Run Free or Die

Maine Coast Half Marathon

Please share your thoughts and comments with us about your experience at the first ever All Women's Half Marathon in York Maine.

793 Women & 1 Lucky Guy  Compete in the 1st Annual
Maine Coast Half Marathon

Excerps from John Stevens, special to the Coast Star

York, ME: Sunday, September 23, and a beautiful sunny Fall day in one of the most charming coastal villages in southern Maine served as the perfect introduction of the 1st Annual Maine Coast ½ Marathon. This “all women & one lucky guy*” race was the inspiration of Mike and Linda St. Laurent, founders and owners of Loco Sports, Inc., Newmarket, NH, a designer/manufacturer of Loco running shoes and a major sponsor of many New England running events as well as co-race directors for this event.

A pre-race pasta dinner was held Saturday evening at Fosters Restaurant in York and attended by approximately 75 race entrants along with members of York Middle and High School girl’s track team and coaches - - - and, “one lucky guy”.

Keynote speaker for the evening was Kathrine Switzer, best known as the woman who challenged the all-male tradition of the Boston Marathon in 1967 and became the first woman to officially enter and run the event creating an uproar and worldwide notoriety when a race official tried to forcibly remove her from the competition. The author of best selling “Marathon Woman”, as well as several other books and articles on woman’s running, Kathrine gave an inspiring talk keyed toward all women runners in general, but she really focused on the younger women and especially the students from York High School and Middle School Track Team.

“40 years ago they tried to throw me out of the Boston Marathon because women were considered too frail to run a marathon. At that time the longest event sanctioned for women was 800 meters (twice around the track). Today there are more women runners than men entering races; 52% to be exact as of 2006. If this could happen in the past 40 years just think what the next 40 years could bring” was the message Kathrine drove home to a rapt audience.

Kathrine Switzer has dedicated her career to creating opportunities and equal sport status for women instituting programs for over 1 million women in 27 countries. Her efforts have been instrumental in the successful inclusion of the women’s marathon as an official event in the Olympic Games.

Race Day:

There were 793 women finishers - - - and, oh yes, that 1 “lucky guy”- - - representing 24 states as well as Canada and 1 from Sidney, Australia, making the 1st Annual Maine Coast ½ Marathon a true international event. 280 finishers were classified as “newbies” meaning that this was the first ½ marathon they ever entered and as such they were given special recognition.

Leslie Hocking, 26, from Dover, NH was the overall winner with a time of 1:23:02 (6:20 per mile pace). Leslie led the pack all the way from start to finish with a 2:00 lead at the 2-½ mile point. It wasn’t until mile 10 that anyone came close to her and that is when Nicole Hagobien, 32, from Hadley, MA threatened. As it turned out Leslie crossed the finish line with 1 minute to spare with Nicole coming in at 1:24:01. “I thought maybe I went out a little too fast. I never heard any footsteps behind me until around mile 10 then I had to pick up the pace again. I’m tired”, said a very happy Leslie Hocking as Linda St. Laurent from Loco Sports, Inc. presented her with the winner’s medal.

The idea for an all women event is not new, but the idea of allowing “one lucky guy” to enter is. Generally what happens, according to Mike St. Laurent, is that when race registrations start coming in, even though the race is advertised as an all women’s race, several guys will intentionally or inadvertently attempt to sign up sometimes causing problems. Mike credits his wife Linda, with coming up with the perfect solution; hold a lottery for the men wherein they can submit a race application along with $10.towards the right to run the race. And, all proceeds from this lottery would go to the York School District to be awarded to a deserving graduating York Girl’s Track Team runner. As of race start it looked like an estimated $3,000. was raised.

180 men entered this pre-race competition and the winner was Eric Vermilya, 47, a full-time student completing his degree in finance at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, and living in New York City. While a number of hopeful “lucky guys” bought several chances Eric bought only 1 on a whim, along with pressure from several of the women runners in his local running club, the 700 member New York Flyers, the largest running club in NYC, which Eric considers his second family. “I just about fell off my chair when Mike St. Laurent called me to tell me I won”, said Eric. Although Eric has run 9 marathons since 2003 including Boston, Chicago, New York, and both Zurich and Madrid internationally, he’s never raced in Maine before. “It’s so beautiful up here. I love it and I’ll come back again.” Eric was very emphatic that he didn’t want to be the focal point of this all women’s event. “I don’t want to take away from what should be their day. I just feel very honored to be a part of this, to be the lucky guest” Eric pointed out.

