summer and have plans to run three this summer. Having trained for two tris, my wife also finished two 5ks last year and now runs regularly. I found that the cross training really made me stronger as a runner and helped me set a marathon PR last fall. It was a win-win and I am hoping to lower my marathon time again this fall after another season of triathlons.

BR: You finished your first Beer Run this year. What did you think?

JO: While I’ve been replenishing myself post-race with a cold beer (or three) for years, it was with my own stash or macro-brews at some larger races. Last year, a friend told me about the Old Town 5 miler Beerun in Greensboro, NC and said it was the race for me. He was right. There was nothing more rewarding than a craft beer booth at the finish line and a fresh pint of locally made beer - talk about motivation to finish strong.

BR: How did you get started doing bike to beer tours?

JO: In the Triangle area of NC, we are lucky to have miles of greenway system for running, walking and biking. Many greenways run through urban areas with access to bars and restaurants. I figured a better way to do a bar crawl and get a whole lot more exercise would be to cycle from stop to stop with more distance in between. The tours also give me a way to share the greenways and neighborhoods with friends who may not get out as much. I have an upcoming bike and beer tour planned that will involve stops at three local craft breweries. Stay tuned to my blog for a report with photos.

BR: What’s your next race goal?

JO: I have plans to run a half and a full marathon this fall with only 3 weeks between them. Both will be new events for me and I hope to set a PR on one or both courses. I already know where the good beer is at and plan to hit the local scene in both cities post-race.

BR: Found this quote on your blog: “Beer contains predominantly water and carbohydrate, both of which are essential in post-race recovery.” -nutritionist Kim Pearson. How can I meet and thank Kim Pearson?

JO: Kim Pearson is a nutritionist in the UK. I found that quote in one of several articles in Runner’s World about the benefits of enjoying a post-race beer. To me, it summed up one of the reasons that it’s not just okay, its advisable to enjoy a beer after a run.

BR: Do you have a favorite local North Carolina beer?

JO: While Wedge Brewing is in Asheville, NC, I have to go with my local guys at Big Boss Brewing in Raleigh. Their recently released High Roller IPA is to run for. As you can tell, I am both a hop head and an advocate for the NC brewery scene.

BR: Anything else to add?

JO: A tip I’ll share with fellow marathon beer runners - many larger races have baggage check that transports your stuff to the finish. I take an insulated lunch bag, place a couple craft can beers in it, check it and pick it up after my race. While everyone else is standing around with paper cups of something light and flavorless, I’m sippin’ on a tasty craft beer. Cheers!

Turning miles into smiles

2010-06-30T11:49:00.003-04:00

Michelle and I got down to business last weekend and ran our first triathlon of the summer. The BASF Smile Train Triathlon is a sprint distance event held in Wake Forest, North Carolina and is the same event we did last year as our first ever triathlon. A sprint triathlon is generally around a 250meter swim, a 12 mile bike ride and a 5k run which is the distance of the Smile Train race so we have trained over the spring with those distances in mind.

Overall, our races went great and we both improved our finish times from last year. Race day temperatures were nearly identical to last year as was the race course. It may have actually been hotter which made the run all that more challenging considering the fairly hilly 5k course.

I have trained for this race by primarily running this spring with an occasional ride and only working on swimming a half dozen times over the past month. Last spring, I worked considerably harder in the pool and the difference in training really showed last weekend. My pool time for the 250m was slower than 2009 and I actually got tired half way through the 10 lap swim. Both Michelle and I improved our finish times with faster transitions and faster bike rides though. I equate the faster transitions to our use of speed laces in our shoes and in my case, less changing of clothing and gear. My transitions simply involved changing shoes and putting on a shirt after the swim than grabbing a hat for the run.

The 12 mile bike ride went by quite well for both of us and we each took about 5 minutes off our time from 2010. I think both of us are stronger from all the running and that translated to an easier time on the ride. The only exception was for me; at about mile 3 of the ride, a beetle of some sort flew into my mouth as I was sitting up after securing my bike pump lock to the frame. I had just loaned my pump to another rider mid-race. It was awful feeling as the hard shell and legs of it were wedged in my lower throat down in my trachea and all I could do was cough, hack, gulp my drink and spit trying to dislodge it. After about 10 minutes, while I was still riding, it seemed to free itself though I felt it still there or a cut from it for the rest of the day.

Michelle's parents came out to watch and cheer for us again which is where these photos came from. It was nice to have them there for us and to hear a familiar voice cheering at the finish. At the end, I finished in 1:21:43 compared to 1:25:08 in 2009. To my surprise, my run time was 28:08 compared to 27:09 last year. I had expected to improve my run this year so I blame the difference on the heat. Despite my slowness, my 5k run was still good enough for 87 out of 193 males and my overall finish was 117 out of 193 males. Considering I suck at swimming in a race and I ride a greenway hybrid bike, I feel pretty good about my finish and overall improvement on time. Michelle deserves kudos for doing the same and I am especially proud of her for working on her running and finishing the hilly run with a smile.

While I am not a seasoned triathlete, I am fairly experienced participating in running events. Based on that experience, I can say this race is very well done. The organization of race check-in, the transition area, the pool, the course-workers, water stops and the finish was fantastic just as it was last year. The finish line crowd and support at the start/finish of the bike was also very good; especially considering this is not a large scale event. It makes all the difference having spectators and volunteers cheering for you as you finish the ride and the run.

