Finish on the 50

Yikes! This is my pre-race pic?

We have been looking forward to this race for a few months now. I am so glad we all decided to run and was even surprised we would know quite a few people running one of the four races all to Finish on the 50!

Matt and I arrived at 6:30CT so we could find parking and check-in. I quickly realized this was the most disorganized race I have run to date. We pulled up our names on a laptop then were "assigned" a race number by one of the volunteers, it was a bit strange. We headed over to find a spot in the sun on the corner where the Toomer's Oaks were recently removed. There were not very many people around yet and if my race number (#404) was any hint, it was not going to be a huge race anyway.

I kept my eyes peeled for anyone I might recognize, hoping I would find Emily my "old" Auburn friend. Instead I spotted, easily, Leigh and Diane two fellow runDisney enthusiasts I've met through Twitter and runDisney Facebook boards. Then Ramona found us and it was great finally getting to meet her in real life, which was nice since we had run the same races but never actually met before.

The Half Marathon was supposed to start at 7:30CT and I don't think we were finally off an running until 7:38. We couldn't really tell what was going on then everyone just started running, no announcement or music or anything. Spectators cheered, as did runners of the other races, but my favorite was the Auburn Swimming and Diving team cheering in front of Samford Hall!

The runners headed down College Street crossed in front of the Auburn University campus before turning to run down Gay Street and through residential neighborhoods towards Wright's Mill Road. There were plenty of rolling hills and a water stop around Mile2, but it's hard to say because there were ZERO mile markers and I was going by my NikeGPS App (since I forgot my NikeGPS watch).

When we got to the turn at Chewacla Park, there was a water table with cups and a huge tub of powder Gatorade but no volunteers. This was a crucial point since runners would be running past this table twice. There was no huge cooler of water and there were no cups on the ground, leading me to believe this station was just never fully setup. Luckily there was a small pavilion with a water fountain if runners were really in need, but I didn't want to stop.

We headed back along the same rolling hills of Wright's Mill Road and I felt very strong. I decided to really try to watch my pace, hoping to stay between a 11-11:30mm pace in attempt to run this entire 13.1 without intervals. I shouldn't compare myself to others, but it was really encouraging when I passed other runners. It was especially encouraging when I passed other runners as I felt strong running UPHILL. We continued to backtrack and passed the same water stop that was Mile2, maybe around Mile 6+ on the way back. Huge kudos to volunteer at the intersection of S Gay Street and Woodfield Drive, we passed him twice and had the very important job of directing 10K and Half Marathon runners to the split in the course. On my way back through, this same volunteer was also photographing runners!

While there were arrows helping guide runners throughout the course, color coded arrows for each race might also be helpful since parts of the course overlapped for the different races. Mile markers would have also been very helpful throughout the course, as I was asked by few runners wanting to know mileage.

Half Marathon

Another huge shout out to the Auburn Police during this race! They were very attentive watching for oncoming runners and halting traffic accordingly. There were four really important locations... 1. As runners turned off College Street at the beginning of the race. 2. As runners crossed the I-85 Wright's Mill Road overpass and the police were only allowing cars in one direction at a time. 3. As runners crossed the E University Drive intersection. 4. When the runners crossed back over College Street from residential neighborhoods heading back onto campus.

Once back on campus, there was another water station. I think it was fairly close after we crossed back over College Street but I'm not exactly sure if it was there on Woodfield Drive or if it was after we turned onto Donahue. This had to have been somewhere Mile8 and Mile9. If I had known there wouldn't have been another water station until Mile12, I probably would have stopped and chugged more than one half dixie cup of water.

We turned down Lem Morrison and I was really surprised to find so many buildings I didn't recognize from my days at Auburn. I wracked my brain trying to remember if this road even existed back then, fully knowing if it was it was not developed or utilized a decade ago. This same road curved and then became Mell Street, and buildings started to look familiar again. I ran past the Arboretum and then as I was passing the President of Auburn's house is when it really hit me, I was going to set a new personal record. My pace up to this point was excellent and I still felt strong and  only time would tell by how much my new PR would beat my last, set on March 17 of 02:36:17.

