Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k 2014

Mark your calendars, Saturday January 25, 2014 at 12pm NOON.

Please arrive about a half hour early to use the facilities and for pre-race instructions. The course will be the same as previous years (see below) and it is a PREDICTION RUN!!! NO WATCHES.

Again it will be a chili cook off afterwards so please stay and enjoy. There will be at least one vegetarian chili guaranteed.

All information for registration and prices and where the proceeds go (all money, since this doesn't cost me anything) can be found HERE. This year the proceeds will go towards our Pedal to the Point MS fundraising.

Please feel free to bring a friend!!! We look forward to seeing you this year!!!

Blue Balls and Glass Cutters Race Report 2013

Winter in Cleveland is always interesting. The Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k (BBGC) has earned it's name for a reason. We cannot host this event on a warm day... it just isn't right.

So luckily the date we chose this year ended up yielding snow covered ground and cold temps!

The weather was mid 20's and sunny. It was actually very comfortable running weather.

One of my favorite places! There are great hiking

trails around here too.

Everyone trying to keep warm pre-race.

There were 15 participants that ran this year! Everyone had their times recorded and got last minute instructions from (in my opinion) one of the best and most organized race directors out there.

We lined up at the official race start (heather's line in the snow) and we were all off!

The course was the same as last year and messed with people and their predictions. It is very hard to determine what your finish time will be when you know that 1.55 miles is all uphill at various inclines only to turn around and then speed downhill to the finish!

We had last year's winner, Mike, return to defend his title and course record of being off by only 6 seconds last year! However, he was no competition for Ben who was off of his prediction by ONLY 5 SECONDS!!! I am thoroughly amazed at how close so many of the participants were this year.

2013 Results:

Name:	Prediction	Finish	Difference
Beal	29:06	28:41	0:25
Megan	34:30	32:44	1:46
Brian B.	33:31	29:44	3:47
Dana B.	33:28	29:48	3:43
Susan	33:01	31:31	1:30
Matt A.	36:29	37:12	0:43
Angie	33:02	31:30	1:32
MattyO	27:24	28:41	1:17
Erica	29:30	29:06	0:24
Ben	26:00	25:55	0:05
Tim	36:05	34:56	1:09
Mike	24:15	24:44	0:29
Vagn	25:10	27:46	2:36
Darryl	30:30	31:02	0:32
Traci	29:30	29:49	0:19

So Ben ended up winning followed by Traci and then Erica! We had T-shirts made for the winners this year to accompany all the swag and prizes!

Afterwards we were on to the Chili cookoff!

There were 6 entries again this year and just like last year I was shocked at how different every chili was!

We had two "white chilis" (chicken chili), 1 jailhouse stew, 1 normal chili, and 2 vegetarian chilis.

In the end, Darryl won the chili cookoff w/ his vegetarian chili (and trinidad scorpion peppers) followed by Heather and her Jailhouse Stew in second place. I am never certain if the spiced cider (w/ rum) alters people's votes or not but we definitely put a hurting on that rum bottle this year!

Thank you to everyone for coming out and making this such a great event. Every penny gets donated to charity, so in the end not only is it a great time and an excuse to party, it is for a great cause too.

Thanks for reading!!!

Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k 2013

Well, after being sick for over 2 weeks and dealing w/ our schedules the race is ON!!!

Mark your calendars, Saturday February 9, 2013 at 12pm NOON.

Please arrive about a half hour early to use the facilities and for pre-race instructions. The course will be the same as previous years (see below) and it is a PREDICTION RUN!!! NO WATCHES.

Again it will be a chili cook off afterwards so please stay and enjoy. There will be at least one vegetarian chili guaranteed.

All information for registration and prices and where the proceeds go (all money, since this doesn't cost me anything) can be found HERE. Note: this year we will be splitting the donation proceeds between LLS and MS Society.

Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k Race Report 2012

What a perfect day for the Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k & Chili Cook Off!!!

We had been having 40 and 50 degree days on and off all January and I was starting to get nervous... this race has earned it's name for a reason.

Well, Mother Nature must have known the event was on Saturday because she opened up a nice winter storm and dumped a good 4 inches on us.  I got to the race site at 7am after I finished plowing my accounts and plowed the sidewalks and parking lot so hopefully it would be clear for race time.