And finally, for you craft beer enthusiasts out there; particularly the ones who are coming to my blog from the Draft Magazine Beer Runner's weekly blog entry profiling me, we celebrated our finish with a swing-top 22oz. bottle of Mocha Coffee Stout homebrewed by a friend that has aged since filling it back in February. Cheers!

Time to get serious

2010-06-17T13:52:00.014-04:00

Moving on from the disappointment of The Doughman relay quadrathon result from last month, I am now focused on my race schedule for the rest of 2010. Over the late winter and into the spring, I've really stepped up my running from where I normally am at this time of year. Having intended to run the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon in February, I was able to maintain my running through December and January unlike other years where I started my winter break around that time. Taking a few weeks off in the second half of February and returning to a semi-regular schedule by mid-March for the first time, allowed me to comfortably up my mileage over the last couple months to well beyond my norm for April and May. With that came a few fun, short races that I've mentioned running since February including the Krispy Kreme Challenge (4 miles), the St Patty's Run Green 8k, the Old Town 5 Mile Beerun and the Doughman. There has been a theme of fun and silliness with these races but now its time to cut out the silliness and I'll be focusing on the my racing and of course; having fun!

My biggest obstacle to maintaining my plans this year will certainly be staying injury free and avoiding getting a cold come marathon time. More than ever before, I plan to research new ideas on avoiding injury as well as using the techniques I have learned from experience.

My tentative race schedule for the rest of 2010 includes the following:

BASF Smile Train Sprint Triathlon - Wake Forest, June 27
Historic Beaufort Road Race 10k - Beaufort, NC, July 17
UNC Wellness Super Sprint Triathlon - Chapel Hill, August 1
Sportsplex Super Sprint Triathlon - Hillsborough, August 21
Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon (New half) - Myrtle Beach, October 24
Richmond Marathon - Richmond, November 13

I also have plans for two bike and beer rides in the Triangle area this summer - time and dates TBA ... to protect the guilty.

Carpe Viam!

Doughman wrap-up

2010-06-16T13:23:00.013-04:00

It has been nearly three weeks since the Doughman relay quadrathon in Durham and I'm finally getting my thoughts together regarding the event and my team Foodicidal Tendencies results. The unofficial result was we KICKED ASS and finished 14th out of 67 teams that made it to race with a time of 1:40:07.....the official result is that we were disqualified after the race for a "Traffic Violation."

My team was made up of myself and three other good friends plus Michelle as our team driver. Our team was two males and two females who split the running, biking, paddling and eating events around Durham and Duke north campus with a finish in the Historic Durham Athletic Park - a place I love and grew up in attending ball games as a kid.

The race started with racer 1 eating a yogurt parfait, riding close to 10 miles to a BBQ restaurant where he ate a serving of NC chopped BBQ, hushpuppies and a fried chicken leg than riding another mile and passing off to racer 2. Racer 2 ran to a local bar, ate half a veggie pizza and than ran close to 2 miles to a Duke pool where I waited. Racer 2 jumped into the pool and paddled in a donut to the other side to tag racer 3. Racer 3 which was me, ran about 1 mile to another local bar (where the Doughman race was founded) and ate a goat meat Italian sausage sandwich topped with marinara sauce, onions and peppers than running almost 2 more miles to meet racer 4. I tagged racer 4 who ate a Mexican-style cheese, egg and green sauce casserole and than had to run nearly 2 miles to the ballpark where us other 3 racers were waiting. We had a slight miscue at this point as our driver forgot to pick up racer 2 at the pool so we had to wait at the ballpark for racer 2 to be brought to the finish before the 4 of us could eat the desserts and run the final stage together around the ballpark to the finish line. Even with the miscue, we only lost a couple minutes and maybe a couple places in the finish. Otherwise, we were within range of a top 10 finish.

The race was a lot of fun and preparing for it with my team of awesome athletes was even more fun. We had a fantastic time meeting other race participants and seeing friends who also competed on some of those teams. I even met a celebrity contestant while waiting at the pool, Rebecca from last season's The Biggest Loser was competing in the Doughman with her boyfriend and two other TBL contestants. After chatting with her, I also saw her team cross the finish later that morning and congratulated her on their finish.

The main reason for the Doughman in theory is to raise money for Durham charities. This year, the selected charities were two that benefited kids - one that was a program to teach kids about healthy eating and helps them to grow their own food and one that allows them to take part in drama and acting. I thought these were outstanding benefits and it was really nice to see and hear some of the kids in these organizations that were at the finish line festival. The raising of money for these charities was optional though as the $100 fee each team paid to register and the $20 ticket fee anyone paid to attend the post-race "banquet" were also going to these charities I believe. My team chose, perhaps it was my decision - to skip the fund-raising and focus on the actual race. After all, we are racers. I've had my share of fund-raising recently having raised over $2000 myself for a cancer research foundation last fall for my running of the Marine Corps Marathon. I didn't feel inspired to do it again but I respect every team that did.

