Would you describe Dog Days as a particularly challenging course? I'm trying to make sense of what Demers' 27:36 means to upcoming races.

Basically, 27:36 is what I'd expect Brandon to run in a full-length 5-mile race over a relatively fast course. So considering that he ran 27:36 in a 4.85-mile (per Perry's recording) race, I'm wondering if the toughness of the terrain accounted for the seemingly extra time.

Simply looking at his results I'd say DR can contend with him in the distances. I don't think you want it to come down to a kick, though. The other problem is if Demers is winning many of these races he may not have to give it 100% all the time. His mile times in the track series this summer likely intimidate DR some.

That's many women's marathons. I recall a bunch of them where the first 5k was run in something like 18 minutes.

Katie Ogden, however, was there today --- and if she'd run anything close to what she'd run last year, she would've taken it all (it was a tough day for racing ... muggy, and the sun was beating down). Actually, Perry more than likely would've won if he'd participated today, as I'm sure that he would've broken 38:00.

This photo of a chart is very revealing. I wasn't sure if anyone had ever broken 35:00 on the Chaptico Classic 10k course, but it looks like guys used to run it MUCH faster (I wonder if this is because there were fewer races to choose from back in the 1980s and early '90s, which may have compelled sub-elite talent to search for out of the way races like Chaptico ... though one of the fastest times is the one that Danny Bennett ran in 2005, when I was there). Still nice to have my name on the board (twice when it's updated!). Ah, and Katie's time last year is the female course record.

After staying the course and settling the score with Joe in 2011 and then winning it all in 2012, I really thought that I'd officially exorcized the demons of disorientation that arose at Crofton Kiwanis 2010. But then the curse reasserted itself last December at Jingle Bell when I took an incorrect left onto C St --- and though I can't say that this misstep cost me the race with Trent, it surely made things less close. And then on Saturday it struck me in the most unlikely of places.

Over the previous 9 years, the Chaptico Classic was always a very convenient race for me to attend; just a quick 20 or so minute early morning drive on the last Saturday of August every year. This time, however, it was difficult to judge how long it would take to get from Lexington Park to Chaptico, so I decided to err on the side of the trip likely taking an hour or more and set forth accordingly ... and ended up pulling into the grassy field by the church hall just before 6:40 a.m.! It was still a bit dim out, and the volunteers hadn't even started setting tables up yet. There was another runner, though, who also happened to arrive early, and who should it have been but my fellow defending 10k champion Katie Ogden. And to all appearances, she was there solo. That surely meant no Brandon Demers --- and therefore that, in all likelihood, there would be no one present to give me any real challenge. My Chaptico champ two-timer ambitions were all but assured!

But then lo! Quadzilla himself suddenly appeared, looming a head higher than all those standing around him. "Well, my undefeated in 2013 streak had to end eventually," I thought. This made things seem especially grim during my uncomfortable warm up (it wasn't getting any less humid, but the sun was starting to get high and hot). Neither victory nor a quality race time seemed possible. But upon concluding my warm up back over by the amassing assembly, I saw red. Yes, Demers' race bib was now in view (5k bibs = red numbers, 10k bibs = black numbers), and though I never would've guessed it, he'd shown up to compete in the 5k (perhaps because the Annapolis 10-Miler had been less than a week before). I was in the clear to win again!

Or at least I was fairly sure. Lining up in front of Katie, I didn't note anyone to worry about. Danny Bennett and Tom Burke might run decent times, sure, but barely below 40:00 at best. Katie did indeed seem like the only one who might have a chance at shadowing me for awhile. And when the race quietly commenced sans cannon (Mike Whitson said it was because the safety inspector didn't approve, but I kind of suspect that it had at least a little to do with showing respect to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing ... explosions are not something people want to hear at races after that terrorist attack) I dropped the field even more dramatically than I did last year. I went down the hill like a shot!

With following footfalls already thinning out, I cut through the traffic circle and knocked out the early hill with little trouble. I was booking along seemingly so well that I thought for sure I was going to crack 5:30. Well, 5:35 was nonetheless 5 seconds better than my opening mile last year, and there was the distinct impression that I was running much stronger this time. My aspiration was actually to hold to <5:40 for as long as I could, meaning <11:20 was the target for 2 miles and <17:00 for 3 miles. Except then my 2nd and 3rd mile splits went 5:49 and 5:51 ... whereas last year they'd gone 5:48 and 5:51. I was in truth running almost the exact same race! Fortunately a long downhill mile and some unexpected competitive incentive were on the way.

It seemed that the 5k start had been delayed by longer than usual this year. For instead of plowing through the ranks of 5k mid-packers like I normally would after making the more distant 10k course U-turn, after making the turn I came back and passed the lead 5k runners face to face (on opposite sides of the road) shortly before they would be making their U-turn ... which meant they would soon be chasing after ME! That got me in a hurry. So yes, from there all the way to the turn off for the 5k finish was a most suspenseful stretch. I cast many a look back over my shoulder, and each time a certain tall figure had drawn closer. Brandon was indeed bearing down on me with a vengeance as he unleashed one heck of a downhill finishing kick, yet I resolved that I would absolutely not allow him to catch me before I could pass safely out of 5k course territory (it was indeed a curious sight to see him coming after me rather than drawing far ahead of me). By the time I veered left onto Zach Fowler, Demers couldn't have been more than 20 seconds behind me, yet I was in the clear (I wonder if this is the first time that 5k and 10k leaders have ever approached the 5k finish at the same time). Thus I can say that there was no point in this race in which I wasn't leading everyone --- even the guy who posted a 16:50 5k!

