Archive for podium
Amy half does Argentan [1:36:03, +29:22, 79/398, 1/21 M5+6H, 15⁰, 123D⁺]
Posted in pictures, Running with tags Argentan, Argentan half-marathon, carbon plate, Courir en Normandie, extratropical cyclone, hail, half-marathon, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, M6M, Nike Vaporfly, Nike Vaporfly Next% 4, Normandie fort et vert, Normandy, Orne, podium, road race, storm, wind on October 8, 2025 by xi'an
Argentan half-marathon [1:26’24”, 21/273, 1/17 M5M, 17⁰, 112m⁺]
Posted in pictures, Running, Travel with tags Argentan, Argentan half-marathon, Courir en Normandie, Granville, half-marathon, hare, M5M, Manche, Normandie fort et vert, Normandy, Orne, podium, Saint-Malo, Sant Maloù on October 18, 2024 by xi'an
A rather satisfying race, if far from my best times, despite usual headwinds, where I set my own pace early enough, despite a fast start (19’36” at 5k!), and played ‘hare’ for a female runner from Granville—the harbour town in the Manche peninsula facing Mont Saint Michel and the Channel Islands, and mirroring the Breton Sant Maloù, hometown of my grand-mother—for essentially the entire race. (First M3F, second from left above.) I may have lost (again) some seconds in the forested part, but otherwise I kept to my intended pace and managed to keep away from the second M5M by two minutes, as well as the first M4M (next to me on the podium) by six. (No pictures from Normandie Course à Pied this year!)
2024 Huckleberry Running Festival 10K [39:28, 2nd/97, +174m, 18⁰]
Posted in Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel with tags 10k, Caen, Grand Master, half-marathon, hiking, huckleberry, JSM 2024, Les Courants de la Liberté, local race, Mount Hood, Oregon, podium, road race, tee-shirt, USA, vacations, Welches, Zigzag on August 16, 2024 by xi'an
A chance glance at a local newspaper, while checking for path conditions in the Zigzag Ranger station, made me aware of a local race taking place next to our vacation rental in Mount Hood Village! I first registered for the 5K then upgraded for the 10K, as the half-marathon sounded too much, esp. after an 18K fast training three days earlier… The route was nice, with two big hills and trees all around. I kept the first runner in my radar for the first seven kilometres but he then took off and won by almost two minutes. Very happy with the result, though, despite running the 5K and 10K more slowly than in Caen last month, where the altitude differential was much more modest. Too bad the tee-shirt is not that great! But the organising team was very friendly and excited at having an international participant to the races, for the very first time.
male masters
Posted in Running, Travel with tags California, Golden Gate Bridge, Grand Master, half-marathon, JASA, plaque, podium, road running, San Francisco half-marathon on November 5, 2016 by xi'an
Yesterday, I received this wood plaque from the organisers of the San Francisco Marathon! Nice, as I had not expected them to deliver abroad. And with this surprising title of second place in the male masters. After checking on Google (and avoiding a long list of SM sites), it appears that this means the above 40 category, which I had never heard of before. (I would have preferred an above 50 category, obviously! Which appears to exist in some races as the Grand Master category, even better!) Looking further at some of the (running) links, it also appears that categories by weight have been introduced in some races… Not that I can expect to benefit from that further division!
Argentan half-marathon 2016 [1:23:28-23/380-V2 2/74-16⁰]
Posted in Running, Travel, Wines with tags Argentan, Argentan half-marathon, countryside, Fall, half-marathon, Languedoc wines, Montpellier, Normandie, Orne, podium, road races, San Francisco half-marathon, veteran (V2) on October 2, 2016 by xi'an
And yet another Argentan half-marathon! Which started this blog, so to speak, 8 years ago… Although I could not repeat my feat at the San Francisco half-marathon, as I had lost my high altitude benefits, I managed well enough, with a good overall time of 1:23:28 and a second place in the V2 category, once again. I gained more than one minute from last year time, despite a strong face wind and thanks to sticking to a small group of younger runners. This is one of my best times since the start of the blog in 2008, so I am clearly very happy with the result. And plan to celebrate tonight with a top Montpellier wine!
