The name of this race come from a species of bird that lives in the
park. (trying to stave off the snide troll comments, knowing that this
is in vain.)
Well, they are trying to revive this race after a few years of not
holding it. Starting at the Rec Center does not help make it a fast
course. It is out and back, and the Rec. Center is on top of a hill.
The uphill finish is not something to look forward to.
The 10AM start time made for easy preparation, since I live only
5minutes drive from the start. My neighbor, Bruce, and I get there and
find it very windy. We check-in and get our shirts and numbers. SInce
the shirts are short sleeve, we decide to leave then in the car. while
Bruce does that I run some laps inside. After several laps, and dealing
with walkers that don't understand about staying in their assigned
lanes, I've worked up a good sweat. I get a quick swig of gaterade
before heading outside to the start. Now it is cool (low 30'sF) and
sunny, but gusty winds. After my warmup it actually feels nice.
The crowd seems small and I overhear a comment about 150 registrations.
Doesn't seem like that many showed up and I was guessing about 100.
With the small crowd I'm actually lined up about mid pack, much closer
to the front than I normally do. The horn sounds and we are off. I pass
and am passed as we head out. There is lots of room so a good start.
going down the hill the crowd thins. Near the bottom there's a turn
before the fianl drop and I let myself fly down this stretch. I pass 3
people on the way down. It's nice to know how to take downhills in
stride.
They have flags at half mile intervals. I hit the first at 4:56. good
approaching the mile I still see Bruce. Last race he pulled far head by
the first mile. SO some clear improvement on my part. Mile one at 9:42.
Feeling like I'm running hard but not over exerting it. The lead
runners start flying past and I clap for them.
A couple people I passed on the hill pass me and I pass a couple other.
I still thought I was near mid pack. The park trail is a paved
(asphalt) bike path. The trees, even without leaves cut the wind down
some. that helped. No 1.5mile flag, but the split/turnarouns I hit at
15:29. Ouch on the time.
Trying to run some surges. I manage to time them to when others are
slowing a little. This way I manage to catch Bruce. Great sign for me.
His is having trouble with the wind. (he does most of his running
indors at the rec center track). We hang together for a while and I
even pull ahead for a bit. Some how, when we hit the hill Bruce has
gotten a new source of strength. He pulls away from me.
Up the hill I work hard and pass a couple more people, but Bruce and a
nother runner keep widening their lead on me. around the turn and into
the final straightaway. I count 4 lampposts and figure its about
400meters to the finish, so I pretend it's a track training run and
this is the last lap. I kick it and close in on Bruce, but he is to far
ahead to pass. He finishes below 32:00. and I'm in the shoot right
after. I hit the split and my watch reads 32:07.
looks like positive splits. and my slowdown I don't think I can blame
entirely in the hill. I was slowing about mid point (though I did not
realize this during the race). I'm not sure how accurate the half mile
markers are but here is what I recorded:
mark split total
0.5 4:56 4:56
1.0 4:46 9:42
1.5 5:47 15:29 (this was at the turn around point)
2.0 4:55 20:23
2.5 6:39 27:02
3.1 5:05 32:07
They just posted the overall results and my official time was 32:02!
Bruce was 11 seconds ahead. I may beat him next month.
And Charlie, I want to thank you for you comments about my consistent
inconsistancy. It did help get me out there more regularly. Still not a
perfect schedule, but moving that way.
Now the clincher: the crowd was small enough that I placed third in my
age group. Nice to have a good run and get some hardware. Check the
results at champracing.net
(make sure you go to .NET, the champracing.com is a NASCAR site.)
place/total group
3/3 50-54 age group
23/28 Males
41/54 finishers
So third of three, but I'll take the trophy. I still beat everyone home
sitting on the couch.
If you are in the area and want a shot at some hardware to take home,
this might be one race to try next year. Most of the other fast runners
from the area were at the Cleveland Classic Half Marathon & 5K.
Thanks for reading.
Ed