Elvis Costume For Sale on eBay (Used)

Photo used with permission. Copyright Glenn Tachiyama.

As mentioned yesterday, my Elvis-themed 50k at the Badger Mountain Challenge 50k in the Tri Cities, WA, was dedicated to charity. As an animal lover I've opted to support the Humane Society of Central Oregon, so you can either donate at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/comradesTNF/2012?mid=zEcAAA2 if you feel inclined or you can buy the actual costume which I'm auctioning to raise funds.


I've run four Guinness World Records in this costume for the Fastest Marathon Dressed as Elvis and this costume currently holds the record:

- London Marathon 2007 (2:57)
- Rome Marathon 2008 (2:52)
- Seattle Marathon 2009 (2:42)
- Napa Valley Marathon 2012 (2:40)

I've also run two ultras in it, the 2011 Miwok 100k and yesterday's 2012 Badger Mountain Challenge 50k.


If you'd like to own this piece of errr...history...then please bid at eBay. You have until the end of Sunday the 8th of April.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190662109354#ht_500wt_1156

Badger Mt 50k and Some More Charitable Fundraising

Top: Photo used with permission. Copyright Glenn Tachiyama.
Bottom: From Miwok 100k last year.

Badger Mt 50k in the Tri Cities, WA, has an exposed course with around 6,000ft of climb. It was only six days after I trashed my legs at the Gorge Waterfalls 50k and I thought it'd be a good idea at the last moment to try to take it easier  and switch my mind-set by making it a charity run for my local Humane Society of Central Oregon and run it as Elvis (donate here if you think my silliness is worth a few dollars).

The Elvis costume, especially the wig, is now is pretty bad shape after four marathons, one 100k and a half marathon. This 50k pretty much finished it off and I was not Elvis at his perfectly coiffeured best. I was kind of like Elvis in his final days but much skinnier.

The plan made sense and I tried to take it a little easier than last weekend, but Justin Yates from Missoula, MT, zoomed up the climbs and I decided to try to keep him in sight. Last year's winner set the CR in 4:51 so I thought something around 4:20 would be around the front. Justin had other ideas and I chased him all day, losing ground on each climb and gaining some back downhill.

It's basically an out and back with three big(ish) climbs each way:

But it wasn't well marked and we both went off course multiple times. The 100 milers who started 24 hours previously must have struggled to navigate, especially in the dark.

I had a fun day and couldn't keep Justin in sight for the final climb but felt much better than last weekend. However, I didn't really take it easy at all and ended up finishing in 3:56. Justin was a few minutes ahead, smashing the CR with 3:53 and both of us were a lot quicker than I expected anyone to be running. These past couple of weeks are starting to show a benefit in my training so summer should be fun. Results will be here when they're posted. Bend had another good day after last week's Gorge Waterfalls 50k as Darla Askew set a new CR in 4:46 (she qualified for WS100 at Waldo last year so will be running there too).

One consolation I had every time I struggled up a climb or got almost blown over (the wig mainly stayed on by itself) in the high gales around the turnaround, was that I was doing something much more fun than the Barkley 100, which started about the same time. Those poor b@stards going through misery and getting their legs torn to shreds by the bracken as they do somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000ft of climb for every 20 mile loop. I feel very smug right now, but good luck to everyone out there. They have a couple of days left at most so could maybe catch this blog while they're stumbling along (I'm talking to you, James Adams, who will undoubtedly be playing with your phone if it has any reception).

Elvis’ Adventures in Wine Country

The finishing straight. Photo: Rick Gaston

Running with Devon. Photo: Rick Gaston

Last Sunday I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to run one of the prettiest road marathons around at the Napa Valley Marathon in California. I ran it last year as Spiderman as a good tune-up race but it rained so I hoped to get the proper California treatment of sun all day this time and wasn’t disappointed.

