Emerald Across The Bay 12k - RR (Read 374 times)

SHORT VERSION: Time: 47:42 Pace: 6:24 Placing: 1/85 60-64; 114/2934 overall Age Graded: 86.2% LONG version: Sunday was the 25th running of this race which has become very poplular here in the Bay Area. It was the 2nd event of the 2008 USTAF Grand Prix Series. I run for the 60-plus team that my club, the West Valley Joggers and Striders, fields for all the masters divsions in each race of the Series. I had missed the first event, a 10-miler that was one on the 1st of the month, and had made a commitment to run this one. It would be only the 2nd time in my 468 race “career” that I’d run this not-so-popular distance. The race starts on an access road, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The runners are transported there by shuttle bus. I arrived there at about 7:15 a.m., still 75 minutes before the start. It was cool and breezy, but not as bad as what had been forecast. The skies were clear and it figured to be a beautiful day. Here is a picture of the bridge taken by my girlfriend, Lan, from the beach. The start of the race was way off to the right, and is run from right to left, back across the bridge. After standing around and chatting for 10 minutes or so with club members, I decided go for a little jog to see if those first 2 miles looked as tough as everyone had said. Within a few minutes I had reached the start banner where a moderatley steep downhill began. It continued down for about 400 meters or so before heading up a steep, winding, climb to the bridge. Finally I reached the 1-mile mark, which wasn’t all the way to the top—still a 100 meters or so to go (I could be way off on some of these guesstimates, but at least I knew where the 1-mile was). Btw, I walked for much of this—didn’t want to subject my quads to any more punishment than what was coming up later. After reaching the bridge, and taking in a most spectactular view, I headed back to the starting area. I was glad that I did this little warmup—it helped me to prepare mentally for what was to be one of the toughest first miles I have ever come across during a race. After doing a few strides I bagged up my sweats and headed to the start. My best 10k in past year of 39:32 put me just under the 40-minute minimum requirement for the first wave of the 3-wave beginning. Realizing that this would make me one of the slower runners in the wave, I lined up about 6-7 rows back, just behind one of my teammates who usually beats me. The minutes passed quickly and soon we were off and running down the hill. I tried to stay relaxed, not wanting to trash my quads before even getting started. It didn’t take long for my teammate to open a huge gap on me. I could barely see his white hat bobbing up and down in the distance. After a few twists and turns we had begun the long climb up to the bridge, the part of the race that I felt was going to make or break me. Although running uphill is not one of my favorite things to do, it is one of my strengths. By about half way up I could see that I was making up some ground on my teammate, who btw is also in the 60-64 age group. He ran 39:06 in the National Masters 10k, the same race that I’d run 39:32 in. However, my training had been going better than at anytime since I turned 60 so I thought I might give him a better race this time. By the time we reached the bridge, I had pulled even and by the middle of the bridge I had opened some distance. Now it was time for the friendliest part of the course as we headed down the other side of the bridge and to a flat stretch that eventually transitioned from pavement to packed dirt. The only thing I remember about the splits through the first 5 miles were that it took me apprx. 13:16 (6:38 pace) to reach mile 2 and 31:43 to reach mile 5. This meant that I averaged 6:09 from 3 to 5. This is a very fast pace for me, yet many more runners were passing me than vice versa. Usually I make up ground during the 2nd half of a race, but I tried not to panic. I reminded myself that I had started in the first wave and that most of the runners had faster qualifying times than me. Just before the 5-mile mark we ran around a hairpin that allowed us to see the runners coming from the opposite direction. I could see that I still had plenty of distance on a couple of my rivals and just tried to keep concentrating. By this time we were on the packed dirt which wasn’t too bad. Finally mile 6 passed, and I was very happy with my 38:12 split. Although I didn’t know what kind of time I could run on this course prior to the start, I was hoping that I could average 6:25, which would be sub-40 10k pace for an extra 2k. Although I didn’t see a 7 mile marker, I believe that it was apporximately at that point where we began another steep climb. It almost slowed me to a walk before finally, with apprx. 100 meters ago, I headed downhill to the finish and could see that I was going to finish comfortably under 48 minutes. The clock read “47:42” as I passed under the banner. I was very happy. Later, while standing in the finish area talking to a teammate and another guy I didn’t know, I was told that I had won my division. “Not possible”, I replied. “Michael D. was in the field”, I continued. Michael has run under 39 minutes for 10k, including a 38:12 to finish 2nd at the Nationals last fall. The guy I didn’t know stuck out his hand and said, “I’m Michael D.” and congratulated me on my win. I couldn’t believe it. This would be my first ever win in a USTAF Grand Prix race. Atlhough I believe that he had an off day, I’ll take it! The is a picture of me (far left) and 3 of teammates from my club. Bill, next to me, finished 3rd in 60-64 with a 48:28, just 14 seconds behind Michael. Second from right is Joe, age 67—2nd age group in last NYC Marathon with a 3:22, and Art, a newer club member who took 3rd in the 55-59 division to the far right. Here is one taken through the front windshield as we followed a cable car on the road leading back to our motel: Thanks for reading along and allowing me to share one of my happiest days as a runner. Jim

Congratulations Jim, that is incredible! You are an inspiration Jim, thank you for posting here.