Speed has never seduced me, but endurance... yep.

I started running with some friends and colleagues and ran my first ever race, the San Francisco Marathon, in 1995.  "Ran" is a bit of an exaggeration, as I walked the last few miles, but I did it!  After that, I pretty much stopped running for the next two decades.  As I approached 50, I had a bit of a medical scare and decided that being fit was better than ... not being fit.  I needed a goal.  So, I decided to get back into running, and the perfect goal would be to run the San Francisco Marathon, and finish faster.  (A bit of sandbagging on my part, as my 1995 time left a lot of opportunity for improvement.)  In 2015, I "ran" it, I ran it faster, and I've continued running.

I decided on an Ultra for my next goal, but which one?  I almost signed up for several (and missed several deadlines), then, being the rebel that I am, just decided to run my own race. With that, the "Wings to Wine 50k" was born.

Hopefully, I'll not only finish the 2017 race, but I'll place 1st in my age group.  (Spoiler alert:  I'm the only runner, so I am likely to be both first and last -- there will be no second place, literally.)

Special thanks to the coaches at RunnersConnect.net for helping me get in the best shape of my life and keeping me motivated and injury free. 

About the 2017 Wings to Wine 50k

Woot!  What an amazing day.  My first 50k race (so PR!), and, more importantly, I achieved my RunnersConnect profile goal to “Run a 50k... and feel good at the end.”  And I felt great…well, great and tired and sore, but still great!

As per my time goals — I finished in 6:10:31.  I didn’t quite make my A goal (5:30:00), and I just missed my B goal (6:00:00), but with the heat (and the fact that I slipped in a PR 10k only 5 days before this run), I’m pretty happy.  And, to be fair, the actual distance was also a bit farther than the target too (measuring 51.5 km via FootPath and 53.33 km on the GPS track).

Special thanks to the crew (a group of friends and family) that staffed 4 aid stations along the route, including a fantastic surprise at aid station #4 that included an ice water bath with sponge and fresh watermelon along with tons of other goodies (all of which had to all be hiked in over a mile) — wow!

We ended at Ridge Vineyards for a wonderful picnic.  Great friends, great wine, great run.