I've run this race with my dad every year since 2005. My dad is good friends with one of the organizers, and we turn up every year to help support the Precious Gems Foundation, founded in 1999 when his daughter and three others were killed by a drunk driver in North Carolina.
Last year there was a lot of confusion with a slightly altered course, and several of us went the wrong way, earning my stats for that race a big fat asterisk. The course reverted to its original form this year, and everything was well marked and labeled, so nothing went wrong today
The race began with the usual stampede of over-confident high schoolers with no idea how to pace themselves, but quickly formed into a pack of high school cross country runners in the lead with me in close pursuit. I spent the race trading places with a high school girl, the eventual female winner. In the last half mile, I edged her out, and in the final tenth of a mile I took out one more, putting me in 8th place overall and 1st in my age group (30 - 39).
I really felt like the girl had pushed me hard throughout the race and was expecting to finish below 19 minutes, so I was surprised to see the clock ticking away into the 19:30's as I approached the finish line (unofficial time: 19:35). My dad, incidentally, finished in roughly 35 minutes and placed 4th in his age group (60 and over).
Afterwards we all went out to L.B. Daniels né Lite Bite where, just like last year, I ordered an outsized breakfast of champions.
Dad: I won't comment on the amount of food you're eating, because when I did last year it ended up on the blog.
Me: Yeah... guess what...
Last year there was a lot of confusion with a slightly altered course, and several of us went the wrong way, earning my stats for that race a big fat asterisk. The course reverted to its original form this year, and everything was well marked and labeled, so nothing went wrong today
The race began with the usual stampede of over-confident high schoolers with no idea how to pace themselves, but quickly formed into a pack of high school cross country runners in the lead with me in close pursuit. I spent the race trading places with a high school girl, the eventual female winner. In the last half mile, I edged her out, and in the final tenth of a mile I took out one more, putting me in 8th place overall and 1st in my age group (30 - 39).
I really felt like the girl had pushed me hard throughout the race and was expecting to finish below 19 minutes, so I was surprised to see the clock ticking away into the 19:30's as I approached the finish line (unofficial time: 19:35). My dad, incidentally, finished in roughly 35 minutes and placed 4th in his age group (60 and over).
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| Accepting my medal after the race (photo by Wayne Partenheimer) |
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| Dad, me, Stevie, Debbie |
Afterwards we all went out to L.B. Daniels né Lite Bite where, just like last year, I ordered an outsized breakfast of champions.
Dad: I won't comment on the amount of food you're eating, because when I did last year it ended up on the blog.
Me: Yeah... guess what...
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ReplyDeleteGood race on a not-fast course - a lot of grass and some narrow trails can slow you down.
ReplyDeleteNow, since runners always have excuses (too hot, too cold, too windy, too hilly, too much rain, etc.) I should say that due to chronic hamstring and lower back issues I have trained very little over the last three months, so my time was a combination of running the first 1 1/4 mi., then running and walking the rest of the way. I'm happy I could run at all. And if any of my Saturday running group had shown up I would not have even been in the top 5 of my age group.