The Run Thru Hell on Halloween

I think it's safe to say that most Michigan runners are familiar with, or have raced, the Run Thru Hell, in Hell, Michigan. It's famous for its roller coaster dirt road hills, beautiful scenery, cool, collectable shirts, and the Porta-john Police. Harrison Hensley and his wife Delores have organized the Run Thru Hell for many years, and have supported the SE Michigan running community in countless ways, from Delores helping with registration and finish line schutes to Harrison hauling hundreds of race flyers to each race. And at the Run Thru Hell, Harrison was the Porta-John cop! He was legendary. His ability to move hundreds of runners quickly and effeciently thru the johns had to be seen to be appreciated. Harrison and Delores were important parts of the running community for many years.

Unfortunately, that came to an abrupt end 2 years ago when Delores suffered a stroke. She couldn't leave the house and Harrison wouldn't go without her. The Run Thru Hell stopped. We didn't see Delores' smiling face at the registration table. There were no flyers announcing upcoming races, spread across tables at the races.

A lot of folks talked about how they could help, and finally, the Running Foundation organized The Run Thru Hell on Halloween as a fundraising race. The goal was to raise enough money to buy a wheelchair accessable van for Delores and Harrison, so these once vital, active people could once again travel to the races they loved so much.

That race was today. There were over 3,000 runners who competed in the 5k and 10k races. Everything was donated...from the timing chips to the tech shirts, and even the Porta-johns! 100% of the entry fees are going to purchase that van!

You could feel the excitement from all the runners at being a part of such a unique event. Everyone sang *Happy Birthday* to Delores, whose 80th birthday is November 1, and then she spoke to the crowd, thanking everyone for coming and assuring them that she remembered all of them. (She probably did!)

The race start was delayed by about 15 minutes, while latecomers registered and the lines to the porta-johns cleared. And that's when Harrison stepped in to claim his rightful place as Porta-John Cop-in-Chief! No more delays! Way to go Harrison!

And Way to Go Michigan Runners. You pulled together for one of your own and had a good time doing it.

Oh yeah, and it was # 107 for Asia. I'll write more about her race later today. Right now, I'm tired, and need to watch for Trick or Treaters.

RF 501 Stats

I confess to *borrowing* all this from Randy of Running Fit, and his Mid-week Run Mail. It was just too good not to share!

Congratulations to our Summer 2010 Running Fit 501 Runners!

What a great season! We had 30 runners complete their first half or full marathon. In addition we had ninety five PRs (personal records) recorded from our runners this year and twelve Boston Qualifying times were recorded.

RF501 opens its doors to the 17th season in January 2011. We are proud to announce that in those 9 years, we have had over 1,000 members complete a half or full marathon. This year alone, 378 members trained with RF501 and ran 181 half marathons and 173 marathons.

Following are some testimonials from teammates:

I found myself in a regular state of awe at how much the coach extends herself with all the little extras she does! (200%!) Her heart and soul seems to go into everything she does!! Lisa M.

What a great season! I really enjoyed my first summer session with RF501. It will definitely not be my last! Jamie B.

I could not be more pleased with my experiences with 501. Thank you, for believing in me and helping me believe in myself! Linda D.

Can't thank you enough for all the help, encouragement and tough love this last year! Jane P

Coach Doug, Coach Suzi and Lee,Thank you very much for coaching me during the this session. I learned a lot from 501 group..Excellent coaches and team mates! Akane

RF501 is open for registration for our Winter 2011 season which starts January 8, 2011 but in the meantime you can join us in Ann Arbor every Saturday at Running Fit, 123 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor, for a group run. Get acclimated to winter running by running through the fall. Runs start at 8am and are FREE to all 2010 RF501 members and FREE to all NEW 2011 members. You can also "drop in" to "test" out the group for $5

# 106 Detroit Half-marathon

After the race

Asia and Amy, her new Best Buddie.

Asia and Heidi, coming out of the Windsor Tunnel. (Heidi is in the blue top.)

Carmen, Heidi, Elizabeth, and Christine, before the race.

Asia and and Heidi at the pre-race dinner.

Wow! It's been nearly 3 weeks since I updated Asia's blog. There's been a lot happening, mostly good, some not so good, and that's made it hard for me to write. But here I am, and here goes.....