My first complaint of the many to follow below about the event was that the race disorganizers decided after registration to annouce that those teams who raised a minimum of $200 would be given an unspecified time bonus at the start. Essentially, this allowed any team to buy-in to their finish time. I am not sure what the actual time bonus was but I have heard it was only 1 minute. My irritation was at the start, I heard someone shout that "if you want to write a check to get your time bonus, do it now." As an experienced racer and charity runner, I was a bit unamused at this unfair advantage given to teams. I have never heard of giving a time bonus to anyone regardless of their charitable donation size.

I've held off on blogging about the race until now as I have tried to contact the race disorganizers to understand the reason for our disqualification. Along with our team, six other teams were also DQ for the same reason, for exceeding the time limit or because a team member got sick. I have a pretty good idea on the actual violation that Foodicidal Tendencies committed and I was probably that specific offender; however the details of our supposed violation are a result of the terrible organization, course work and officiating by the Doughman race itself.

To be specific, I believe I ran across a city street near an intersection while the crossing light was red. I did this at the direction of the corner worker near the finish of my run who advised me it was safe to cross. While on my 2+ mile run, I passed one other corner worker who also told me to cross the street as it was safe to do so. I was also not directly at an intersection with a crossing light at that time. I believed at both times that I was within the rules of the city and the race. Some might say, I still technically jaywalked however this draws into question the entire race course and the lack of monitoring or enforcement for ALL participants. The reason I suspect I was the offender on my team was that following my run, I overheard one female judge tell another that they would have to DQ all the teams that she just saw cross the street which included me. However, I stood there and watched more runners do the same within minutes of my finish and only one other team in our time range was DQ. Perhaps we should have raised or given some money to the charities...

During my run, I watched other runners ahead of me run blatantly and directly through red lights, down the wrong side of the road, also jaywalk (or jayrun) and one who ran directly through the middle of a five way intersection. The cyclist on my team saw other cyclists ride through red lights and some that even cut in front of a moving ambulance with its emergency lights flashing. Again, perhaps we should have raised or given some money to the charities...

My point is that the race disorganizers were so ill-prepared to conduct a safe, fair and organized event - they have NO right to DQ my team or the others for a supposed violation reported by one of their few observers when that supposed violation was a result of direction by their course volunteer.

To highlight the amateurish operation that the Doughman is, I'll also mention that nearly none of the entire bike or run course was marked or staffed to allow riders and runners to safely navigate the city streets of Durham. The race disorganizers said they marked the course the night before with 'dots of flour' - a method only known to hashers - which are not a group typically concerned with safety or obeying laws. The use of flour dots might have been acceptable had the forecast for the evening not been for lots of rain that would obviously wash away their flour dots. The only signage I saw on course was two 8x10 printer sheets that said Doughman with an arrow that were actually laying in the street and pointing the wrong direction of the course. There were no spray painted arrows, no course workers to point you in the right direction, no police officers at major intersections, no signs mounted on posts or trees, no yellow tape or cones - nothing at all to prove that the disorganizers truly wanted to or were capable of putting on an official and safe event. Therefore, I find no reason at all for why they believe they have the right to DQ a few teams for a violation that they caused and that most every team committed in some way.

I understand that there were documented rules before the race however given the amateur and unsafe operation of the event, I could only assume the rules were to protect the race disorganizers from liability if a participant were to be injured on their unmarked, unmonitored and unsafe course. Sending a bunch of competitive racers out on a course and allowing them to decide when and if they would break or follow the rules is truly unheard of in my experiences.

The one positive thing I can say about the race operation was the amazing job the Durham restaurants and bars did at providing food and the space to the race participants at each stage. Each of the 5 eating stops located at restaurants was awesome and for the most part, the food was actually very good. I know I truly enjoyed the goat meat sandwich that I destroyed in less than 90 seconds. If there was a ray of shining light in our DQ, it was that my team had a fantastic time running the race and enjoying the food during and the beer after the race near Durham's Duke campus.

The Doughman day did not end here though as the much publicized and sold out "banquet" was held that evening at the Durham Athletic Park. I'll leave out all the details but essentially, only one of the 6-7 participating restaurants actually brought enough food to feed the number of paid guests that attended. Michelle, her parents and a friend of mine from out of town attended and while the beer selection was pretty good including 5-6 draft beers from 4-5 local breweries, the food was minimal at best. Some of my guests really didn't even get a whole plate of food as the slim pickings were gone within the first 30 minutes of the "banquet" that was billed as lasting from 6:30 - 11. The banquet was fun but another disorganized way to end the day.

All in all, I had a blast preparing for and running the Doughman, however I will not participate in it again nor do I recommend it to any serious competitor. My discussion or publicity of the race ends with this blog post and I can only hope that if it continues into year 4, the race organizers take some of my comments to heart and find a way to put on a more legitimate and fair event that truly cares about the safety of its competitors and doesn't just haphazardly enforce the make-shift rules when they feel like it.

IndyCar Series in the rearview

2010-06-02T22:54:00.031-04:00

Last weekend, the 94th running of the Memorial Day classic Indianapolis 500 took place to mark the 99th year since the opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was another interesting and exciting race won by no surprise: a Target Chip Ganassi Racing car driven by 2007 winner - Dario Franchitti. Towards the closing laps, it looked like a non-Ganassi or non-Penske car might be able to get the win but as the fuel mileage game played out and the leaders slowed to conserve fuel over the final laps, it was not to be and a red car won yet again. Ganassi and Penske cars have now won 8 of the last 11 Indy 500s while also winning the bulk of the IndyCar Series races over recent years.