Getting there early to clear out the pavilion area.

Shoveled the registration area.

Heather and I arrived back at the pavilion around 10:30 am to get everything set up and start the fire.  It was 22 deg. F. out and the wind had a bite to it.

We got everything set up and awaited the arrival of the participants.  I had  A LOT of interest and inquiries so I was not sure who to expect or how many people.  Turns out that I think the weather scared off the majority of people interested.  It isn't called the Blue Balls and Glass Cutters for no reason... completing this event is an earned title that is not earned easily!!!

Toby, our race mascot! (I thought Mandy came up from

Maine when I saw him!!!) What a HAPPY snow LOVING

pup!

This is where he spent almost all day.

Getting ready to line up and start.

Heather giving out some of the rules.

Last minute stretching... or warming by the fire haha.

Everyone showed up and we had a pre-race meeting explaining the course and explaining that it is a prediction run, no watches and closest guess wins.  We lined up, and we were OFF!

While running the paved trail was covered w/ snow and it was not nice heavy packing snow that is easy to run on, it was the slippery stuff, so we all migrated over to the road and used that as the race course.  Along the way there was a lot of singing, chatting, and of course shenanigans!

At the turn around point there were high fives being thrown around, an all around great vibe for the race.  I added 2 minutes on my predicted time because I assumed I would have stuck to the snowy trails... something I soon regretted as we migrated to the cleared road.  I maintained a nice steady pace up the hill (first half of the course is all uphill).  However, when I returned back, I walked whenever a car passed to try and slowly add on 2 minutes to my guessed time.  I thought I would have been close to my predicted time as I came in but had a feeling I was still too fast.

As I approached the final 1/8th mile, I started to do kart wheels the whole way in.  I was doing anything I could to try and slow down aside from walking more haha.

Well everyone came in just fine and the results were completely ABSURD!

Participant		Prediction	Completion	Difference
Ashley		0:37:37	0:37:13	0:00:24
Matt		0:32:00	0:30:38	0:01:22
Joe		0:35:00	0:32:12	0:02:48
Susan		0:37:32	0:35:12	0:02:20
Jim		0:27:00	0:24:40	0:02:20
Milena		0:38:00	0:37:21	0:00:39
Jon		0:35:20	0:27:05	0:08:15
Mike		0:25:15	0:25:21	0:00:06
David		0:37:00	0:35:45	0:01:15
Ben		0:29:00	0:31:29	0:02:29
Erica		0:30:00	0:31:43	0:01:43
Jason		no guess	0:31:48

As you can see from the results, I was BLOWN AWAY by the winner!!!  Mike finished just a MERE 6 seconds off of his prediction?!  I have never heard of this before in a prediction run!  Ashley took 2nd and Milena took 3rd!  It was a great race and the first place winner got a Fleet Feet gift card, running hat and running gloves!  2nd and 3rd took home gift cards as well.

Nat and Tim on the left, Mike on the right w/ the 1st

place prizes.

Ashley w/ her 2nd place finish!

This is me claiming to not have rigged the results.  Initially

I was in second place haha.

Jim, Erica and Jason.

Jon, Mike, David.

Jason and Ben.

Final shot for Team in Training! (everyone else is 

stuffing their face w/ chili). My shoes on the table

in the front were stolen by Toby... poor guy, those

were from last season too.  I hope he doesn't get sick

;) haha.

After the race was over it was right on to the chili judging and spiced rum cider enjoying :)

We had 6 entrants for the chili cook off.

Matt w/ a vegetarian chili (super spicy)

Heather w/ a turkey chili

Joe w/ a vegetarian chili

Tim/Nat w/ a beer/meat chili

Susan w/ meat/italian sausage chili

Ashley w/ a meat chili

I was astounded by the fact that each chili tasted completely different.  They were all absolutely wonderful!!!  It was actually very difficult to judge the chili.  I kept my favorite in my head and then would try it off and on as I was switching to make sure I had a fair comparison.  I actually think food judging is ridiculously difficult haha.

Well it was a GREAT time had by all, a lot of good conversation, catching up w/ friends and making new friends.