Great Bay Half Marathon

Thank you to everyone that participated in the First Inaugural Great Bay Half Marathon.

What a great day we had for a fun event.  Please feel free to add your comments and suggestions and if you must critique for the race.   Hope to see your next year.... MIke, Linda & Arlon.

Course Questions... We labeled it "moderately" challenging.. Now that 1550 of you have walked, run stumbled and even raced it - what SHOULD we call it... We will publish your results.  Easy, moderate, moderately challenging, challenging or #@@### tough..

Aid Station Snafuuuuuu: In an attempt to be as honest as possible with you our guests for the day, let me please, pretty please apologize for the lack of energy drink for about 40-50% of the field. I won't go into details, but somebody is REALLY in the doghouse for not doing there job.

Peanutbutteritis - Is your mouth is still sticky from trying to smuck the Gu down your throat from mile 8.9 to the water and mile 10  SORRY... I thought it was a good distance, but I have been heavily outvoted on that.. :)  now gu will be right at a water stop or very close before... Capiche.. Mike OUT

Plantar Fascitis

You step out of bed and go OUCH!

You may have a common runner's injury called plantar fasciitis (fashe-EYE-tiss).  I did for three years and now that I am recovered I want to share with everyone information to help prevent it, or recover from it.

What is Plantar Fascitis? It's an overuse injury affecting the sole - or the (plantar) of the foot. You more than likely have inflamed the tough, fascia tissue that connects your heel bone to the base of your toes. 

It typically hurts more in the morning than any time of day.

Who is likely to get this condition?

Runners and Walkers: You're more likely to get the condition if you have tight calf muscles or if you're a woman, or if you're overweight, or if you have a job that requires a lot of walking or standing on hard surfaces. You are evenn more susceptible if you have very flat feet or very high arches.

How to know when it is starting?
For me, the problem started because I did something stupid !  Go Figure - I strained my achilles by pushing something heavy, and I continued to run on a very tight calf an achilles.

Normally, though, the condition starts gradually with some pain in the heel bone often referred to as a stone bruise. You're also more likely to feel it after (not during) running. The pain classically occurs again after sitting a long time, when you don't stretch...

What Happens if you don't treat plantar fascitis?

it may become a chronic condition. You may not be able to keep up your level of running and you may also develop other problems as you tend to compensate. like foot, knee, hip and back problems That's because plantar fasciitis changes the way you walk.

Treatments (RICE)

The standard treatment is rest and ice. If you can,  keep weight off your foot until the inflammation goes away. Apply ice to the sore area for 20 minutes three or four times a day. If you really want relief get a doctor to prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen.

Stretching's the way to go

However if you really want to be proactive.A program of home exercises to stretch your Achilles tendon and plantar fascia are the mainstay of treating the condition and lessening the chance of recurrence.

In this exercise, you lean forward against a wall with one knee straight and heel on the ground. Your other knee is bent. Your heel cord and foot arch stretch as you lean. Hold for 10 seconds, relax and straighten up. Repeat 20 times for each sore heel. 

In the second exercise, you lean forward onto a countertop, spreading your feet apart with one foot in front of the other. Flex your knees and squat down, keeping your heels on the ground as long as possible. Your heel cords and foot arches will stretch as the heels come up in the stretch. Hold for 10 seconds, relax and straighten up. Repeat 20 times.

About 90 percent of people with plantar fasciitis improve significantly after two months of initial treatment. You may be advised to use shoes with shock-absorbing soles or fitted with a standard orthotic device like a rubber heel pad. Your foot may be taped into a specific position.

Other stretches: http://www.heel-that-pain.com/plantar_fasciitis/exercise/plantar_fasciitis_exercise.php

Arch Supports really help!

I have a rigid foot and really high arches. for me, I found that if I used arch supports in my running shoes and in my daily shoes it really helped.  In fact. I almost never are without them. There are many off the counter ones to select from. I used the Shock Doctor Trim Free ones as well as some really supportive Polyurethane ones in my shoes..

Radical Treatments....