On the white flag lap, the leaders were all running on fumes and slowing their cars dramatically to increase their mileage to the finish. Too many times before, we have seen the leader on the last lap of an IndyCar fuel mileage race than sputter and get passed for the win by a car running in 2nd. I sat on the edge of my seat awaiting such a scenario and hoping Dan Wheldon in second or a dark horse driver deeper in the field still running on full rich fuel setting would pass Franchitti for the win coming out of turn 3 or 4 on lap 200.

Instead, the race ended under caution as Mike Conway, who had led in the closing 30 laps and was charging back to the front on lap 199 at full race speed around 220+mph, ran into the back of Ryan Hunter-Reay who had slowed to nearly 200mph saving fuel with the other leaders. Conway's car was launched into the fence and broke in two pieces as it crashed to the ground. Luckily, Conway remained conscious during and after the crash while sustaining a broken foot or leg and a back injury. Considering the tremendous impact and similarities to other fatal crashes I have seen before, he was lucky to survive. The breaking up of the car reminded me too much of Jeff Krosnoff's fatal Champ Car crash on the Toronto street circuit in 1996.

The next day, I read a few articles about just how slow the leaders had reduced their speeds to in the closing laps and it struck me odd that the Indy Racing League would think it safe and reasonable to allow cars to circulate this slow while other cars on track are running with full fuel at much faster speeds. The drivers running on low fuel at the front are the very same drivers that regularly complain about the slower drivers in the back being safety hazards and "in the way" throughout the season. While I do agree with them and cringe when I see Milka Duno getting lapped 5 laps after the start of a race, I think the league needs to remember Conway's crash in the future when cars are chugging along on fumes creating a hazard for faster cars charging from the back.

Of note, with the win, Chip Ganassi becomes the first car owner to win the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 in the same season having also won Daytona in February with Jamie McMurray.

The other item I wanted to share was the 4 part article written by long-time motorsports writer Ed Hinton on the downfall of IndyCar and the Indy 500 during the reign of Tony George over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This article really hit home for me because it steps the reader through the agonizing years of IndyCar from 1995-2009 that fans and those involved with the series lived day by day, month by month, year by year.

I remember each and every highlight touched on my Hinton in these articles as if they were yesterday. Some have criticized Hinton for being too pro-IndyCar and many more for being anti-IndyCar. I believe he is a motorsports journalist who calls it as he sees it and my respect for him and his colleague Robin Miller is tremendous. Far from political correctness, these two racing journalists normally call it as they see it and I have learned a lot from them over my years as a fan of open-wheel racing in America.

If you are interested, take the time to read all of Hinton's four part series The Damage Done that I have linked below. He does an incredible job highlighting the battles fought during the open-wheel civil war and how it allowed NASCAR to become the most popular motorsport in America.

I. The Gathering Storm: Honor, blood and a brewing battle

II. Getting It Wrong: May '96 memorable for wrong reasons

III. Digging In: Divide widens while fatalities mount

IV. Hell of A Vision: George's devastating victory

May the Centennial era and 100th Anniversary of Indianapolis Motor Speedway help rinse away the destruction dealt to IndyCar by Tony George's vision and the mistakes of CART / Champ Car's many leaders past.

Killboy Photos from the Dragon

2010-06-01T23:44:00.003-04:00

On the Dragon - Highway 129, there are a few photographers that hang out along the road all day and take photos of every car that drives by. They than post the photos on their websites for enthusiasts to go and look at and buy copies of.

After returning from our MINIs on the Dragon weekend last month, I decided to order a few photos from killboy.com - the original Dragon photographer. I also found a nice selection of photos taken by US129photos.com but decided to go with just a couple from killboy. I have posted scans of the two 5x7 photos I bought from them that they took of me during our morning Dragon Parade run and my solo evening run later that day.

You can check out the rest of my pics in the galleries I created on their websites at US129Photos and Killboy

Time to eat!!

2010-05-24T14:49:00.006-04:00

This coming Saturday is the day we've been waiting for! The 2010 Doughman relay quadrathon that I mentioned a few months back is going down at 8 AM on the mean streets of Durham and my team Foodicidal Tendencies is ready. We've all been working out for the past couple months in preparation of the bike and run portions of the race while studying the menu of local favorites being served up at the restaurant stops along the way.

I ended up with the 3rd stage of the race and will be running nearly 3 miles with a stop early in for a goat meat Italian sausage sandwich at Dain's Place Bar and Grill. The team is made up of myself, another guy friend and two girl friends. Michelle will be the team's 5th man acting as driver and transporting the team from stop to stop with a finish at the historic Durham Athletic Park where I grew up attending Durham Bulls games as a kid.

click photo to enlarge

Along with the race and post-race fun, there is also a Doughman banquet Saturday evening in Durham at the ballpark featuring food and beers from local restaurants and NC breweries. We'll be attending that also and have our fingers crossed for good weather all day.

I just learned that contestants from the TV show - The Biggest Loser will also be competing in the race so hopefully, film crews will be there to capture some of the action for national TV.

If you are heading out to spectate, keep your eyes open for my team and our kick ass jerseys with the front previewed below.

If you are competing in the race, prepare to eat our dust!

