Riddlewood 5K and a familiar face in a random meme!

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

This morning I ran the Riddlewood Swim Club 5K and I was the first woman to cross the finish line! But first, check out this totally random picture that I saw while scrolling through my Facebook feed this afternoon…

That’s my BAILEY!!! Somebody turned one of her flying dockdogs photos into an internet meme that’s being shared around Facebook. Cool! I don’t know who added the words but it definitely made me smile to see the determined, non-nonsense look on her little brown face as she flies through the air. If you’re interested, you can view (and share) the original Facebook post here.

But back to running… I signed up last minute for a little 5K race this morning and it went really well! The race was sponsored by the Riddlewood Swim Club and the course wound around the extremely hilly “Riddlewood” neighborhood of Media, PA. I’m a big fan of local history so I have to share a quick bit of trivia behind the Riddlewood name:

“The name [Riddlewood] comes from famous racehorse owner Samuel D. Riddle, who owned the property before it was developed in the 1950s. The names of the streets in Riddlewood are named after Sam Riddle’s horses as follows: Man o’ War, War Admiral, War Trophy, Rampart East, Rampart West, Anamosa, and Soldier Song.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Man o’ War was, according to Wikipedia, one of the greatest Thoroughbred race horses of all time. He sired Triple Crown Winner War Admiral and was the grandfather (grandhorse?) to Seabiscuit. Man o’ War’s owner, Sam Riddle died in 1951 and left his estate to be turned into what is now Riddle Memorial Hospital (and also Riddlewood!). As another local twist, it was Sam’s relatives the Jeffords family that owned the estate that is now my favorite running spot, Ridley Creek State Park.

OK… history lesson over!

The 5K itself was tiny, with only around 30 participants. We started by running straight up a steep hill and kept climbing for what felt like the entire first mile. Around the halfway point the course took us along an equally steep downhill before looping by the swim club and going right back up the huge hill again. Talk about a good hill workout! 🙂

I felt like I managed all of these hills pretty well and during the second lap’s climb I was actually able to pass two guys who had been in front of me for the whole race. I pulled away from them and set my sights on a younger guy that was about 200 feet ahead of me. I knew that the finish was going to be a steep downhill and I really thought I could catch this guy, but he picked up his pace significantly during the last 1/4 mile or so and I couldn’t quite get him. As it was, I ended up finishing the race with a 7:53 third mile split (my fastest last mile ever!) and clocked a ridiculous 5:10 split on my final 0.1 mile. I was running into the finish so fast that I thought I might fall over!

Struggling to keep my balance down the hill into the finish.

In addition to running my best third mile split, today also marks the first time that I’ve ever raced purely negative splits! Of course, the fact that the whole first mile was uphill and the third mile was primarily flat or downhill certainly helped this happen, but I’m still pretty psyched! Oh, and also, I was the first place woman! Woohoo! 🙂

My next race will be the Radnor Red Steeplechase 5K on August 17th. That is an XC race with horse jumps so it should be VERY interesting!!

Miles since last post: 38.7
Days since last post: 7
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.80
2014 TOTAL MILES: 1022.5

Related Posts:
• Swarthmore Lions Independence Eve 8K (7/18/14)
• Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10/14)
• Media 5 Miler (6/20/14)
• Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1/14)
• Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30/14)
• Run for Victory 5K (5/18/14)
• Elwyn 5K (5/3/14)
• St. Tim’s 5K (4/26/14)
• Rick’s Run 5K (4/19/14)
• Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3/14)
• Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30/14)
• Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1/14)
• Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1/14)
• Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4/14)
• New Year’s Eve 5K at the YMCA (12/31/13)
• Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14/13)
• Turkey Trot 5K (11/28/13)
• Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2/13)
• Oy Vey 5K (10/27/13)
• Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19/13)
• Run-A-Muck 5K (9/22/13)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

13Aug2013

Weekly Photo Challenge AND Bailey is a Finalist in a Photo Contest!

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

First of all, I just learned that this photo of Bailey has been chosen as a Grand Prize Finalist in a photo contest! The winner is determined by popular vote which means that YOU can help Bailey win simply by clicking here and then hitting the “VOTE” button.

I would REALLY appreciate it if you could take a few seconds to vote! Voting is open until August 16th and you can vote once per day. The contest is sponsored by Yakima Racks and the winner receives gifts from Ruffwear (Bailey’s favorite dog gear outfitter), Zukes (Bailey’s favorite treats!) and a $500 Yakima gift card!

In other news, this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is One Shot, Two Ways. The idea behind this challenge is to show the same subject from two angles and I have a fun example to share. The following two photos show Bailey flying through the air about to catch her duck. They were taken from two different cameras at the exact same moment during the same jump. Cool, right?

The first photo was taken head-on by a professional photographer (Key4Prints). I happened to catch the second photo from the bleachers at the exact same time… just as Bailey was contorting her body and snapping her mouth open mid-air in an attempt to catch her duck. While the professional shot is clearly a better photo, I kind of like the second shot because it helps you appreciate what a huge jump this was. Bailey ended up winning her division at this event with a 24+ foot jump!

Thanks for stopping by and, again, thank you to everyone that voted for Bailey in the photo contest!!!! (You can vote here: http://bit.ly/146NFcQ )

15Feb2013

Multiple Baileys and a Photo Contest!

Posted in Bailey by Annie T

Happy Friday! Check out this photo of Bailey… I entered it in a photo contest and, if we win, Bailey will get to have a professional photo shoot and be the “Cover Dog” of Delmarva Unleashed magazine! If you want to help Bailey in the contest please click on the photo. This will take you directly to the Facebook version of the photo where you can “LIKE” it to vote! Voting ends February 21, 2013.

The above photo shows Bailey in Dover, Delaware at a Delmarva Dockdogs practice. I created the image by combining five photographs of the same jump together in Photoshop. I especially like this image because you get to see five Baileys in the air and five Bailey reflections in the water. She also caught her yellow wubba like a pro. 🙂

Over the years I have created several sequences of Bailey competing in dock diving events. Here are a few of my favorites! (Click the photo to view the high-res version.)

Bailey at the June Bloom event last summer. Not the prettiest grab but she got it! (2012)

Bailey doing a place ‘n’ send style jump at a pond event in Frederick, Maryland. (2010)

Bailey makes a splash at Care A Lot in Virginia Beach. (2010)

Following her red wubba through the air at the June Bloom event. (2012)

A prettier Extreme Vertical grab at June Bloom. (2012)

Last but not least, a close up of Bailey’s expression as she takes off.
She’s all business! (2011)

Do you like any of the above photos? Tell me about it in the comments section. And please don’t forget to Vote for Bailey in the “Cover Dog” photo contest! Thank you!!! 🙂