The week after we went to the Chicago Marathon Asia ran the Detroit Free Press half marathon. It was her 11th half marathon, her 4th time running the Detroit half, and her 106th race. We hesitated to sign her up, because we didn't have a pacer for her. This is the only race we are really concerned about, because of the International border crossing. But about mid August, Heidi (who sponsors the water cups at all of our runs, thru her Nationwide Insurance Agency) decided she would run, and that she'd like to run with Asia! Match made!! Our goals for Asia are always, first and foremost, a safe run, a fun run, and then, if the stars are aligned, a PR. Thanks to Heidi, Asia had the first 2 at Detroit, and an amazing time thru the tunnel, with an average pace of 8:04. Thanks so much Heidi!! You made it easier for us to relax and enjoy watching and cheering. Asia slowed after the tunnel and her finish time was 1:49:56. She was 1016 // 8809 over all, 242 // 5005 female, and 53 // 808 in her age group! WOW! And Heidi ended up with a great PR!

Chicago Marathon 10.10.10, or Asia, Jerry, and Adair's Big Adventure

Our perfect viewing spot at the 20.5 mile point.

We can look so fresh because we didn't just run 26.2 miles in 85* heat!!

Some of the team and support crew.

Gwen, Asia and Eduardo

We finally got to meet Sam! This was his 48th marathon this YEAR!

No, Asia didn't run it. But as soon as we saw how many of our team were going, we wanted to go cheer for them. And when we found out that Sam (http://www.operationjack.com/) was going to be there, it was a no-brainer. We had to go.

I started researching a month or so ago, and we tossed around the idea of taking the train, but Jerry had to work Saturday morning, so that was out. After quizzing my company's sales rep in Chicago, I decided that we'd drive over, stay near Midway airport, then take the *L* from Midway to downtown. The bonus was that we'd get to hop off and see part of the race....the 20.5 mile point....and hopefully see some of our guys running. ***Imagine trying to spot 61 familiar faces in a speeding blur of 45,000 people.***

The drive to Chicago was blessedly uneventful.....we stopped at Culver's in Stephensville for dinner, then arrived at the hotel about 7:30. Plenty of time to relax and plan our strategy for Sunday morning. I had maps of *Everything*....from how to get to Midway to the CTA route map to how to get to the Runners Reunite area, where we were all going to meet at the letter *R* for .....runner, or Running Fit, or (wait for it.........) RENNING!!!

We were up at 5am for breakfast at 6, then off to Midway. Part of my planning included preparing for unpredictable weather. I mean, after all, it's October 10....which could mean just about anything weather-wise. And we were going to the *Windy City*. So we took every combination of clothes from shorts and tanks to jeans and sweatshirts...........all team-oriented, of course, with rain jackets thrown in for good measure..........and this was for a 1 night trip. WHEW!!! It turned out to be wonderful spectator weather and not so great runner weather....55* at the start, warming quickly. I started out in jeans and a jacket but soon changed to the shorts I had in my backpack. The jacket was shed not long after.

We were the only ones at the corner of Halstead and Archer. We claimed our spot by the guard rail and draped our 10+ years old Red/Black/White Milan CC jackets over the fence to both save our spots and provide a visual sign for our runners. I had started my race watch at 7:30 sharp, and signed us up for runner tracking. We kept expecting text messages that didn't come until 8:40!!! The first 2 told us that John, Katie's husband and Sam had crossed the start at 8:06 and 8:07!!!! More than 30 minutes after the supposed start of the race!!! We tried to figure out, based on their previous races, when they might pass us. Higher math :>(

Gradually our little corner began to fill. A couple from San Francisco were there to cheer for their daughter. The support crew for a high school team parked behind us and began to wheel generators, coolers, flags, and camp chairs down the street closer to the water stop.

I have to hand it to the event organizers.......they gave us lots of notice that something was about to happen. 15 minutes before the wheelers arrived there was a *15 minute* van that came thru. Then the *10min.* van, then the *5 min* van, then..........there were the first wheelers! We could see them coming down the street under the train overpass. Such amazing athletes!

More down time. Chatting with the neighbors, waiting for the runners to appear.