After almost missing the start (I got there literally as the gun went off), I caught up to a few of the local ultrarunners heading out for a bit of speed work – Nathan Yanko, Devon Crosby-Helms (my new The North Face team-mate after she left Salomon at the end of last year) and Victor Ballesteros. I hadn’t seen any of them for a while, so we naturally chatted, as ultraruners do. I think the rest of the field must have though it odd that we were talking as it’s just not the done thing in road races…but neither is wearing a costume.

Our little group had one other running with us and we stuck together to go through 6 miles before Nathan realized that 6 minute miling was way too easy for him and he sprinted off. We spread out of the next few miles but I ran with Devon and really enjoyed having company for 18 miles of the race with her. I don’t think I’ve ever run more than about 13 miles of a road marathon with anyone before and certainly not chatting the whole way, so it was something I’d like to repeat.

We went through half-way in under 1:19 and both had target times which looked very achievable (Devon had a shiny new marathon best of 2:38:55 from January and a course record of just under 2:40 to aim for; I had the 2:42:52 Elvis time from Seattle 2009). Devon seemed stronger and had clearly done more road work which was really paying off – she’ll hit some great times through this year, I guarantee.

By 18 miles it was heating up and I started to feel my lack of road miles in training so that 6 minute miles suddenly became harder. Devon gradually pulled away and went on to knock 7 seconds off the old course record in 2:39:37 to win her weight in wine (and 6th overall - see here report here) while I slowed down to finish in 2:40:49. Great course and a rewarding return to marathoning after a long break of almost a year.

Nathan was 4^th in 2:37:15 after a bit of a slow-down and Victor was 5^th in 2:37:51 so the ultrarunners had a good day around the front of the field. Full results here.

This weekend I couldn’t avoid mentioning Mike Wardian’s races again since he ran a 2:22 marathon for 2^nd on the Saturday then the USATF road 50k championships on Sunday in 3:02 for 2^nd too. 5:24ish for 57.3 miles over 2 days is just ridiculous!

Looking forward to the Napa Valley Marathon with Elvis

Under four weeks ago I was limping after dropping out of Rocky Raccoon 100, but I'm now very glad I dropped before I did much damage as I was running again within a week and am now feeling fairly good about doing the Napa Valley Marathon this weekend. That's despite trapping a nerve on Sunday which left me virtually immobile. Luckily it got fixed the next day by seeing Mark DeJohn for some Active Release Technique magic. Two days later and I can barely notice it, which is a huge relief.

So this weekend I'll be returning to Napa where I (briefly) broke the Guinness World Record for the Fastest Superhero (as Spidey) in 2:40 before Mike Wardian broke it again the following weekend in 2:34. He tells me he'll be going for a GWR in the same race he used last year but he's not doing Elvis, so the pressure's off to some degree - 2:42:52 is the target, which was set in 2009 at the Seattle Marathon.

It should be fun, as these costumed marathons always are (I learnt last year that ultras in costumes are less fun as the joke wears off and it just gets a little uncomfortable). And I like the opportunity to race back in the Bay Area and see friends down there. This marathon seems to attract a few ultra-runners, probably due to it being close to home for many of them and Nathan Yanko (3rd at Napa last year) and his girlfriend, Devon Crosby-Helms (previous winner) will be running too.

I've missed marathons, so am really looking forward to running my first one since May, 2011. My usual gap is about 2-3 weeks, so it feels more exciting again now. Enjoy your runs this weekend, wherever you are.

Finally, a shout out to Geoff Roes who is currently running the Iditarod Trail Invitational 350-miler through insane conditions in Alaska. You can follow him here for the next few days...yes, the race takes that long!

Return of Elvis

Seattle marathon 2009

After a few weeks off running and plenty off racing, I tried a 5k last week and hated it. Annoyingly it was a PB, but only because the course was short and my actual speed was barely above marathon PB pace.

Luckily I have stuff that does interest me more coming right up. Firstly, there's the Seattle Half Marathon in a week where I'll be returning to the course where I last got the Elvis marathon Guinness World Record (2:42). Just half the distance this time, but faster and for charity. As with earlier in the year, I'm trying to help out the Starfish Greathearts Foundation, who help AIDS orphans in Africa. If you'd like to help me support this worthy cause, donations in the UK can be given here or other nationalities can donate here.