I got ahead of myself. I don't think I started running faster. I don't think there were more hills, yet. I could see the stadium but I still had another 3 miles to run. My mouth was dry, I needed water. I willed myself on, knowing a water station would be soon. I mentally kicked myself for not knowing the course better because I could have asked Matt to meet me on Tatch with a bottle of water, but the race organizers never posted where or how many water stations there were along the course and I had trusted they would be prepared. Mile 11 was downright awful, I caved and did a few intervals. I realized my thighs were chaffing a bit from my shorts riding up and so was the inner section of my left arm, both consumed me as we hooked onto W Magnolia Ave (or as I knew it, "Old Frat Row").

Finally at Mile 12 there was another water station. The volunteer was enthusiastic and gave me a fist bump for running for the Boys & Girls Club of Auburn, but I told him I was going to hang out a bit. I ended up chugging SIX dixie cups of water. The volunteer was nice and sprinkled some Gatorade powder in two of my cups. I was drained but I proceeded onward. Wire Road seemed to be a slow and steady uphill before turning onto Samford to head around the football practice facilities. I'm sure I drove this road many times in my years at Auburn but I never realized their was a crazy hill as you continue on Samford toward the intersection with Donahue. Wow, a brutal hill at the end of a Half Marathon is brutal. I no longer felt strong, I just wanted to move fast enough to still PR.

Looking back, I think I was more defeated than I let myself believe because I was just on survival mode. How do I know? I have zero pictures or screen captures after that 10 Mile screen capture. I didn't even send Matt a text message to give him an update I was getting close or even entering the stadium. They weren't looking for me, but Matt said my mother-in-law spotted me on the field. I finished. I set a new PR. I got my medal and felt like I was scavenged for refreshments. Someone pointed me to a huge tub, and I actually had to dig through lots of empty bottles until I found two. I stepped off the field and completely downed the first bottle of water. Matt and family walked to me and we took a couple pictures, I think. I recovered enough to spot Aubie and start heading his way, only to learn he left! HUGE sad face.

I asked about Matt and Abigail's race. Matt was so proud of her! He said she started out very timid, wanting to hold his hand but then after watching the other kids run with their families she caught on and decided to run too. I honestly wasn't sure if she would run or not, she didn't want to run at all during The Royal Family 5K in February and "ran" just about the entire race on Matt's shoulders. This course was shorter and she didn't have to be up nearly as early for this Fun Run!

Fun Run

Finish on the 50 Fun Run

Matt took lots of pictures during their run and even got video of Abigail's Finish on the 50!

Abigail couldn't wait to show off her medal to Aubie! She even told me Aubie kissed her medal and picked her up. Hopefully it wont be another 3yrs before we get our next visit with Aubie.

 

We headed out of Jordan Hare to get to the Tailgate Party at the Transportation Center. I saw a couple lines of people, and had to ask what was going on. Runners were supposed to be able to look up their finish time but there was some sort of error and none of the times were posting. There was another line to pickup race shirts around the side of a van and they were out of all the sizes we needed. Luckily, the ladies behind us in line were trading their Women's Medium for a Small so I was able to get my correct size. Abigail ended up with a Women's Extra Small and she's going to wear it as a nightgown. The only Men's size remaining was XL so we had to put his name on a list for reorder. The was no signage and I did see some Powerade, I never figured out how to get additional refreshments and we decided to just leave and head to lunch.

On our way to lunch Matt told me before his race the runners were being told some of their volunteers were missing in action. Unfortunately, there was more lacking than just volunteers. I should have remembered this was the first year the Half Marathon was being offered, and I should have been more prepared. I should have worn my fuel belt with my own water and I should have run with some GU or Clif Shot Gel. I still do not know how I forgot to run with fuel, but then again I forgot my watch at home too. (Sigh.)

While this was my FORTH Half Marathon, it was definitely the smallest. I'll chalk a lot of it up to a learning experience for me and while this race was still lacking in a few areas, I am still really happy that I was able to set a new PR. It was amazing to run through the city of Auburn and the campus, because when I was in college I thought the sororities who hosted races as fundraisers for their philanthropies were out of their minds. Now here I am 10yrs later and I couldn't be more thrilled to drive in from out of town to run/race here. I hope we'll be able to Finish on the 50 again next year!

I am not sure if it would be possible, or if the race organizers had already reached out, but it would have been pretty amazing if some of Auburn's organizations were present on the race course or helped at the water stations. Ideally, this race could work with Auburn's Student Government to allow the different organizations to earn spirit points if they have members running, volunteering at water stations or set up cheering sections along the courses. This "2013 Finish on the 50 will benefit Student Affairs for programming for intramural sports, group fitness and club sports for the student body" so it would only be fitting for the organizations to also be more involved on race day.

