Notes
4th annual Nolan Weber 5K. Didn't know the kid but have perused his FB site that uses money for this race and other things and looks to be a very worthy cause. Hell of a thing for anyone to have to go through, much less a HS kid who knew well out that his life on earth was going to be short.
Line up with all the rest of the group of runners and next to MoBram. I know he will not be trying to bull his way through the initial 100m. We are in front of a group of HS girls and hoping they don't decide to step on the back of my shoes. 3 min prior to race time I decide to check my HR as I feel hot; the 110 bpm # is not a good sign as the temp is now 80 with the sun beating down.
Time to race. Take off down the hill and a group of 3 soccer guys along with another kid in a blue shirt take the lead. We are going 5:45 pace as we pass the cop car .20 miles into the race and are turning a corner as we move up the first short incline. Turn R and head onto Oak Street. I am moving up even as we come toward the base of the long Oak Street hill and the "kids" are on the sidewalk as I stay in the road. About a third of the way up the hill I pass all of them and they then jump into the road.
Thought we has slowed down as moving up the hill but when coming toward the park just prior to the One mile marker saw 5:50 pace. I am now officially F*d but have a plan B as I am pretty sure I am going to gap everyone pretty good in the next half mile and will assess as we come to the half-way turn-around area. I am probably about 20 seconds ahead of the second place guy at the turn around and meet Bram coming back prior to turning back onto the walking trail. Have decided to keep up the pace through 2 then, with the heat and piss-poor tactical work will have no choice but to slow down.
First mile split = 5:50; Second mile split = 6:04 and just starting to head up the Oak Street hill outside of the park. Know I am slowing but work to grind it up the hill prior to basically shutting it down. Once at the top of Oak street I am pretty sure no one else is within 60 seconds and I am damn hot with HR probably redlining. Look at my watch as getting ready to turn back onto Rolling Fields and moving at 6:50; it feels like I am running in molassas. .33 miles left at this point. Mile 3 split = 6:37. Final .07 mile split up hill at 6:20 pace.
Clock time is 18:53. For some reason, I thought I ran a 19:23 ????
Tactically, piss-poor race. Give myself a D on it as it was rookie type pacing; However, being that I am 52 y/o and no one was there to run me down I will gladly take the win and go home. I always wonder if these recent wins will be the final OA win for this old man. Time will tell.
Really nice slate OA award. Bramlett wins the 50-59 y/o division by about a mile and a half. CBEGM rolls on and Bram later takes off his racing hat and puts on his coaching hat as he continues to prep the next official member of the CBE girls elite team leader in the tactics of racing.
The best part of the day was talking to the kid who finished second and his dad. His dad was telling me about his training for St. Judes HM ("I have done 12") and stating he is hoping Jr. can qualify for the State XC meet this season. He then says "Have you ever been to the State meet before? I is awesome." My only response was "Yes, it is really cool." while thinking..............especially when you see your kid score 5 total points (2-2-1) in three years on the course...
5K age-graded time of 18:53 for 52 y/o male = 16:22 and 79.35%. Not sure how close the course was but probably within .02-.03 mile with the hills and possibly dead on. I will take it on this nasty morning.
Not sure what is up next. Maybe something late Oct or early Nov. I need to hit a certified course and will need to go north to do that.