You Must Be Joking: Which HARRA Series is Tougher?
The following question was posed by HARRA Footprints editor Doug Spence in one of the recent Jerry Smith e-mails: "Do you find it tougher to run the HARRA Fall Series with its inherently longer distances, or the HARRA Spring Series with its shorter distances but with less time between races?"
The e-mail also stated that, "A difference of opinion on this question was quite evident from the members of the HARRA Board." Ok, which Board members voted on the Spring Series?
Do the math with me boys and girls.
Spring Series: Buffalo Wallow 6K, Bayou City Classic 10K, Bellaire Trolley Run 5K, John J. Eikenburg Law Week 8K, Bayou Bash Relay (2.5 mile leg) and the LP Run (what you can run in 33 1/3 minutes). I can only cover about 3.5 miles in that amount of time so that would be 29K plus 6 miles.
Fall Series: Cross Country Relay (2 mile leg), USA Space City 10 Miler, Koala's/Luke's Locker 20K, Oshman's 25K, Houstonian Lite 30K and the hp Houston Marathon. 2 + 10 + 12.4 + 15.5 + 18.6 + 26.2 = 84.7 miles.
4 of the 6 Spring Series races are run on consecutive weeks. Big whoopie!
I'm no Sean Wade, but, hell, I do a 5K every weekend at least. Most of the HARRA members that are doing those events are logging more miles in a week and a half in training for other events (such as a spring marathon like Boston).
I think the overall problem is that the Spring Series isn't as well attended as it has been in the past, even though the Bayou City Classic 10K had an increase in participants.
And, let's face it, is HARRA's Iron Foot Award more meaningful in the spring or in the fall? Again ... just count the miles. The Fall is tougher. Why do you think I set it as a goal this past fall? Because, to me, I felt that if I could complete the entire series, including the Marine Corps Marathon in the middle of it all, I could call myself a real runner!
If HARRA wants more people to do the Spring Series, up the ante! If you achieve the Iron Foot Award in the Spring, you can earn free registration at one of the Warm-Up Series races. And the race directors of the three events would agree to absorb those equally (i.e. if 42 people qualified, then each race would provide 14 free registrations.)
The e-mail also stated that, "A difference of opinion on this question was quite evident from the members of the HARRA Board." Ok, which Board members voted on the Spring Series?
Do the math with me boys and girls.
Spring Series: Buffalo Wallow 6K, Bayou City Classic 10K, Bellaire Trolley Run 5K, John J. Eikenburg Law Week 8K, Bayou Bash Relay (2.5 mile leg) and the LP Run (what you can run in 33 1/3 minutes). I can only cover about 3.5 miles in that amount of time so that would be 29K plus 6 miles.
Fall Series: Cross Country Relay (2 mile leg), USA Space City 10 Miler, Koala's/Luke's Locker 20K, Oshman's 25K, Houstonian Lite 30K and the hp Houston Marathon. 2 + 10 + 12.4 + 15.5 + 18.6 + 26.2 = 84.7 miles.
4 of the 6 Spring Series races are run on consecutive weeks. Big whoopie!
I'm no Sean Wade, but, hell, I do a 5K every weekend at least. Most of the HARRA members that are doing those events are logging more miles in a week and a half in training for other events (such as a spring marathon like Boston).
I think the overall problem is that the Spring Series isn't as well attended as it has been in the past, even though the Bayou City Classic 10K had an increase in participants.
And, let's face it, is HARRA's Iron Foot Award more meaningful in the spring or in the fall? Again ... just count the miles. The Fall is tougher. Why do you think I set it as a goal this past fall? Because, to me, I felt that if I could complete the entire series, including the Marine Corps Marathon in the middle of it all, I could call myself a real runner!
If HARRA wants more people to do the Spring Series, up the ante! If you achieve the Iron Foot Award in the Spring, you can earn free registration at one of the Warm-Up Series races. And the race directors of the three events would agree to absorb those equally (i.e. if 42 people qualified, then each race would provide 14 free registrations.)
posted by WalkSports.com | 12:08 AM
3 Comments:
I think the Spring Series Ironfoot is tougher. I've been doing both Series for 13 years. The vote from the membership thus far is about evenly split. HARRA has given out far more Fall Series Ironfeet than Spring Series. There's more involved than an accumulated mileage calculation.
Steve
I agree with the ante that you are posing towards HARRA. Everyone likes a free race registration once in a while, especially with most 5K races in the spring charging entry fees of $18 (or more).
-Jessica, a Houston runner, and HARRA member as well.
I think there are too many options for runners in the Spring. The only way that I agree that the Fall Series is easier is because the races are in natural progression to train for the marathon -- and everyone can set their clocks to when the races are going to be. Should I have run the Buffalo Wallow 6K and scored points for my club? Yes, but I made a commitment to a quality event in the Bridgefest 5K before anybody put anything out officially for the 6K. (Karen Thibodeaux's site "rumored" the 6K before it was noted anywhere else, including the HARRA web site.) To me, that signifies an attitude of: "If you're a HARRA member, you should drop everything and run this race because it is in the Series."
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