Given this time of year is Thanksgiving (for 330m people, anyway), it's a good time to remember how lucky most of us are and how much we take for granted, so please help the charity out if you're amused by or like my odd efforts to raise awareness.

After taking that race fairly easy, I have the final big showdown of the year at The North Face Endurance Challenge Final. This is shaping up to be a seriously competitive 50 miler, probably the best field I've ever heard of in a trail 50 (better than last year - check out some of the top names from all over the world on this list). Should be really fun to hang out with the world's best and be part of such a speedy field in one of my favorite places to run - Marin.

Enjoy the 'holiday season' as they say over here in the US and good luck with your races or off season fun.

Also, if you're thinking of a Christmas present for a runner, I have a couple of spots left for coaching and it's an ideal present for a distance runner which could help make their 2012 season the best yet. More details here.

The 100th Bay to Breakers 12k

Living in the Bay Area means I'm spoilt for choice with the races held locally. Last weekend there's the most historic/prestigious/scenic trail 100k in the US with Miwok, then this weekend there's the 100th Bay to Breakers 12k. I believe it's got the record for the most people in a race when it had 110,000 around the time I was born (I read that in the local paper so may be wrong). And it's a huge party of costumed, drunken and nude debauchery...normally, anyway. This year they said no drinking and no nudity and I saw both.

Now it may seem like this is the perfect race for me to wear one of my costumes, since most people do, but I wanted to race it as fast as I could so didn't opt for that route. However, I felt a little flat after the hard training for the past seven consecutive weeks. The whole year to this point has been aimed at getting in shape for Comrades, which is just two weeks away and it's going to be close whether I'm overtrained or not. Such a fine line to tread and I was probably pushed over it by the Big Sur marathon two weeks ago. However, all the races were fun, unlike today.

I wanted to run fast, hit a 10k PB and stick to that pace for the last 2k. However, it felt like I had anchors attached to my heels. And at around 2.5 miles was an 11% gradient hill, called Hayes Street Hill, with 200 ft of vertical climb. Sounds easy if it's an ultra, but I hit it at speed and my legs virtually gave way. I crawled up and knew that my jelly legs weren't going to give me a good time.

It had been great to get to start with the front guys and to walk past Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist. But after the gun fired, it was just a hard slog of feeling slow and sluggish with little fun and not even helped by the party atmosphere, since most of that was way behind me. I was surrounded mainly by serious runners although they must have looked happier than my grimace.

At least I saw fellow ultrarunner Scott Dunlap around halfway and he cruised past me as I struggled to stick to almost a minute/mile off pace. I decided to take it easy to the finish and not work my tired legs too hard, but then I saw Scott on the horizon and thought that maybe I'd be able to keep him within eyesight without having to wreck myself. A slight downhill made everyone speed up and I was suddenly going at a decent pace, but so was Scott. It became a game of trying to stop him getting further away, which mixed in with a mainly downhill finish to the race.

I felt much better, pushing hard and wishing I'd have been in this groove earlier in the race until I caught Scott and just pipped him to the post. My final time was 44:30, averaging just under 6 minute/miling. Disappointing, but after how negative I felt mid-way and the minutes I lost off my target, it was a good save and may have turned out to be a useful training run. But I'll be resting well for the next 14 days.

Luckily I found out the real fun of this race after the finish line. Due to the fact that the (pointless) shuttle bus ticket I purchased didn't leave until midday and my race was over at 7:45am, I decided the quickest way to get back to the BART station would be to jog. However, the closest station was basically right next to the start line, 7.5 miles away. So why not watch the whole race in reverse (and have about 10,000 people tell me in varyingly rude ways that 'You're going the wrong way')?