Motoring the Dragon & Searching Out NC Beer

2010-05-05T15:02:00.029-04:00

Now that I have mostly recovered from the last two weekends of racing, driving and uh-um, beer drinking; I have found time to blog the amazing five day weekend we had in the mountains of North Carolina. The foundation of our trip was attending the 8th annual MINIs on the Dragon that happened last weekend in Graham County, NC but we also included some brewery stops and time for visiting friends along the way. In a way, our photos from the trip tell the story and speak for themselves but I'll share a few highlights for posterity.

Our first afternoon and evening was spent with good friends in Black Mountain where we stopped in Pisgah Brewing to sample, sip and enjoy some of the fine craft beers they reserve for the population of the Asheville/WNC region. Unavailable in our area, Pisgah beers proved worthy of their hype. I was particularly fond of their Vortex I, Vortex II and Hellbender.

The following day took us to Asheville for lunch and beer samples at Lexington Avenue Brewery, a new brew pub to the city dubbed 2009 Beer City USA. While the beer selection was minimal, our choices were good and the food was excellent. Our day continued with a drive west to Bryson City for a hike to several waterfalls and an attempted visit to WNC's latest brewery - Nantahala Brewing Company. Unfortunately, I learned we were a day early to try their beer as the NC ABC permits had only just arrived and sampling would not start until the following day. Our next stop was our lodge at Lakeview at Fontana, a great little place just outside Bryson City on a mountainside overlooking Fontana Lake.

After check-in, we hit the road again to explore some mountain twisties including a portion of the Tail of the Dragon (NC Hwy 129) and the Hellbender (NC Hwy 28) on our way to Fontana Village. As expected, the village was engulfed in hundreds of MINI Coopers and their owners for as far as one could see. We took in the scene and had a nice dinner at the Fontana restaurant grill before a dark drive back to our lodge on the Moonshiner (NC Hwy 28).

Our official participation in MOTD started the next day with an 8AM group drive of the Hellbender and the Dragon in a parade of well over 120 MINIs. While I did the driving, Michelle did the photography and kept her screams to a minimum as we negotiated the twisty curves of the Dragon from Deal's Gap, NC into TN and back. Currently, the end of the Dragon (TN Hwy 129) is closed due to a rock slide however the state was kind enough to keep the road open for enthusiasts to drive in from NC to the end and back. The Dragon itself is known as an 11 mile stretch of road with 318 turns.

After surviving our first slaying of the dragon, we met a group in Fontana Village for a drive back east to Sylva, NC for another brewery tour at the Heinzelmannchen Brewery. Heinzelmannchen is a small, family owned brewery that makes German style beers for the local area. This was the smallest brewery I have visited in NC to date but certainly one of the most enjoyable. Just like the brewery, Sylva was a cute and inviting small town that we enjoyed a tasty lunch in following the brewery drive and tour.

The day continued with a drive back west, stopping at our lodge to prepare for the evening and load up the car with beer we brought from Raleigh's Big Boss Brewing for an event we had planned for that night in Fontana Village; the MOTD Brew Swap - more on that later. After yet another drive west on the Moonshiner, we returned to the village for the MINI car show and I left Michelle at the lodge to relax while I headed back towards Deal's Gap for an afternoon solo assault on the Dragon. Despite carrying over two cases of chilling craft beer in the trunk, I went out with the hopes of safely running the Dragon and getting some in-car video footage like I did at VIR last November. As you can see below, I traveled the distance of the road nearly without interruption in a time of approximately 19 minutes.

The only holdups besides fear were a loan street biker who passed me in a curve and the two TN state troopers patrolling the road at all times. I was repeatedly radar clocked in both directions and even followed the last mile on my return trip to NC by one of the troopers. Luckily, I never really overdid it with my speed so no ticket for me. The speed limit on the Dragon is generally 30 MPH and 10 or 15 MPH in the curves. I was averaging 30 MPH in the curves and generally taking the straighter portions between 40-45 MPH. While I could have hit 60+ MPH in a few places, I really didn't want a ticket (or to die in a crash). Later I would find out that this was not the case for other MINI drivers.

Upon returning safely to the village, though a little late from stopping at Deal's Gap for some swag, Michelle and I had dinner again at the grill and geared up for the Brew Swap. Definitely a highlight for me, the event was a blast and the Big Boss beer was a hit. I traded for all sorts of beers from all over the USA and met some great folks who like me, love both their MINI and good, craft beer. We got back to our lodge a bit late that night but with no scheduled events until 11 AM the next day, we finally called it a day.

With yet another warm and hopefully, dry day ahead, we set out Saturday to the village for the MOTD group photo. Not knowing what to expect, we arrived nearly last to park my car on the baseball field in the village with hundreds of other MINIs and their owners. It ended up being a lot of fun and a good way to see everyone's cars and their unique features and upgrades to styling.

We spent the rest of the day on our own exploring the region with more drives on Hwy 28 and Hwy 129 plus a visit to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and a drive on Hwy 19/74 along the Nantahala River to the gorge for a late lunch on the river. The lushness of the trees and foilage along the river was simply amazing. No matter where we explored that day, there were other MINIs and their owners nearby. It was as if all of Northwestern NC was a playground for MINI Coopers.