It seems like there are plenty of people unhappy with many aspects of this race but I hope they realize it's still a newer race and decide to register again in future years. The course was great, the organization with the city seemed to be great and if a few campus organizations would step up to assist, this race would be absolutely perfect.

QUESTIONS:

-Have you ever Finished on the 50 yard line of a race?

-What do you do when you run a race that is not organized as well as you hoped?

A Bittersweet Auburn A-Day

Our morning started earlier than we expected, Abigail woke up at 5:30CT telling us "the sun is up". Matt's alarm went off about 15mins later, I think when he set his alarms he didn't realize our clocks switched over to Central Time. We decided to get ready and pop over to Toomer's Corner before the crowd arrived in the afternoon. It was perfect, very quiet and very few people around at the early 8am hour.

The Toomer's Oaks look so sad, they had been poisoned by a very disgruntled Bama fan the weekend after Auburn won the 2010 Iron Bowl. This hateful man called to brag about his actions on a sports talk radio show the week after Auburn had a huge rally to celebrate their 2010 BCS National Championship. Auburn proceeded to test the soil around the oaks and eventually confirmed the poisoning. Immediately there was an incredible outpouring of love and sadness from the Auburn Family, and beyond. Auburn's Horticulture department and Auburn's Tree Preservation Committee tried effortlessly, for two years, to repair the damage of the "very lethal dose" of herbicide. Unfortunately, the destruction could not be repaired and this A-Day game would be the final rolling of Toomer's Oaks.

Matt created this Toomer's Oaks design, right, when all the reports were being released in early 2011. I remember many Auburn fans making this design their Facebook and Twitter profile pictures (without permission). Matt was even requested to change the colors of the tree to crimson and white because there were plenty of Alabama fans also disgusted that one wretched fan can be so hateful. Yes, we each want our own teams to be successful on and off the playing fields, but to intentionally destroy property and another school's tradition is outright awful. So on this sad day, we will roll the Toomer's Oaks one last time.

Photo courtsey of AL.com

As Matt, Abigail and I were examining what was left of the poor trees we were approached by a photographer for AL.com. She asked us a few questions including "In one word: What does Toomer's mean to you?". The one word we selected was MEMORIES. Matt and I rolled Toomer's Corner while students at Auburn, it was always amazing to watch thousands and thousands of fans exit Jordan Hare Stadium walk around the Haley Center, down Thach and cross Samford Lawn to Toomer's Corner. A few block down from this iconic spot for Auburn fans, Matt and I first met while working at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center. Our first date was to the SEC Championship Game against University of Florida on December 3, 2000 (there is another story behind this, ask one of us sometime). Fast forward years ahead, and we couldn't wait to return to The Plains to bring Abigail to her first Auburn A-Day game.

April 18th, 2009

It wasn't until we returned after Auburn claimed the 2010 BCS National Championship, when we first shared the tradition of Rolling Toomer's with Abigail. She had recently turned 2yo and had fun with the orange and blue shakers, we danced to the music of the band and applauded the players and coaches for this amazing achievement.

Rolling Toomer's at National Championship Celebration, January 2011

On this A-Day in Auburn, Alabama we celebrate Auburn University, the traditions, the Auburn Family, the memories we have made on The Loveliest Village on the Plains, the new head coach Gus Malzahn and we plan to send off our Toomer's Oaks with a huge, amazing goodbye. We stopped into the newer Auburn Arena to buy tickets and we ran into Michael, he and Matt were classmates. Abigail had fun meeting Madison and we were surprised to learn a new Walker will be arriving during the 2013 football season!

    

A-Day is always the perfect event for families, especially for the children to be introduced to Auburn football. There are plenty of kid friendly activities like jump houses, face painting booths, they can throw footballs and baseballs and run drills on the football practice fields. Oh, and game tickets are priced MUCH cheaper than fall tickets!

   

We met back up with Matt's cousin Johnree and his wife Mandy to sit with and watch the A-Day game. Abigail really enjoyed being able to hop from Matt and I to Johnree and Mandy. I was really surprised how fast Abigail warmed up to them, she even shared her popcorn with them!

 

 

Since this A-Day was extra significant,  two of Matt's old classmates also brought their families to Auburn to bid a fond farewell to the Toomer's Oaks. Because life happens, our wedding 7yrs ago was the last big Industrial Design reunion. Jessica now lives back in Kentucky with her husband and twin girls, it was so nice finally getting to meet Alice & Nora and introducing them to Abigail. Uma lived abroad for a few years, her husband is military, but while they do live much closer to us (compared to Europe) we don't see them often either.





















