HUMAN RACE REPORT

Well, the good news is, if I were a woman, I’d have placed 2nd overall (to Jenna’s 27:42). Last year I would have been 9th. The bad news is that’s more of a testament to who wasn’t there on the women’s side, as 7 of the 8 women that beat me last year weren’t there this year.

I’m still not sure how to feel about the race. I give myself a “B”. It was okay (29:33), but not as great as last year (29:15). I’m trying not to let it sap my gumption. Given that 6:00-pace seems to be a mental barrier for me, it was good to get under that – even if it was only by 3 seconds per mile.

Prior to the race I thought I’d try something new. I took my watch off. I figured that way I wouldn’t be tempted to worry about my splits. Then, of course, it turns out they have a clock and someone reading each split anyway. Oh well, I tried.

I’m happy to report that I followed my race plan pretty closely. I focused on how I felt and what I wanted to think about throughout the race. Unfortunately, there was still a little “something” missing, like an extra gear or a little quicker stride.

This is basically an out-and-back course, so you’d think even under the worst conditions, you’d only have a headwind for 50% of the race. However, given the direction of the wind, it felt like we had a headwind for about 70% of the race. To make matters worse, somehow I ended up in “no man’s land.” After passing the first mile (flat to gradual uphill) in 5:58, I found myself running alone. There wasn’t a single runner within 5 seconds on either side of me. So the 2nd mile (mostly a gradual downhill) ended up being a solo 5:52.

Talking to a lot of people it sounds like the 3rd mile was the slowest for most runners. I think I ran a 6:04, but that’s just doing the math in my head. I was able to pass a couple of people during this mile, but still never really had anyone to run with.

The 4th mile was a gradual uphill – about halfway through, it finally felt like we got a little tailwind. Since I’ve been getting splits all along, now I’m kind of curious what my 4th mile split is. Of course, the clock has malfunctioned and no one is there to read splits. Given that I ran 11:39 for the last 2 “miles”, I figure I ran the 4th in about 6-flat.

The last mile is a gradual downhill and I just tried to hang onto my position. Based on the crowd, I could tell there was a bunch of women right behind me. Sure enough, 5 crossed the line within 16 seconds of me.

It’s interesting that even though awards are based on gun time, results are listed by chip time. Chip results have a gal finishing in the same time as me, even though no one was around me.

I thought it’d be fun to took at the results and see how some of the people I’ve interviewed ran;

Joey Keillor 4th 24:22
Pete Gilman 10th 24:59 (his dad was 6th in the 60-64 age group, 35:53)
Mike Reneau’s dad was 2nd in the 60-64 age group, 31:55
Jason Finch 30th 25:58
Jenna Boren 1st woman 27:42
Tony Kocanda 63rd 27:48
Erin Ward 13th woman 30:31
Jim Graupner 1st in the 60-64 age group, 31:26
Tracy Hirigoyen 22nd woman 31:37
Don Wright 3rd in the 65-69 age group, 36:59

If you’d like to get inside the winner’s head, check out Patrick’s race report.

In honor of Patrick and Jenna, today’s quote of the day;

“First is first, and second is nowhere.” – Ian Stewart