Having explored nearly all the main roads in the area, we decided for dinner to take a drive south on Hwy 28, the true twisty portion of the Moonshiner, for dinner. Despite slight rain showers, Michelle did the driving this time and we ended up eating a tasty Thai meal in the town of Franklin before taking the dark drive back to the lodge for the night.

The next morning, for our final day in the area, we took one last run up Hwy 28 and cut south to Robbinsville for another scenic loop of the Nantahala Gorge and return back to Hwy 28 before heading east to Asheville. After a great lunch in Asheville, we stopped in our favorite Asheville brewery along the train tracks in the River Arts District. Wedge Brewery which also only serves the local area and doesn't even bottle their beers but is worthy of the trip alone. I am a big fan of their 3rd Rail Ale Double IPA, their Golem Belgian and their Russian Imperial Stout.On our way home to the Triangle, we were able to also stop in Greensboro for a quick dinner at the Old Town Draught House and some Natty Greene's Brewery pints with friends who we also joined for the Beer Run in March.

That quickly sums up our wonderful spring MINIcation/Beercation to Western NC for MINIs on the Dragon but in no way tells of all the great folks we met and the experiences we brought back from the trip. I predict there will be a return trip to MOTD for us one day.

MINI Friday at the Bosch 250

2010-05-04T12:56:00.003-04:00

Coming a little late, I wanted to review my Friday I spent at Virginia International Raceway for the Grand Am Series weekend that invaded the track a few weeks ago. Grand Am racing at VIR has become an annual spring event that usually happens at the end of April around the same time as the World Beer Festival in Raleigh. This year, I chose to split the days between the two and only made it to VIR for practice and qualifying of the various series on the bill. Headlined by the Grand Am Rolex Series, VIR also hosted the Grand Am Continental Tires Challenge Series that includes the race team I mentioned from last fall that runs MINI Cooper S cars in the Street Tuner division.

As a member of the Tarheel MINI Motoring Club, I arranged a MINI gathering at the track to take advantage of the freebies and car corral offered to clubs by VIR. It also seemed like a good way to meet fellow MINI enthusiasts from the area.

I met up with a couple guys from the club and a gentleman who works for the RSR Motorsports team that runs the MINI CTS cars. While he is a volunteer (and MINI Clubman driver) from Massachusetts, the team is from Phoenix, Arizona. Even though the VIR paddock is always open to ticket holders, it was cool to get a walk-through of the pits, the team garage and hauler by my new friend. I also met two of the team drivers including Sarah Cattaneo, a lovely blonde girl who was racing one of the team cars after major repairs to it following a nasty crash at Barber Motorsports Park less than two weeks earlier.

It was definitely another great day at VIR and I was sad to miss out on race day when the larger crowds and MINI enthusiasts were there for the main events. There is no question, I'll be back for the next Grand Am race and hope that Tarheel MINIs can grow their presence in the club car corrals.

Beerrunner

2010-03-23T13:55:00.009-04:00

This past Saturday, I ran in the 10th annual Old Town Draught House 5 Mile Beerun around the campus of the University of NC at Greensboro. While I've long been a fan of running and having a post-race beer, this was the first time I participated in this event or any official beerun. The idea is pretty simple - run a race distance and have a post race party with free beer for the participants. I guess the Skirtchaser 5k that we ran last year is the same premise however its focus was primarily promoting running skirts for ladies.

The Old Town Beerun starts and finishes in front of the Old Town Draught House which apparently has some sort of rich history and is one of the few bars I have ever seen that's practically on the campus of a major university. Michelle came along to watch and a Greensboro friend joined me for the race while her husband also watched. The run was a pleasant 5 mile timed event that ran through the campus of UNCG and than circled it with a nice long uphill towards the end and a finish in front of the Draught House. The weather was quite nice on Saturday afternoon with full sun and temps in the mid to upper 70's. Therefore; I was able to work up a nice sweat for once after so many months of cold in NC.

The post-race beers were provided by Natty Greene's Brewing Company, a favorite local brew pub that just opened a second location in Raleigh. Honestly, nothing tastes better have a long, hot run than a cold beer - preferably a craft beer with a nice, crisp mildly hopped flavor.

My finish time was slightly better than my recent 8k time in Raleigh which for this race worked out to an 8:25 pace for the overall distance. I seem to be stuck in the mid-8 minute pace these days for any distance over 2 miles however if I can maintain it for a half marathon distance in 2010, I will be happy.

It was definitely a fun race and worth the drive from Raleigh. I was glad to see my Greensboro friends and to have Michelle there with me. Not sure yet what race is next but stay tuned.

Cheers!

Time to cheer for Ferrari F1

2010-03-13T07:28:00.002-05:00

For the first time ever, I will be cheering for a Ferrari in the upcoming season of the Formula One World Championship that starts this weekend. My favorite driver, Fernando Alonso - who won the 2006 and 2007 World Driver's title has switched from Renault F1 to Scuderia Ferrari for 2010. While I've never denied the superiority of Ferrari, I just never found them to be a team that attracted me as a fan. Their dominance of the championship with 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher in the 2000's firmly established Ferrari, the oldest active team in F1 as a modern day favorite for bandwagon fans and tifosi worldwide. However, with full respect for their rich history and my hopes of race wins and a challenge for the championship by Fernando, I want to share this Shell Oil Co. commercial from a few years back that features the beautiful Grand Prix machines of Ferrari F1.