I got a great view of the costumes and music along the route, plus an eyeful of the handful of naked fat guys running it. No nude women for some reason...No photos, I'm afraid as I didn't have my camera, but here're some race photos through the years.

Finally I got an enjoyable run in, just by jogging along the course and seeing everyone have so much fun. As I got nearer the start line the people were less likely to have entered the race and have a bib number, plus they were generally more drunk. Somehow it took two hours for the last people to cross the start line and I almost made it back there before they did. So that makes the delay at races like London or New York seem speedy.

And I wasn't the only one to do the reverse route since the winning 'centipede' team (i.e. 13 people linked together) were jogging back too. They had also won the previous year and were a team from the networking site, Linked In. So, how quickly do you think 13 guys could run 7.5 miles linked together?

I bet you didn't guess sub 5 minute/mile pace in a time (and world record) of 37:00! And that's with a hill that would cost even the elites 30+ seconds extra. They finished in the top 10 overall (well, the ones at the front did), a fair way into the professional solo runners. These guys were fast.

But not as fast as the winner, who wasn't the favorite, Meb, but was Ridouane Harroufi in 34:26 of Morocco. Meb was a minute back in sixth. Full results here. I'll be back to redo this one the right way, starting further back and dressed like a tit (that just means dressed stupidly, not like an actual tit).

If you'd like to donate to the Starfish Greathearts Foundation, which I'm raising money for since they help AIDS orphans around the Comrades course (see my Miwok posting) then Brits can donate here and everyone else here. Any donation is much appreciated.

Miwok and raising awareness/money for AIDS' orphans in South Africa

It was a bit windy.

Photo courtesy of Doug Bond at mile 51.

After my fellow Bend resident (where I lived at the time) and ultra running superstar, Kami Semick, raised money for the Starfish Greathearts Foundation for last year's Comrades marathon, I was inspired to help her and the charity out this year. They support children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa and have projects in the KwaZulu Natal Province where Comrades is set.

Given the extremely high rates of infection in South Africa and the many orphans resulting from this, I thought it'd be a great idea to help out. Therefore I've set up a justgiving site for UK residents who wish to donate at: http://www.justgiving.com/sharmanian/ as well as a donation website for anyone wanting to donate in dollars at: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/comradesTNF/comradesmarathon. Both these links also have more information about the work the charity does.

So rather than just dedicating my Comrades run to fundraising, I thought that all my big races this year could be used to raise awareness. And the traditional way to do this in the UK, particularly at the world's biggest fundraising event, the London marathon, is to run in a costume. I've already run the Napa Valley marathon this year dressed as Spiderman (see posting here) but I've never run an ultra in a restrictive costume. I didn't want to announce it too far in advance in case the unpredictable Bay Area weather was too nasty, but I did run yesterday's Miwok 100k (with 10,000ft of climbing) dressed as Elvis. This seemed like a good idea at the time, although it was actually a lot more annoying to run like that than I'd expected. Previously I've used the costume for marathons (see here), but the prospect of nine hours or more in the sun and hills was a completely different endeavor.

In short, the race was as fun and competitive as ever and I think I got a lot of unexpected smiles from runners and spectators alike who enjoyed my costume more than I did. It was meant to be more relaxed than a full race effort but running that far on that terrain will always take a toll and it was still a hard day's work. The costume was hot, caused some chaffing and the wig kept getting in my eyes, especially with the really strong winds on some of the higher points. But I had a great day out with old and new friends and had one of the best conversation starters possible for meeting new people.

Oh, and I heard the best line anyone's ever shouted out at me while in a costume. Seven miles into the race, back at the start area of Rodeo Beach was a guy dressed as a pirate. He said, "I may be the captain, but you're the KING!" Couldn't help but laugh at that one.

The Golden Gate Bridge soon after sunrise.

Full results are here and I managed a respectable 10th place while avoiding the hard running at the front. There's also a great video following the leaders here and it also includes a few seconds of interviewing me mid-run right at the end of the footage.