And then in the distance we could hear sirens and bells and whistles. The flashing lights of police vehicles appeared under the overpass. The *5* minute van passed, but it wasn't 5 minutes until the police cars were there. Then a 20-motorcycle cavalcade passed, then the official pace car with the time of 1:38:38. And there were the elite runners. The first 7 were from Kenya and Ethiopia. They seemed absolutely effortless as they rounded the corner for the final 5.7 miles of their race. They would finish the marathon in just over 2 hours!

We waited for more text messages announcing the progress of our runners. Nothing!

Finally more runners appeared under the bridge. (I say *finally* but that's just because we were waiting...........these guys were crazy fast.)

We began watching in earnest. We were pretty sure John and Sam would be the first 2 from our *watch list* to pass by, but we had no real idea when. We had no common uniform to watch for, and in Sam's case, we had never even met him in person. We had only seen his picture online. With a lot of our team mates, we can spot them by their running style, but with Sam, we didn't even have that.

Yeah, we're going to pick 61 people out of 45, 000............rrrriiiiigggghhttt!!!!

But then.........wow! THERE'S JOHN!!! (cue the screaming.....Way to go John!!! WHOOO HOOO!!) We got a head turn and a wave from John! And a few minutes later..........(me: 'is that Sam? Jerry, that's Sam!) By this time we'd made friends with the neighbors and were cheering for their people too, so the group of us yelled, "GO SAM!!!" Sam was clearly watching for us as he rounded the corner, but he didn't know us either!!!

Whew..........that's exciting!! What's next? More waiting? Scanning faces? OK, bring 'em on!!

All this time we'd tried to behave......to stay behind the baracades.....while others, who had arrived 2 hours after we did, began to fill in the street in front of us. The police did nothing. We and our neighbors yelled, "Get off the street!" All to no avail. When my view of the street became completely blocked I caved in to peer pressure and ran to the street too! We didn't drive all this way to look at a wall of backs!!

I should mention that the temperature had been steadilly rising, and it was only 9am. It felt like a summer morning. I was in heaven, but I knew our runners would be suffering.

We scanned the faces watching for Eduardo and Gwen but never did see them. Erin and Christine arrived wearing their electric blue wigs, waiting to jump in with Gwen but left with Laurie instead. We waited, wanting to see Katie pass before we left for the finish but didn't see her.

The *L* took us within a few blocks of the finish but we were still several blocks from the Runners Reunite area. I really wish I had not been in such a hurry to get there, because Grant Park looked really gorgeous!!. Someday I'll go back. On the way I got a call that some of our runners were suffering and were walking. It was that hot!!

We made our way thru the park, past runners proudly sporting their finishers medals, with bags of ice on their heads, on their necks, under their arms....courtesy of the support crew. NICE!!

Finally, at the letter *R* we found John (3:09:09), Gwen (3:20:16), Mandi (3:29:06), and Ryan. For all their protestations about how hard it was, they all looked fantastic!! We all knew that it would be a while before the walkers arrived, so we talked, took pictures and waited while the sun beat down. Eduardo (3:21:46) arrived, then Jean (4:05:22), and Melissa (4:12:23) and Laurie, with Karen, Zoe, and Christine (Team Melaurie).

I IM'd Sam (3:29:27) to direct him from the Charity Village to the Reunite area.

Mimi arrived, and Zak (4:43:42, first marathon!!) and Ge (4:33:36 PR!!). Katie and Jon arrived and everyone's camera came out. We tried to *will* the helicopters closer to provide some breeze.

And then it was time to leave. We walked Sam back to the Charity Village to meet his host for the weekend and then made our way to the *L* to take us back to Midway Airport. She kept reminding me how *flexible* she was being by waiting until after 12 to eat lunch. But, truth be told, we were ravenous too, and after we found the car, shed some clothes and put on sandals, we made our way to the nearest White Castle for sliders for Jerry and I and chicken rings for Asia.

It was a wonderful weekend. We had a night away, cheered for our team, and met Sam.

In less than 24 hours after we'd left, we were on our way back home. It was so fast that Jerry had jet lag Monday!

(If you're not too tired of reading, go to http://www.operationjack.com/ and read Sam's blog. You will be amazed at what he's accomplished this year...........the year of 48 (so far), 50, after this weekend, and soon to be 61 marathons.

Next report, the Detroit Half-Marathon!!!