When people were getting ready to head out we tallied up the chili votes.  It ended up as a two way tie for 1st and for 3rd!!! haha.  So we only had prizes for the winner and the runner up.  So they settled on choosing one behind Heather's back and that was the prize they got :)  Susan and Natalie tied for 1st place while Heather and Joe tied for 3rd place.  Mine got zero votes :( haha. Apparently I suck at the art of chili.

All in all it was a WONDERFUL event.  I am glad Heather and I took it big time this year and actually went and made this an event.  It was a decent fund raiser (I am kind of lying, we broke even w/ prizes and donations haha) but was an even better time just chilling by the fire and drinking some hard cider.

The only casualty of the day was the entire bottle of rum... I am shocked we drank the whole thing.  I guess we all needed a quick warm up!

I would like to take this moment to thank EVERYONE for coming out and supporting this race... which supports a great cause.  I plan on hosting this every year and if I break even every year, I will still put the proceeds towards charity.  It was a great afternoon!

Thanks for reading!  I look forward to seeing YOU here next year for the 3rd annual Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k!!!

Course Preview

Saturday January 21st @ 12pm

As race day is quickly approaching, Heather and I went out to verify the course.  We have determined that it will be an out and back course starting at the Oak Grove Picnic Area in the Brecksville Metroparks on the multi-purpose trail (all pavement) with only 1 road crossing that is not a major road.

Click here for a map showing race start and parking location.

Course elevation profile

Course map w/ mile markers

The race is going to be a bit different though.  There will be top 3 prizes for the winners... of a PREDICTION RUN!  That means NO WATCHES.  Closest to your predicted time wins!  This makes it fair for everyone and does not mean that the fastest person necessarily will win the race.

The race registration is simple.  A $10 (tax deductible) donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) for my fundraiser and you are in!

CHILI COOK OFF!

But that's NOT ALL!  In conjunction with the 5k prediction run, we are going to host a chili cook off after the race (don't worry the race location has restroom facilities, electricity, and fire places!!!).  

• All runners are automatically allowed to judge the chili for free (included w/ race donation).  
• If you do not run the race and want to enter your chili into the cook off, it will be a $5 donation for the entry fee.
• If you don't want to run and don't want to make chili, but want to eat chili, it will be a $2/person donation.

So why pay to enter your chili you ask?  Simple, In addition to the running prizes for top 3, there will be chili cook off prizes for the winner and runner up based on a ballot voting system.

We will provide power strips to plug in crock pots for the chili and we will also provide bowls and spoons.  Please bring your own beverages (we will provide a limited amount of hot cider) and serving utensils.

Race Entry Information

Visit my LLS Fundraising page to sign up early.  Please type BBGC5k in the comment section.  (Donation Website no longer active, please bring cash or check w/ you upon arriving).

If you are bringing guests or chili the day of, you are more than welcome to donate the appropriate amounts on race day, all entry donations will be accepted on race day as well.

Go big or go home!

After last year's Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k Inaugural Race, Heather and I decided it was now officially time to enter the big leagues.

We are making this a big deal now (as if it wasn't before, I mean seriously... course records were set last year!!!)  We are hosting the race this year at the Oak Grove Picnic Shelter where they have bathrooms, electrical outlets and fireplaces.

Why do I mention the amenities?  Simple, everyone needs a pre-race dump; Everyone wants to be a part of the food festivities after the race (I always get mad when post race food sucks); and Everyone wants to be warm in the middle of Cleveland winter.

You may be asking yourselves right now... post race food? How can you top bananas and bagels and bottled water?  Well my friends, simple.  Chili Cook Off!  Yes, you read that right.  This event is going to be the kick off to the first annual Blue Balls and Glass Cutters Chili Cook Off too!!!  All friends and family will be invited to come join us after the race for the festivities.  All participants are encouraged to bring some sort of dish, whether it's a spiced rum cider to share, some deserts, or your family chili that has been passed down through generations and generations.

This event is going to be a blast, more so a party than anything.  It is being hosted at noon for one reason, Heather and I will need time to set up and no one really wants chili for breakfast :)

I can't wait for this event to unfold for I have a feeling it will be OFF THE HOOK!