If your plantar fasciitis continues after a few months of conservative treatment, your doctor may inject your heel with steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (corticosteroid). If you still have symptoms, you may need to wear a walking cast for 2-3 weeks or positional splint when you sleep. In a few cases, you might need surgery to release your ligament.

Thanks to the following for providing much needed information and images

All rights reserved to the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=144

Aye Carumba What's in a name

How do you name a new company? Do you invent some ficticious tecnical term? or snag some greek mythology god? One of the questions we get so often is how we named our company LOCO and how we name our shoes. LOCO - Mexican slang for a good kinda crazy was first put upon us by our 16 year old son an astute Spanish language student. Sitting at our kitchen table yet again trying to find an appropriate name for our fledgling company, our son called us LOCO and it stuck.  Soon we had sample shoes with the LOCO logo and the running guy at races and we saw runners smile when they read the logo..

Yikes or Holy Cow.. That's what Aye Carumba means in Mexican slang, voted on by hundreds of LOCO runners.

Paying over $100 for running shoes? STOP wasting your money

Gosh darn it, If I hear one more person say give me your most expensive shoe - I'm gonna run an ultra - barefoot over a bed of coals.  Really now.  People have become so programmed to think that more is better and that the more you spend than the better the product should be.. For running shoes this is utter nonsense.

So what gives?? my view - any amount you pay over $100 for running shoes is simply not worth it. - they are NOT ANY BETTER... They don't make your run any better - Here's why.

1) They don't perform any better.. They just have more technical LOOKING gizmos on them

2) They don't LAST any longer - you know I am right on this one

3) They dont COST ANY MORE to produce - not really. 

4) The most expensive design might be the worst type of shoe for your foot or running style.

5) Last years "technical" breakthrough is available for 35% less and works just fine.

Why do they cost more..? Well take it from one person who has developed "expensive" shoes. Marketeer simply add more technical looking stuff on the upper, or more colors to the outsole or more "gadgets" to the midsole.  Do they work any better.? Judge for yourself.  Ask 100 serious runners, you know the ones that place in most races and what do they buy..??  99% of them buy shoes that are $70-$90 bucks.. (Heck I did this same survey last year).  Ps there are hundreds of thousands of runners happily running in 5-10 year old models everywhere.

So why do the charge the high prices...

1) Cause some people believe that they are better, they believe the market hype and buy em.

2) Makes a great cash flow for all that advertising you ignore

3) Lot's of non-runners just don't know any better

4) Cause people keep buying them..

Your thoughts.. Ever bought an expensive running shoe that ended up as you LAWNMOWING shoes..??

Running Shoes - Better today than yesterday? NOT

Running shoe marketeers would have you believe that every year there is some great new design or technology that is so far superior that you must run out to buy the latest pair and pay mucho buckos for em..  . . . . . . .NOT. No Way.. Don't trip over your laces as it just aint so > . . . . . In my opinion here is the real scoop.

The fact is, running shoes have improved only slightly over the last 15-20 years.

Barefoot facts:

A) My running shoes dont last any longer - 300-500 miles... do yours???

B) The basic cushioning ingredients are really the same.  (EVA in many forms)

C) The basic outsole materials are pretty much the same. (Carbon rubber or Blown rubber)

D) The basics reason runners buy a shoe remains the same.. Because it FITS THEIR FOOT and it works for them..

The Sneakerhead guy says: Just like 15-20 years ago, running shoes last just about 300-500 miles.  If the technology is so much better, why do we have to keep on replacing them..??   It's because the outsole wears out, or the midsole bottoms out, or they just get too darn stinky. 

Most running shoes are made using the exact same manufacturing process as ever.  Stitch an upper together and glue on a midsole/outsole.  Not much new there.  (Granted the upper and trim materials are now synthetic and do dry out faster and don't shrink as much.)

RE-Inventing the Wheel - Lets make it ROUND this time?

The stuff that protects your feet from the road - the cushioning material still is some type of that hard to pronounce stuff  - It's called EVA, a foam pioneered in the 70's and 80's.  Yes we know every company has to re-invent EVA - but lets be honest shall we.  As long as the shoe fits right, Runners can't really don't care what you call it. as long as it works and they don't get hurt. So it begs the question if the shoes aren't lasting any longer, how can the cushioning be better? ? ? ? ?

What do you think..? / / /???

I'm jumping in

Thanks for setting up my very first Blog.. Yippee..

Can I go running now!