Notes
Alot of runners this year. Everyone wants to be up front. Marcy A asks twice for the "fast runners" to take the front areas and the slower runners and those not interested in their time to fall back. Not too many takers. There is a 60+y/o man next to me and I am pretty sure he will run above 21minutes but who the hell knows any more. Find out from the RD the D-bag is a bandit. What a dickhead.
I am squeezed on the far R side with Ashley Schmittzehe next to me and pretty confident she wont step on my shoes. Pulled the Hitogamis out for today's event.
Race gets out fast and I follow a couple of HS kids for almost .4 miles prior to pulling up beside the one and telling him "It is going to be a long 5K with your shoestring untied." He looks down, then stops to tie it. I dont recall seeing him again. I still have one person in front of me and it is Storm Estes, a good 4 sport HS athlete from Chaffee. First quarter mile at 5:30 pace and feels like we are crawling. Just relaxing behind the leaders and waiting until at least the 1K mark to assess the situation although my turnover feels effortlessly. However, I know I will see how things "really are" as the course elevation heads up just past the 1K mark and essentially climbing until coming to the parking area at the turnaround area. There are 2 decent short but fairly steep inclines as we cross over the levee just prior to reaching the lake.
Hit mile one at 5:53 pace and still feeling very smooth on the turnover. Into the hills now and have 2 short but fairly steep ones left prior to topping out at the turnaround point. Hit the turnaround point at 9:01 which is good as the back half of the course is quicker. See Estes coming into the parking lot area as I am coming back out to the road and JW is about 12-15 seconds behind him. I am expecting JW to pull ahead of the Kid during the second half of the race.
Still hitting my tangents pretty well through the first couple turns but then begin running into the masses of runners so have to improvise on a couple of them during the second mile. By the time I get to mile two (5:47 split) I am through most of masses of runners/walkers and a little surprised at the second split. Still feeling decent and turnover still working well.
Meet several people with a dog at the 2.5 mile mark after the course levels off. The guy has a cane and a prosthetic leg and says while smiling " You need to slow down ". I smiled back and told him I planned on doing that in about a half mile. Turn onto Hwy A for the final turn and no one in sight behind me. .40 miles left so just concentrate on maintaining turnover. Still dont feel like I am too far into O2 debt but no one to chase. Dont hear the 3 mile beep as running past the crowd of people in the VFW parking lot. They are making alot of noise and several of them are yelling my name. I relax on the final 100m and practice doing a fast strider through the chute. I can see 17:26 when I first look at the clock. Cruise through the line at 17:36 official Road Runner Jaguar time. 3rd mile was 5:46 and final .04 miles of the course was 4:49 pace. Must have been a good strider.
Wait around to see who shows up next while talking to Toni. Surprised when young Estes shows up second at 18:57 followed by JW at 19:13. Ashley Schmittzehe wins female OA in 19:59 and looked like she was just cruising through a workout. Steve was taking her up to school after the race. Steve finishes in 7th OA with a 20:46 and Kevin Bolen from Jackson, 56 y/o and former state champ wrestler finishes 10th. The old men take 4 of the top 10 spots and 3 of the top 7 places.
Ron Ruminer takes another age-group win. Talk to him during the awards ceremony. He is pissed there are not enough 70+age groups in the tri-State area. Going to be hard to get to 1000 wins unless he can find enough races with the 70+ group. Damn 60+ racers.
Age-performance % for 50 y/o male at 3.04 miles = 80.8%
Age-graded result for 17:36 = 15:24
First OA road victory for this 50 y/o. Pretty sweet as I always wonder if my OA victories are a thing of the past and each one gets a little more special. Hoping to stay healthy, keep training smart and find a couple of certified 5K courses this Fall with some rabbits for a shot at another sub-18 run. I am confident I would have been good for one today.
CBEGM rolls on!