This year the Hospital Hill Run, that race I love to blog about, will be implementing: Seeded Time Corrals!

Beth Salinger, the race director, had this to say in a recent E-Mail/Newsletter:

“We heard you in your post-race surveys regarding the confusion and difficulty entering the start line last year. We will once again have combined start line located on Grand Blvd. just north of Pershing Road, but it will be wider and we will be offering start line corrals. Athletes will be assigned their specific corrals based upon pace. In addition, Hospital Hill Run will have four seeded corrals where you need to prove your skill level in order to be assigned and allowed in. The four seeded corrals will have athletes from all three distances. In addition, there will be a dedicated group of volunteers at the start line assisting athletes in finding their correct corrals and lots of new signs to help direct you. ”

So now the big question is… what will be the qualifiers? I am supposing that they will have one “elite” corral and then the last one try to be somewhat accessible and fairly lenient. Here’s my own guess at the times… you’re welcome to copy it or tweak it or come up with your complete own. Whomever guesses the closest in the comments, by March 31st – or whenever HH releases the times officially… which ever comes first — will recieve a $15 gift certificate code for a RoadID! How’s that for nice free swag?

So here’s what I’m guessing…

Corral A – Sub 1:25 Half / Sub 17:00 5k
Corral B – Sub 1:35 Half / Sub 20:00 5k
Corral C – Sub 1:45 Half / Sub 23:00 5k
Corral D – Sub 2:00 Half / Sub 26:30 5k

I spent no time coming up with these numbers and they are based on nothing other than a random guess.

So… leave a guess in the comments – and how do you feel about HH implementing seeded corrals? I personally think its pretty cool — an attainable (maybe) goal to go for!

Make sure you guess both HALF-MARATHON times AND 5k Times. Everyone in all 3 distances will be seeded, and I’m thinking they will roughly follow the format I’ve guessed with here. Of course there is the 10k but as I’m pretty unfamiliar with competitive times at that distance I’ve left it off. I’ve run countless Half-Marathons and 5ks and have a pretty good handle on what constitutes a good/elite/average time… but the 10k I’ve just run a handful of. Feel free to include it though if you like!

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Well it’s official… I signed up today to run the Heartland 39.3 Series – comprised of:

April 14, 2012 – Rock The Parkway Half-Marathon
April 22, 2012 – Kansas Half-Marathon
May 12, 2012 – Run With The Cows Half-Marathon

I’ve run some forms of the Kansas Half-Marathon before… I actually ran it back when it was the Therapy Works Half-Marathon in 2008 which it was for years and years… I again ran it in 2009, when it became the inaugural and detailed it in a race report. That being the inaugural race I did have a few complaints but it looks to be a well oiled machine these days… I guess I will find out!

The Rock The Parkway I’m surprised to see is now going for its THIRD running! I thought last year was it’s inauguration? Wow, time flies… maybe it was two years ago I was reading about it for the first time. In any case I viewed it as the “Johnny Come Lately” of Kansas City Half-Marathons… pretender to the throne of Hospital Hill and the Kansas City Marathon. I laughed as the 2011 running was on a rainy and cold day from hell. Well since then I’ve had quite a change of heart… I don’t know where that imagined disdain came from but it’s gone now! I am now quite looking forward to it… it will be likely my first race of 2012 unless a local 5k appears without notice!

The Run With The Cows – I know nothing of this race nor did I harbor any ill will or have preconceived notions that it was any sort of… well anyway! I am QUITE looking forward to this one too!

And then, next weekend… May 20th is Leavenworth’s own, Five Trails Half-Marathon… that’s actually where I got my HM PR! I hope to bust it this year at the Rock the Parkway though… I heard it was flat (or imagined it) … is it?

THEN! Yes then right on the heels of all this is June 2 – Hospital Hill 2012!!! Looks like 2012 may be the new year of the Half-Marathon!

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On a blog, I guess you’ll need to write on it… sometimes…

I’ve been running… quite a bit. I didn’t run today, and that’s quite sad, but I’ll try to make up for it with a post perhaps…

Since New Year’s Eve I’ve run nearly every day… and on street, wooded trails, paved trails and treadmills. I was *just* about getting to the point… no actually I did – the point where you just get dressed and go running without really planning or thinking about it. Your legs just take you out the door… and that is great. I love being there. This is a busy time too (and cold, snowed today for the first time… if you could call that a snow)… so getting in all this running is an accomplishment I’m nearly proud of.

I have been running a heck-ton two places: Treadmill & Ken Bernard Park. Yes that’s the local park with a couple soccer fields, veterans memorial, and healthy population of mountain lions. Yeah, you probably won’t want to go there… possibly… they could be there. I suppose that serves as a tease/introduction to my upcoming site (couple pages) dedicated to Ken Bernard Park (stay tuned!). Really, the place is a joy to run. There is a great trail there – the best thing about it being of course that it is a scant mile or two from home. Every single time I run there I seem to find a new branch of the trail.

If you aren’t familiar it is not a well visited park. It’s relatively new and I suppose there isn’t much there, at least not in Winter. Some soccer fields, a playground, some fishing, a nice Veteran’s Memorial and of course the running trail.

Many more details will be forthcoming on the mini-site if I can get it done.

Well other than that I did some trail running down at Big Cedar Lodge. That is always an incredible enjoyment. It’s about the best place to run you could imagine. The 5k trail, which is newly marked as such, is amazing at times. A quiet paved trail that meanders next to a still, fog-covered lake inlet, over a swinging bridge and a natural spring, by cabins galore, through manicured lawns, under waterfalls, stream flooded roads, backwoods trails… that’s just the 5k trail. If you are looking for the “start line” it’s actually over at Devil’s Pool Restaurant out back… but my suggestion – if you just want to run the thing is find the nearest 5k marker and run the whole thing until you arrive back where you started. It’s a great trail. This one is all paved.

The other trails at Big Cedar Lodge are comprised of the Little Cub and Big Bear Trails which are not paved and all wooded. These are wonderful to run on too if you’re into any sort of trail running at all. The scenery is an unbeatable majesty of forested hills and rocks – some of the formations are splendorous… and at the trail’s summit the view is quite nice to say the least. It can be tough if you’re out there getting a workout. Your other option is a nice peaceful hike. There are a number of geocaches on these trails too if that interests you… it does me! I found them all over two days out running and hiking on these trails.

Little Cub & Big Bear Trails:

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