If this story entertained you or maybe even just made you think a bit about the effects of AIDS in a much poorer country, then please donate something. Every little helps. This year's Comrades will have a strong North Face (and other sponsors) team again from the US and UK and the others are also behind the charity. Also, please let me know your thoughts and comments.

Guinness World Record at the Napa marathon (don't laugh)

Clearly Napa. Photo: Brett Rivers

Pre-race poncing around.

This was my first Napa Valley marathon and I wasn't disappointed, although I did virtually drown for the entire race. That was thanks to the Spiderman costume and the combination of rain and trying to drink from water cups through a slit in my head mask. This was the first time since 2009 (http://sharmanian.blogspot.com/2009/11/seattle-marathon-elvis-record-attempt.html) that I'd run in a costume and would be my ninth costumed, weirdo, Guinness World Record.

But it started the day before with a great round table at the expo with an interesting list of guests: Joan Benoit (1984 Olympic Marathon Gold Medallist), Bill Rodgers (four wins at each of Boston and New York), Dick Beardsley (2:08 marathoner who narrowly and famously lost to Salazar at Boston), plus the RDs of the Boston and Big Sur marathons. Was very interesting and set me up for enjoying a great lunch in Napa and contemplating just how slow I am compared to those guys (not in a negative way, just in an impressed way).

From left to right: Boston marathon RD, Dick Bearsdsley, Bill 'Boston Billy' Rodgers and Joan Benoit.

Pre-race carbo loading, Napa-style.

However, the actual race was slightly less elite, although it did have a pack of fast guys shoot off at the start with Magdalena Lewy Boulet (who only ran part of the race for training). I got plenty of looks for lining up at the front of the 2,500 runners dressed like a tit and within 10 seconds of the start I heard a guy tell his friend "one thing's for sure - we're not losing to Spiderman". He was wrong.

I ran the first mile with Nathan Yanko before he zoomed off into the distance and was not seen again, getting a massive personal best and third in 2:33. Then the field gradually spread with the leaders heading off into the drizzle and me running around the lead woman for a few miles before she slowed down.

All was well, and the rain meant it wasn't a warm day so I felt fine in my full bodysuit. I'd planned to pace evenly for 2:40 to break the existing record for the 'fastest superhero' of 2:43, which was done in New Zealand by a bloke dressed as Batman's buddy, Robin. He'd taken the record from me, which I'd broken at Edinburgh in both 2007 and 2008. But I accidentally kept knocking out miles faster than that and went through halfway seconds under six-minute mile pace, in 1:18:30.

The first half had been rolling hills, vineyards and mild to heavy rain with it all feeling fine. The second half continued to go past vineyard after vineyard and at some point the rain stopped completely. Yet I started to drag up the hills and it felt harder than it should have, especially the breathing through the wet rag over my mouth and nose. My right calf had felt strained since the weekend before and that also gave a twinge, but continued to hold up.

I started to worry that I might not be able to keep to the finish time I wanted so increased my effort slightly. And at this point I ran past the race director who was doing the course from an early start with Bill Rodgers. We had a quick chat as I passed and it seems I learnt the secret of beating the world's fastest marathoners - catch them when they retire and stop trying (not sure this advice is of any use to anyone).

I ran on alone and kept the pace up until 23 miles when I realized I was a minute or two under the pace I wanted. For most people that's a good thing but I had two good(ish) reasons for wanting 2:40:

1) It was meant to be a training run for Comrades so going faster shows bad pacing, too much effort and less direct benefit for making Comrades pace feel natural (around 2:45 marathon pace); and
2) I have a game where I try to get every marathon minute like 2:59, 2:58 etc and the only ones I'm missing below 3:10 to 2:32 are 2:44, 2:41, 2:40, 2:37 and 2:34.