Though the lengthy decline advantage was over and the monstrous ascent was just around the corner, things now went quickly downhill. The first blow was bungling the water stop set up near the start/finish zone. Now, when it's overcast and drizzling (i.e., the past 2 years), one might not crave refreshment so badly. But when the sun is blazing, a runner gets awfully parched. It's hard to say who was more to blame, the water station volunteer or me, but either way the crucial cup I reached for fell to the ground. Thus I lagged at end of mile 4, posting 5:37 as opposed to the 5:34 I did last year --- which left me only 2 seconds ahead of where I'd been at the 4-mile mark a year ago. Still, considering how frustrated I was with 36:10 in 2012, simply cracking 36:00 would've been quite rewarding and I was definitely still on course to do so. All I needed to do was not go over 6:00 in the next mile and then finish hard.

I really could've used that drink before the double-humped behemoth known as Memorial Hill. It seemed to take more out of me than usual, and then the recovery period was made all the worse by the sunlight beating down on me. Ah, but there was the dirt road turn off already (I thought I saw someone standing a ways up ahead, half hidden behind corn stalks, but surely it was just some random person). Initially I was quite irritated, because while last year there'd been a big group of volunteers assembled at the turn with water cups to hand out, this year there was no one there. Maybe the station had been moved further down the drive, I supposed, and I was pleased to see that the gravel surface was dry and hard for a change. Ah, and how lovely that cow pond looked ... wait, there's usually a cow pond on the right, right? And then there was that old white farm house up ahead ... or wasn't it supposed to be a red brick farm house? It all looked so similar yet so unfamiliar --- and then the driveway curved a bit and ended at grass with woods beyond.

Back in Crofton in 2010, I bellowed a profane word that echoed off the surrounding houses when I realized that I was heading for a dead end. That is to say that it instantly became clear that I'd made a terrible mistake by turning right at that junction. Not so this time, because as I ran in confused circles whilst my panic was rising (precious seconds were rapidly slipping away!), my mind was simply not computing the fact that I'd made a wrong turn. Had I accidentally taken some branch off of the dirt road that I'd never noticed before? Had the owner of the property actually dug up a section of road and replaced it with grass? Why can't I hear the blue grass band?? I really came close to crossing over that grass and finding out if the gravel might resume behind the house. And then when an old black man appeared at the door of the farm house, my first thought was actually, "Ah, there's a volunteer who will help me get back on course." Things finally clicked for me, though, when I beheld what an aghast expression the old man was regarding me with (like I was a deranged trespasser!).

I was in a state of deep distress as I fled that farm house (I'll hereafter refer to that area as the Chaptico Triangle, a la Bermuda), and I came into view of Hurry Rd ... just in time to see Katie Ogden coming along! She was seriously less than 30 seconds away from passing the point of my wrong turn and snatching the overall lead (at least I knew that there'd been no one running between us, and that she had a strong lead over everyone else in the 10k). So not only was my sub-36:00 ambition now an utterly lost cause, I was at risk of getting chicked. Being courteous, however, when turning back onto course I raised my hand and made a forward motion so as to warn her to not turn down the drive I'd just exited. And then I endeavored to get as far ahead of her as I could. Sure enough, the road curved a bit and there everyone was gathered right by the real turn, with water. At least I didn't fumble THAT cup.

Yes, I was running scared from a girl for awhile, making the bunches of fun walkers even more of a nuisance to get around --- but it wasn't long before I looked back and sighed with relief upon seeing that I'd already dropped her by a good deal (she was probably holding steady at a 6:30/mi-ish pace). There was no real threat of being emasculated after all. And then when I passed by the mile 5 marker on the ground, I saw that my Forerunner's recording was already pushing 5.5 miles. Thus my motivation to keep pushing it pretty much died. Winning the race was now essentially guaranteed and my finish time was going to be at least a couple minutes over goal time, so what was the point? The old brick church was still a ways ahead when I hit 6 miles, and with the way the sun was sizzling I was feeling the extra distance extra hard, so why should I have intensified my suffering and further? I plodded my way to the finish (6.61 miles!), and was at least grateful that I still broke 39:00.

It could've been way worse. What if I'd run a fantastically fast opening 4 miles, setting myself up for a PR? I would've blown a major opportunity --- whereas in reality my best case scenario might've been to finish very narrowly sub-36:00 (in other words, a miniscule improvement over last year). Or what if the field had been as competitive as it was last year? I would've gone straight from 1sts place to 5th (behind Katie AND Joe!). Perhaps sometimes we need to make mistakes like this, when we know that things will still manage to turn out all right ... so that we can avoid making those same mistakes again in situations where it will truly cost us.