This racewalking race is a qualifier for the National Senior Games. Overall placement doesn't count as much as age group placement, and medals are awarded only for age group placement. Every year, this race follows the running 5K and 10K. Some runners choose to do both the 5K and 10K. The way they do that is by passing the 5K finish line and doing the course again. The timers record both their 5k and 10K times, and they get credit for both distances - weird. But I digress... The racewalk 5K is scheduled to start at 10am, and is late every year because the running races start at 9, and they don't allow enough time for the slower 10K runners to finish before the posted racewalk start time. So we all get warmed up for a 10:00 start, and then just hang around waiting for the last runners to come in. Not fun. This year, we finally lined up for the start at about 10:20. It was a small field, and there were at least 2 guys who I knew would leave me in their dust. But they are young 'uns (50-54), so I wasn't worried about them. It had been a nicely cloudy morning but, of course, the sun came out just before we started., and started to heat things up It was warm (by my standards) and somewhat muggy, but not terrible. The race started and the two kids took off, closely followed by two other walkers. I was in 5th place by about 100 yards after the start, just a few strides behind the guy in 4th. I crept up on him, and passed him after about another hundred yards or so. The walker in 3rd already had a pretty sizable lead on me. As we rounded a turn and headed down an incline, I was wondering if he was crossing the line between racewalking and running. I saw too much knee bend in his front leg as he accelerated down the hill. This was a loosely-judged race, meaning that there were just one or two judges, and that it would take a major violation for anyone to get disqualified. The thought of reporting #3's violation never even crossed my mind. On the uphills, #3 wasn't quite so fast, and I was able to gain a little ground on him. But there weren't enough uphills for me to catch him. So I would reel him in a little, and then watch him go again. I found myself pressing too hard to try to catch him, and when I press too hard my stride was flat, with no spring to my step, and a slightly slower turnover. Dumb. So finally, with less than a mile to go, I stopped focusing on him, and started focusing on the things I should be doing to have a decent time. I felt like I had a fast finish, but that my race overall had been a bit of a struggle. My goal for the race had been to finish in around 32 minutes, and I finished in 31:51, so I was reasonably happy with that. But I also knew, from some e-mails I had traded with the race organizers, that this course was short, and that I couldn't compare my time to any certified 5K times. Another walker with a GPS checked the distance, and it was about a 10th of a mile short of what it should have been. That put my pace at about 10:37 (based on a 3-mile course), which is about where I was in last week's 5K. After the race, one of the other competitors told me he also thought the walker in front of me had been illegal, and that the same walker gets disqualified in a lot of judged races. Interesting, but I wasn't going to make an issue of it, especially since he wasn't in my age group. I would hope, if he is getting disqualified that often, that he works on getting 'legal' if for no other reason than it must be frustrating to be constantly red-carded in judged races. I finished 4th overall, and first in my age group. I looked up the Senior Games 5K record for my age group (60-64), and it is 27:39. Gulp! So I won't win any national awards, but I'll keep having fun locally... Jay

I finished 4th overall, and first in my age group. I looked up the Senior Games 5K record for my age group (60-64), and it is 27:39. Gulp! So I won't win any national awards, but I'll keep having fun locally... Jay

Great race Jay, and isn't having fun what it's really all about? Heck with the likes of those elite 50-54 year olds running in Saturday's race us commoners had no chance for hardware...but who cares about that. At most races I'm out there competing against myself and the clock and if some hardware comes my way all the better. You did well and I'm sure you will if you trave to the Nationals as well!

Great race Jay. I agree with the comment about your concentrating on your own form rather than worrying about #3, but it is frustrating in race walking to see someone get away with it. Glad he's not in your age group. I believe the nationals are in S.F. next year-it would make a fun trip.

Holy carp, that national 5k racewalking record isn't much slower than my running 5k PR!! Great race Jay, congratulation on the first in AG... but hey... that national level isn't too far off, right? But yes, having fun IS the most important thing. When it starts to feel like work, it's time to find something else to do...

You are one fast guy, Jay. Congrats on beating your time goal and being 1st in AG. TomS