It was so great seeing all five of our girls playing together. They were running around (maybe playing tag? we couldn't tell), collecting sticks and putting them in a big pile (you can see it in the picture at our feet). They even had lots of fun rolling one of the smaller trees in front of Samford Hall, a couple of them kept saying they were decorating a Christmas tree.

While we were able to spend time with old friends, Matt and I had lots of friends who were unable to attend this special day. There are so many amazing memories we made during our Auburn days  and while we know there are more memories to be created in years to come, it will never be the same. We mourn the Toomer's Oaks but trust that Auburn University's plan for Toomer's Corner will become an even more special place for all of the Auburn Family to continue this tradition we all love. Trees can die but their memory and spirit will live on.

War Eagle!

Brown Bag Concert Series

Thursdays in September mean the return of the Brown Bag Concert Series at Marietta Square! This particular Thursday happens to be Auburn Gameday, so Abigail had to show her spirit.

The 'bid' kids were allowed to kick in the fountain, Abigail wasn't going to be left out. They all had lots of fun kicking, and were quite wet when they were dragged away from the water. Abigail was extra wet. Kamran started turning around to get out (similarly to him turning in the picture below) but used Abigail as leverage to turn and pushed her in! Luckily, this momma has cat-like reflexes and grabbed Abs by the collar so her diaper wasn't even fully submerged. That could have been ugly!

a Tiger Homecoming

We stretched this past weekend to a full 3-days and two of those were spent mostly in Auburn since it was homecoming weekend. On Friday I attended Design Interaction, a student-alumni one-day event, which is hosted by the Industrial Design Dept. It was great catching up with some of my professors and meeting some of future Industrial Designers.

On Saturday, we headed back to Auburn for the homecoming football game against the poor little Palladins of Furman. As typical for homecoming games, Auburn picks a weakling that is willing to come down to the Plains and take a brutal whipping in exchange for a big paycheck. This was our 2nd game of the season and Abigail's attendence went much as it did earlier in the year when we traveled down for a night game...short. This time it wasn't rain that had her running for cover with Momma. Instead we were battling a hotter than expected sunny afternoon that had our little one all flushed. To prevent any sunburn, Jill took Abby into the shade while I stayed in the stands with Emily and Z, who had joined us at the game. We did eventually leave (early in the 3rd qtr), but Auburn finished off Furman with a convincing 62-31 victory.

After the game we headed to Buffalo Connection for dinner with Emily & Z and some of their friends, but we also got a to spend some time with one of my former Griffin coworkers and her husband. On Friday I had found out that her hubby had decided to go back to school for Industrial Design, so we got in touch and actually got to see them as well. And so I guess you could say that between getting back to our old campus and seeing former professors and old friends, this definitely was a homecoming weekend on the Plains for us. :-)

By the way, we attempted to take a photo of Abigail that was similar to the one we had taken during the Spring A-Day game 6 months ago. It's not exactly the same, but it's fun to compare the two photos of our baby girl @ Jordan-Hare stadium.

Abigail's First Auburn Game

Saturday we drove down to The Plains to enjoy some Auburn football, compliments of Emily & Mike Zieman - THANK YOU!!!

It's been 2 or 3 years since Matt & I attended a game in Auburn. (Matt attended the AU-Vandy game last year, but it's a bit of a sore subject.) It was a bit wild to see how not only the campus has changed, but the entire city itself! Matt has a great old man voice when discussing "when we attended Auburn", it kept me laughing. We drove around town and were able to meet up with some old friends before the game.

The weather was very rainy but we managed to stay mostly dry. There was a crazy downpour before the game, which caused the game to be delayed 30mins. We very much enjoyed the pre-game happenings, Abigail enjoyed looking at everything going on around her.

She used up all of her energy before the game and passed out sometime between the National Anthem and Waaaaaaaar Eagle! kick-off! The rain started again right at kick-off too, so Abigail and I headed to the concession area to watch the game in a dry area. It was very loud, even under the stands! Abigail took a nice long nap throughout the first quarter. The weather continued to stay yucky the entire first half so we decided to leave at half-time since the rain stopped. We watched the rest of the game at The Buffalo Connection and were happy for another Auburn victory. Overall, it was a great trip to The Plains and we are looking forward to doing it again for Auburn Homecoming.