Selfishly, part of my little corner of the internet is just for me.  Yes, I love to write about my my current running escapades with the Cruisers and MRTT friends, and about when I meet another blogger.  I write about what’s going on in my community, what I’ve eaten, and what races I’m training for because that’s fun and what we bloggers like to do.  I also write educational running articles like Finding or Starting a Running Group, or my four-part Race Preparation series that are hopefully helpful to other runners.  But one of my favorite things to write are race recaps.

Recently I added a Race Recaps tab to my website to keep all of my recaps organized.  If I’m ever in a funk, I just have to open up one of the recaps and read about a morning spent with friends to bring a smile to my face.  I ran every single one of these races with a friend (or hung out with friends before and after the race).

It all started last spring when I wrote recaps leading up to the Boston Marathon about my experiences when I ran Boston in 1998 and 2010.  Writing those recaps made me think back, dig through old photo albums, reach out to friends to help me remember events, pull old race shirts out from our closet (and throw away pile), and research online to pull the stories together.  Every walk down memory lane is therapeutic to me.

After writing those first few throwback recaps, I pulled out this folder!  I knew that it was in my filing cabinet, but didn’t realize the wealth of information that it would open up for me.

RunningFolder

  • Here are just a few things I found in my running folder:
  • Race photo proofs and purchased photos
  • Race bibs
  • Copy of race application for 1997 Marine Corps Marathon with $35 registration fee (this year it’s $110) signed and not mailed until July 20
  • Postcards with my finishing times from old races before we could check race results online within hours after the race
  • Map of my community with running loops highlighted (pre Garmins and RunKeeper)
  • Article in the Washington Post about one of the runners I coached
  • A Fitness Magazine article entitled “Sexist Bunk!… Medieval!… Outrageous!” about the 1995 warning from the New York City Marathon about the dangers of running with a heavy menstrual flow
  • Race course maps
  • Copy of my race application for the 1998 JFK 50-Mile Ultramarathon with $40 registration fee
  • “Miles’ Ten Commandments on Running a Marathon” written by my friend
  • Sample marathon training schedule that I used for my first marathon
  • My goal paces and actual paces for several of my early marathons

VereranMarathonerTraining

1998BostonMarathonGoalActual

1999SteamtonMarGoalActual

Now that I have sorted through my running folder, I have race bibs laid out with coordinating pictures, maps, postcards, etc. neatly stacked under them.  Our bedroom floor looks quite similar with race shirts sorted in piles.  My goal is to have everything documented and put away by Eater when we’ll need our dining room table!

RaceBibPicDiningRoomTable

Since I try to publish my recap on the day the race is run, and with lots of spring races happening about now, I feel like I’ve been looking back more than looking forward these last few weeks.  Thanks for putting up with my throwback madness!

  • Questions:
  • Do you keep your old race bibs, shirts, etc?
  • How often do you order pictures from races?
  • Tell me something fun you’re doing this weekend!