K.O.R.E. Events

Well... yesterday Case and Tiff competed in a winter duathlon. This was the first annual "Who's the Hardest?" event and went off without too many oopsies. With just under 80 competitors signed up for the race in the midst of one of the coldest weeks in the 2009 calendar year, those that showed all should be commended for their toughness. With intermittent light snow flurries throughout the day, the weather never really was too much of a factor.

The race set up was Run then Bike, with the distances approximately at Run=8 miles and Bike=16. The run was enjoyable as it was relatively flat weaving through trails in the open field at Ft. Steilacoom Park. The challenge was to maintain a consistant speed as you would suddenly come to a zig when you thought a zag would be there. The course was set up to do 2 laps of the running course before transitioning to the bike. This was a pretty cool set up, as it looked very similar to triathlon TA's.

Once on the bike it was 4 laps of uphills, downhills, open fields and sharp turns. On a scale of 1-10 the technical riding was at about a 4+. Which allowed a number of quick laps and once everyone figured out the actual course (those darn people that vandalize arrow markers), times really improved.

Case ended up finished 19th overall and 15th in the Male category. Tiff finished 30th overall and 21st in the Male category. They both agreed after the race was, "it's a starting point for 2010."

For more results go to BuDu Racing.

**We are currently looking over our 2010 schedule to find challenging and competitive races that we can compete in.

Who's the Hardest? Off-road Duathlon

5 days from today Tiff and Case will be toeing the line in the frigid temperatures for the Who's the Hardest? Off-road Duathlon. The race, put on by K.O.R.E Events will be held down at Ft. Steilacoom Park in Lakewood. There are nearly 100 participants divided into different categories. The classifications include solo (male & female), team (tandem, co-ed, and same), Tiff and I have decided to compete in the solo division and test our winter muscle against some pretty stiff competition.

The goal of the event is, "To merge local endurance athletes (those who ride bikes, those who run, and those who do both) into an environment where running and riding are incorporated into a single race setting. This event is designed to be held during the off-season so it won’t interrupt with individual race calendars and/or structured training plans. It offers an opportunity to take a crack at a potentially new sport, and a chance to compete against a new set of faces. It provides for a refreshing opportunity to get off your bike trainers and treadmills. Don’t let the cold, wet, and windy weather intimidate you – come test your fitness and mental toughness. Let’s see how you stack up against endurance athletes from other disciplines across the Pacific Northwest."

Check back in next week to get a detailed race recap and to see how we faired in the cold! Our goal like always isn't just to survive. . . but to THRIVE!!!

Joe and Tiff run 5 and 10k

This past weekend Joe ran in the Xterra World Championship 5k Trail Run which was held at Makena Beach in sunny Maui. His time was 32:26, good enough to place him 51st of 244 racers and 7th of 16 in his age group. Joe's comments about the race course were, "Don't let the time deceive you... this was a 5k from HELL (in an awesome kind of way)! 8:30am - 88degrees - 900 ft of elevation!!! Dang... I feel like I was in a World Championship event :), in this field I don't feel too bad. Still wish I could have beat 30 minutes... Oh well - next time. Xterra rocks! This is one of the coolest events I've ever been too." To see Joe's other race results click here.

While Joe was enjoying the comforts of the Hawaii sun, Tiff raced in the Nike Human Race Challenge put on by Road Runners of Seattle. The race was two loops around Greenlake equalling a 10k. With good music and good competition Tiff was able to run a time of 42:43. With over 750,000 race participants across the world results for this event are still filtering in, so it is tough to know where he placed overall. Check out his results page to see his previous race marks.

Nice work guys!!