Go Alonso!

Kilted Run

2010-03-09T10:15:00.004-05:00

This year seems to be starting out as the season of themed runs for me. Last month, I ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge for the second time and this past weekend, I ran the 2nd Annual St Patty's Run Green 8k; also in downtown Raleigh. Though St Patty's Day isn't for another week and a half, many of the runners and participants were dressed in the appropriate holiday attire. I went with a stylish Irish kilt borrowed from a colleague who often wears them as normal daily wear. Some of my friends participated as well; the weather was simply perfect.

Running in Raleigh, downtown in particular, means hills - lots of them. The 8k (roughly 5 miles) course was all hills actually. I was familiar with the course from previous runs and bike rides and I knew we would either be running up or down hills for the full distance.

At the start, one friend and I started together and stuck together the first 1.5 miles but she quickly left me going into mile 2 and never looked back. I simply didn't have the legs to keep up with her and another friend in this race - the two running friends I have that are nearly identical in pace to me. They finished a few minutes ahead of me and a few others finished right behind me. I ended up racing a leprechaun to the finish as we both sprinted to the line together. I am sure some spectators got a good laugh at the that sight.

At the end of the day, my 8k time was 42:14 or an 8:30 mile. While its certainly far off my 8k or 5k PR, 8:30 is consistent with my pace times from the past couple years of running. In fact, its the fastest race pace I have finished with since the 2007 VA Beach 1/2 Marathon where I ran an 8:29 pace. Prior to that, I ran a 5k in downtown Raleigh with a 7:30 pace. Focusing on distance running over the past couple years certainly has slowed me down in the shorter sprint races or perhaps its age, beer and those friggin' hills. Gotta love 'em!

Next up: the Old Town Draught House Beerrun in Greensboro - another 5 miler with finish line brews.

Open-wheel chassis facts & lies of past & present

2010-03-03T11:13:00.064-05:00

As I have recently mentioned, the impending failure of Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor's so-called US F1 team based in Charlotte, North Carolina has saddened open-wheel and Formula One fans across the country and around the world. Along with the February headlines that US F1 was in trouble preparing for the 2010 season, the US-based IndyCar Series also garnered mixed media publicity for the release of design submissions from potential architects and manufacturers for the next generation Indy car. Instigated by the much hyped impending Delta Wing project announcement, series officials rushed the release of designs offered by current chassis builder Dallara and previous CART Champ Car builders Swift and Lola. Garnering a mixed reaction, each of the designs below inspired chat, mild media hype and internet buzz about the direction of the next generation of IndyCar.

Personally, I was drawn towards the second Swift chassis design with the closed front wheels as its similar to the image of a classic open-wheel racer while providing aerodynamic fender-like protection for the front and rear wheels. The biggest danger to Indy cars and a major factor in crash prevention is preventing the interlocking of open-wheels from two cars at high speed on oval and road courses. Most of the builders take this into account in some form with their designs however I find the Swift the most aesthetically pleasing while at the same time creating a new car that modernizes the look that Dallara has provided IndyCar teams for many seasons now. To top it off, Swift is an American firm based in Californian with experience building open-wheel cars for US series and European based series.

Following the rushed release of these designs, the Delta Wing project was finally unveiled to the world at the Chicago Auto Show and included a full scale prototype replica of the car designed and built in secrecy by a group of engineers employed by IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand Am Series owner - Chip Ganassi. I was disgusted with the penis-like closed-wheel machine that I first saw. To me it looked like a Bonneville Salt Flats or NHRA Top-Fuel/Funny Car hybrid drag racer. There are no wings and the front basically brings the car together like a three-wheeled tricycle. This is a prototype so obviously, the potential race car would have rear view mirrors and perhaps a more attractive nose cone but in general, I voted and still vote NO to this ludicrous design. The designers have lots of selling points including engineering facts and dreams of cost reduction, greener racing and higher speeds but at the end of the day, the entire design is butt ugly.

In an ideal world, IndyCar would approve and be able to provide customers to multiple chassis builders. The Indianapolis 500 would feature new technologies and cars of different design qualities all on track at the same time as it did in its heyday of the 1960's and 70's. Unfortunately, today's economy of racing doesn't afford that so the series will likely approve one builder to provide their next chassis and fans will have to live with spec racing and watching 20+ identical cars all season as we do now. This race fan sincerely hopes that looks wins out over brains and that the Delta Wang does not become the next IndyCar racer.

Coming full circle here, that brings me back to our friend Ken Anderson down in Charlotte and the failure of his team or him to complete their promised US-built F1 car that was to race in F1 this season. The season starts off in Bahrain in nine days and last week, US F1 finally admitted to the FIA that they won't be ready in time and would like to miss the first 4 races. What?! Than after a week of bad press, we than hear that US F1 has asked to miss the entire season and delay their launch until 2011. Are you kidding me?!

