December 8, 2024
Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Races

Ask Dan

My name is Dan and I am a runner.  Some would suggest we runners should have meetings that start like that, but I have no idea why.

For the next few months I am going to be a guest blogger and hope I can offer some ideas or answers that will help out both experienced and aspiring runners, including and especially the so-called destination runner.  I’ve been around for a bit, and although like many, I ran while in school, my present running career only started when I was about 40, some 26 plus years ago.  Now, let’s be clear, there is running and there is racing and they are different, but we can get into that later.  This blog is about the Reggae Marathon, including the half and 10K – so that is racing regardless of how fast or slow a person may go.

Why do I have any more right than anyone else to set up camp here under the banner “ASK DAN”?  Firstly, my name is Dan (not just everyone can say that!) but I guess that mostly the answer is experience.  Apart from running and racing for all these years, I have been or am, the race director of several running events, both large (over 2000 runners) and small (25 participants).  I am co-editor of a book entitled Running in the Zone: A Handbook for Seasoned Athletes as well as a blog of similar name and purpose, which can be found at Running in the Zone.  So, if I don’t actually know everything (I don’t) I quite likely know someone who does have the specific answer we need.

As you will soon figure out, I live in Canada.  So, what is someone from the” frozen north” doing talking about running in Jamaica?  Good question.  Well, I also lived and ran in Malaysia for a couple of years and have run in many tropical and semi-tropical locations over the years.  I ran the Maui Marathon in 2008 when temperatures hit 90F with humidity to match at about 90%.  Oh, and while Canada is more known for snow and cold than blazing hot summers, I also lived and actually started my running in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia where summer temperatures often hit that Maui-like level, but without the humidity.  I have visited Negril and other parts of Jamaica and all things going according to plan, I intend to run the Reggae Marathon in December.

But, enough about me.  My contribution here is to do a question and answer session on a monthly basis.  You ask the questions and I try to answer them.  The plan is that you send your questions in through the blog anytime, and then once a month I will answer them.  I will try to answer as many as possible, although I may sort through them and when appropriate condense similar topics into a single question which can be answered collectively.

One of the great things about running is the community of runners.  I have never seen anything to rival that community and the sharing and support you will find there.  I have also come to the realization that there is no such thing as a dumb question as long as it is sincere.  If you are wondering about something, then very likely so are a bunch of other people.

So………I am here, and you are there ……………ask away!  Send your questions to:  [email protected]

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Until next time…

Reggae Marathon RunninGuy

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