Pine Belt Pacers Forum

Congratulations to the PBP Red and Blue teams for a remarkable performance at the First Light Marathon! In a cold morning both teams did great! After 3 hours and some minutes the red team placed .... blablabla.... while the blue team .... blablabla..... reaching their goal and... blablabla...... etc,etc,etc.

Ooooooops! they have not run yet! Anyway, it was just an advance of what is going to happen in a couple of hours!

Here are the Pine Belt Pacers teams,
Red Team: Kelton T, Christy T, Terry I, Justin H, & Neil S.
Blue Team: Charles J, Ginny D, Jodie L, Andy M, & Nestor Raul
After running his leg, Neil will complete the half marathon too.

Finally, Audrey J. will be one of the official designated drivers and also the race report guru for the event. Good job Audrey!

I would like to say THANK YOU to Nestor for always having a vision for these Relay Teams and taking on the responsibility of encouraging, organizing, and registering all of the PBP Relay Teams. BTW, I am always amazed by the details Nestor keeps in his head on each pacer. He can always predict times for each runner and just about predicts the exact time (within 2-3 minutes) that the team will have at the finish.

As for my experience here at the First Light Marathon in 2009 - it was GREAT! Kelton and I were here last year, but I was navigating (and with child) and didn't actually run via foot (just via automobile). I must admit I was a little nervous as this race got closer since I've just recently started training again and it just isn't so easy with a little one around. I run a much slower pace then these other pacers and was not wanting to let anyone down....and I didn't! Each and every pacer participating was encouraging and excited to be there. It was a wonderful experience and a fantastic way to participate in a Marathon.

If you haven't ran on a relay team - don't miss your next opportunity! You will LOVE being part of a great and enthusiastic group of people.

I was waiting for the results to be posted, but they are not ready yet. First, thanks Christy for your kind words. Second, thanks to all the runners in the red and blue teams for a very enjoyable time "running together", and thanks to Audrey for being the designated driver. She can easily drive in Mobile with her eyes close!

I think we placed second in 3:28:32 and third (3:31:01) in the organization coed category. We had two very even teams; both of them ran 2-4 minutes apart all through the 26.2 miles. Leg 1 was ran by Neil and Charles through the Oakleigh District. Then Christy and Andy went to mile 10 through Government and Dauphin streets. The hilly part of the course was run by Kelton and Jodie through the Country Club and the Univ. of South Alabama in the third leg and Justin and Ginny in the fourth leg. Ginny and Justin enjoyed climbing the Firehouse Hill in mile 18!

Terry and I ran the final leg; it is the longest leg (10K), but also the easiest one since we started downhill and then went through a flat course to finish in downtown Mobile at Bienville Square. Terry ran a very fast 46:11 and almost cut 1:45-2:00 minutes the time between the teams.
I did everything a person training for a marathon is required to perform. Why? I did the first mile at "speed work" pace, then went for another 1.5m in a "tempo run" followed by 1.5m at "marathon pace" and finishing with 2.2m at "recovery pace".

The weather turned out cold and windy this year, but we survived! WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!! I was blessed to have been part of the awesome Pine Belt Pacers teams. Thanks to everyone who participated in Mobile. Congratulations to Neil for winning in his age group in the half marathon and Charles and Terry for having his best personal performances ever in the distances they ran.

Thanks Christy for the pictures! They are great. Most of mine did not turn good! My camera even "ate" or "lost" the pic of the Charles-Andy hand off and the one of Neil with his award.

See you guys next time somewhere!

Christy said it perfectly! We really appreciate the time and effort Nestor put into organizing the team relays. This was my first time to run on a relay team. I wasn't sure if I would like it because normally I would prefer to run the half marathon or the full marathon, but today, the 5 mile leg fit in perfectly with my training so it was fun to do something new and different. It was also great to be around some of the Pacers that I haven't been around very often. Thanks to Audrey for driving us to our meeting spots. Also, thanks to Audrey and Charles for taking care of the packets for us.

Race Results

OK, it is confirmed; the Pine Belt Pacers teams placed second and third in the organizational coed category behind the COAST GUARD JAYHAWKS
(they have won the category in the last 3 editions of the race). The PBP Blue team finished in 3:28:33 and the PBP Red in 3:31:02.

http://www.firstlightmarathon.com/Resul ... ESULTS.txt

In addition, Pine Belt Pacers Neil Salomon, Bill Gasparrini, and Jeff Waldron took part in the half marathon event. Neil finished in 1:33:19, Bill in 1:48:14 and Jeff in 1:55:22.

http://www.firstlightmarathon.com/Resul ... verall.txt