So, we have a new F1 team created by Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor in 2009. It was announced one year ago prior to the announcement of 3+ other new teams and approved by the FIA for a slot on the 2010 grid. They essentially have a head start on the rest of the new teams to get their project underway. In Ken's interviews, he hints at the fact that the team was in the plans for years and that they have major funding in place for the team yet his overall tone is that he doesn't even believe himself. However, by October 2009 when other teams are assembling their new cars, the silence from US F1 is lifted to reveal that they have 1. remodeled a building in Charlotte for their team 2. hired 50+ staff and 3. designed their car on computers with state of the art computer programs. We also learn that they have no intention of wind tunnel testing their new design and instead - will rely on computer simulation to test the car. WTF - they have a wind tunnel at their disposal in Charlotte! Despite other new teams signing sponsors, experienced drivers and paid rookies, US F1 has nothing of merit to announce. They just tell the fans to be patient and wait. Meanwhile, the US F1 website hosts a few YouTube videos featuring SpeedTV commentator Bob Varsha poking around the facility and chatting with staff about the new car. I found it interesting that all we saw was desks with computers and interviews with less than enthusiastic employees who seemed as though they were hiding something. Now we know, they were hiding the fact that they had already lost faith in their boss and his dream of building a F1 car. There was no car - it was all lies.

This takes me to my final gem - that this isn't the first time Ken Anderson has been involved with the failure to produce a much hyped open-wheel chassis. I was skimming articles about the US F1 failure and reading reader comments and someone mentioned 'look up Falcon chassis...'. I remembered Falcon chassis, they were a Charlotte based company that was approved by IndyCar in the 2002 as the third chassis supplier to the series along with Dallara and G-Force. Despite having designs offered from Lola and other experienced builders, Falcon was selected by the series to build cars even though they had no experience, no cars and were just a name. Needless to say, Falcon never sold a car and disappeared by 2003. Guess who was chief designer on that project - Ken Anderson! Wow, was I surprised. This was less than 10 years ago however I doubt that any of US F1's employees even know or recall the Falcon and the suspicious creation and failure of the team that was given the IndyCar contract over Lola.

2002 release of the Falcon chassis to the media

An interesting quote I found on a F1 insider forum about Ken Anderson included the following:

"Check out USF1 and get the real story. Too many of the F1 so-called "journalists" are not pushing the story.
One of you guys or gals need to investigate the back ground of Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor.
Investigate the "resume" of Ken Anderson!! This has happened in the US with football coaches etc - they embellish their resume to gain status or a job.
Check out Falcon IndyCar -- talk to the former employees that he told that Penske ordered 5 chassis so they would leave their jobs or countries and come work at Falcon (of course they could not tell anyone). Talk to John Biddlecomb and Chip Ganassi about his "actual" involvement with G Force. Talk to co workers at PPI, Penske Shocks, AAR, etc. Also the sports car team in Springfield Missouri where he had a ton of top people move out of the UK and Indy to work for him -then leaves in the middle of the night (after the shop doors were locked down).
Talk to or investigate the "investment" materials that Anderson and Windsor was giving out to naive people like Chad Hurley.
Talk to the young drivers and their parents that helped Windsor and Anderson obtain funds as the young drivers were promised "development" deals that were never delivered.
Find out the real reason that Windsor walks with a limp."

One wonders if the Falcon Indy car contract was simply a handout from Tony George and the Indy Racing League to Ken Anderson and Michael Kranefuss who never intended on building or selling a car. One also wonders what Ken Anderson has done with all the money from investors (like YouTube founder Chad Hurley), sponsors and paid drivers (Jose Maria Lopez and James Rossiter) as it seems he never intended to actually have a car ready to test in February and race in March 2010. The worst part of it all, regardless of the intentions of Ken Anderson is that the United States name is attached to this failure for all the F1 world to see. After the US GP failure, and the recent failure of American drivers in the series, the utter failure of US F1 is another black eye on American racing to the world.

Ken Anderson, Michael Kranefuss and Tony George with new Falcon chassis prototype

Ken Anderson, Michael Kranefuss and Tony George November 2002 Falcon chassis launch

The irony here is that the 2010 USF1 chassis seems no further along in development than the potential 2012 IndyCar chassis.

Perhaps we will soon hear about a fifth 'new' chassis manufacturer planning a Indy car to be built in the Charlotte, NC area - wink, wink

Ready, Set, DOUGH!

2010-03-01T10:59:00.003-05:00

After months of anticipation, I am excited to share that I have registered a team to compete in the 3rd Doughman relay triathlon in Durham, North Carolina this May. Last year, a friend told me about this event but I missed out on it from lack of knowing just what it was. Now, after being featured on the popular Travel Channel program - Man V. Food, the Doughman has become a nationally known event that will again take place in downtown Durham to benefit local organizations that support the inner city community. The race is best described as a quadrathlon with four person teams competing in eating, swimming, biking and running events around Durham drawing its menu from local eateries that support the slow foods movement a.k.a. eat local. Eating locally grown, raised and prepared, fresh food is a passion of mine as is swim-bike-run and what better place to participate than my hometown of Durham.

Anticipating a strong group of athletic eaters for this year's event due to its national coverage and popularity, I've recruited three friends for my team that I feel will give us a shot at a solid finish in the race. While participating in the race and fund-raising for the Durham DIG program at SEEDS and Seesaw Studio; having fun is the goal but a strong team performance with bragging rights is my ultimate wish. With that said, you can look forward to future blog reports about my team "Foodicidal Tendencies" as we prepare for the 2010 Durham Doughman!

Doughman: Like the Ironman, but doughier.

UPDATE: June 15, 2010
Read my latest post on how the Doughman race went for my team and my impressions on the organization of the event.