I slowed my pace and felt great again, cruising into the finish. Then local ultra speedster Bob Shebest (I didn't realize it was him) came up to me with 200m to go and I gave him a little race, just finishing ahead thanks to my rest over those last miles. 2:40:06 for fifth and a new record made for a great day out although I spotted Scott Dunlap along the finish chute so it was a shame he'd had to DNS due to illness and I'd expected to see him out on the course. Full results here: http://www.napavalleymarathon.org/race-information/results.asp

The race was heavy with ultrarunners with a large portion of the top of the field made up of west coast ultra kids, particularly from the Bay Area, as you'd expect. Well organized and a decent looking road course, but I wouldn't describe it as really scenic. It was certainly a good excuse to visit the wine region.

Onwards to a heavy month of training in March and Way Too Cool 50k on Saturday. Then Mike Wardian will run the day after to break today's record in his own Spiderman outfit. Amazingly he decided to do this without any knowledge of my attempt but randomly asked me about my previous attempts last week. So it looks like I won't even have it verified before he breaks it. Oh well!

News - Spiderman, deserts and a cunning new training tactic

Photo courtesy of Darbaroud.com

I'll mention the three bits of news in the order of the title. So, firstly is the ultra hardcore, extremely serious attempt to break the Guinness World Record for...the fastest male superhero to run a marathon. That's coming up on Sunday at the Napa Valley Marathon (weather forecast: wet). The current record is 2:43, set in New Zealand by a guy dressed as Robin, Batman's buddy. That costume is laughably easy to run in so I'm dusting off my old Spiderman costume to scare little children again as I run by. It's not an ideal running costume given it didn't even have a slit for my mouth until I made one, but it should make for a fun tempo run.

However, Mike Wardian may only allow me to hold this record for seven days since he's also thinking of dusting off an old Spiderman suit to go even faster the following weekend. Maybe I should do a race with a stroller and see how he likes that :) (he previously held that record).

The next topic is the Marathon des Sables in the Moroccan Sahara Desert and it also features Mike. I won't go into the race in detail, but here's the official website: http://www.darbaroud.com/index_uk.php and my race report from 2008: http://sharmanian.blogspot.com/2009/05/marathon-des-sables-2008-note-each-day.html

It's a six-stage, seven-day, 150-mile race in the desert against the best desert runners around and it's what got me into running in the first place. So I've always thought I'd do it again but had no idea when, especially since you usually have to enter years in advance. But there's currently some momentum behind a team of super fast North Americans heading over there to teach those desert dwellers a thing or two (maybe) in 2012. This looks like it'll happen but it's still being planned so I'll say more when we have some concrete details. But I'm really excited about the prospect.

And my final news item is I think I've cunningly worked out a neglected way to train harder and better. It's called walking. Ok, so not all that revolutionary, but for someone like me who can't sustain high mileage of 100 miles+, I think this is the perfect way for me to add in an extra 30+ miles per week without breaking myself and in a way that actually AIDS recovery. It won't all be flat stuff, either as I plan to do a lot of hiking in the hills around the Bay Area. Will see how that pans out when it gets to Comrades and WS100.

That's all for now. Better check I can actually find my Spidey suit since I'm not sure where I hid it.

Halloween running around Bend in a half

Halloween had the Run Like Hell Bend half marathon. Plenty of costumes, especially in the 5k. But I opted for the longer race and had a tough day running into the wind around Aubrey Butte, a volcanic hill in west Bend. Nice big hill to climb from about 4-9.5 miles, which wouldn't seem like much if it wasn't for the fact it's a road half and the pace is fast - only about a 400ft climb.

I wanted to lower my half marathon PB after almost beating it in the marathon last weekend (75:46 to beat) but the tired legs and wind defeated that aim. Still happy to have seen some new parts on the edge of town and had a good tempo run in 1h17m with 3rd place. And I felt comfy at faster paces than normal, excluding the middle miles with wind and uphill, so a good day, all in all.

Then there was a mini party at Deschutes Brewery, where the race HQ was. 2 free beers and some food and other drink. But as I had to drive home I just chatted to a few people and enjoyed an opener to some Halloween fun for that evening. I'd considered running in fancy dress but wanted to save my costume for the evening - Spider Elvis...