Short version: 4 mile race with 70F humid temperature 29:02.75 official time 1st AG (M55-59) out of 12 79/411 OA More than 1 minute PR The Cardinal Track Club puts on a series called Tour de Carrboro in Carrboro, NC (UNC, Chapel Hill..). It consists of a 4 mile race July 4th, a 10K in early October and an 8K Thanksgiving. Best total time for the series gets special awards. I plan to do all three this year so wanted to do well in the first one. I ran this 4 mile race in 2005 and 2006 in 30:23 and 30:24 respectively. I wanted to break 30 for sure and hoped for low 29's. It was a sunny, humid 70F morning where the warm-up jog got me sweating profusely. There were members of al the local track and running clubs. 411 finishers officially. The race starts on the road in front of a Middle School and ends on the track. Warm-up consisted of easy laps with a few hard strides thown in. Those hard strides are very important to loosen the legs and remind the body what will be expected. I did not run more than about a mile because I'm taoering for next saturday's marathon. I lined up close to the start line because all results are gun timmed. It was chip timed for the finish, not the start. Starting back form the start can waste a needed second or two. It started with 2/3 of the first mile downhill. I decided (forgot..) not to use my Garmin and just used my Timex Ironman chonograph (take note Ribs). Since I was just running by feel I just hoped my first split would be near 7 min. It came in at 6:55 which was perfect. Then I just ran at a pace that was uncomfortable. Mile 2 which had gentle rollers came in at 7:17. During the 3rd mile There was a "grey head" breathing heavily (like me) and we were running together. I kicked in some strides and left him in the dust then settle back into a sustainable pace. We hit a downhill stretch and everybody was keeping their positions. I thought, I should go faster downhill so I kicked it in and blew past many runners on that hill then dug in for the mainly gentle uphill leading into mile 3 and to the finish. Hit mile 3 at 7:18 and my "I hate races" mantra started kicking in. Just dug for the last mile whch was broken nicely into .5 mi to the main road leading to the school then .3 mi to the entrance and a quarter mile of the track. I planned to kick it once I hit the track. When I hit the track I said I'll kick it when I hit the bend, when I hit the bend, I said I'll kick it when I hit the final stretch... Somewhere in that bend, running beside a young woman, I kicked it and so did she which made it fun and all of a sudden I had extra energy. She out kicked me but I came in at 29:02.75 (7:16 pace) Wow! had I kicked just a bit earlier I could have been in the 28's! Next there were races for the kids. 3 and under ran 50m. 4 and 5 100m 6 and 7 200m and 8 and 9 400m. It was like a fun Olympics trial So cute. A girl running in a dress beating out boys to take 3rd! Awards were announced in front of the filled bleachers. I was really hoping to make the top 3 in my AG. They announced 3rd with a time way slower than mine! So was 2nd. The crown cheered me and the announcer said: "he brought his own cheering section!" What a blast 1st AG 55-59 and a gift certificate to Fleet Feet.

Congratulations on the AG win, gift certificate and big PR! You ran well and raced well. I like it how you blew past the runners on the downhill portion and still had enough for a kick at the end. Good luck for your marathon. huskydon

Nice race Perch! A whole minute off from a 4 mile race is huge. A first place in AG is also huge. I am sure your marathon will be equally huge. Good luck. Larry

Great PR and placement! Excellent start for your Series racing! Good luck on the upcoming marathon. Francesca

Nothing like hardware and moolah to make your day! But a race at 70F, yikes! Congratulations!

Congratulations, Perch!

WTG, Steve. You may hate 'em , but races seem to love you these days.

Nice race, perch. Congrats on your PR and AG win. You're off to a good start in the series. TomS