D
David Forbes
Guest
A perfect day for running. Cool (low-mid 30's F at dawn, around 40 at start), clear and with a very
light NW breeze. What a contrast to last year. Well organized with about 5K timed runners and
another 10K walkers/non-competitive runners. Usual number of costumes/flag bearers etc. You can see
the pictures at http://www.austin360.com/aas/cap10k/ Being still a long way from being in
competitive shape, I hung back at the start and ran a 7:49 first mile which was a little slower than
I had intended but given the circumstances about right. The course starts with a long gradual climb
up from the river to the Capitol building and then has 2 miles of short steepish ascents and
descents before dropping back down to the river. The last 2.2 miles are pretty flat along the banks
of the river. Splits were: 7:49, 6:49, 6:49, 6:44, 6:45, 6:40, 1:38. My age group (50-54) was won in
35:28 by some young (50 yr old) speedster from Albuquerque NM - the advantage of training at
altitude!! This I believe is a new age group record. 92 year old Sidney Smith finished in 2:17:11.
An 88 yr old man finished in 1:13:32 (11 min/mile
- just a nice LSD pace!!) The better weather this year brought out better runners and faster times.
My third place age group time last year wouldn't have got me into the top ten this year. Oh well,
there is always next year. The weather also brought out some cuties. They seem to get better each
year, or is that just my failing eyesight? I carbo-loaded the night before at the Bitter End (a
micro brewery in downtown Austin), and very nice it was too. The strangest sight was the gentleman
holding a sign near the 1st Street Bridge (about .5 miles from finish) saying "Doctors against
Circumcision" What the f**k was the relevance of that??
light NW breeze. What a contrast to last year. Well organized with about 5K timed runners and
another 10K walkers/non-competitive runners. Usual number of costumes/flag bearers etc. You can see
the pictures at http://www.austin360.com/aas/cap10k/ Being still a long way from being in
competitive shape, I hung back at the start and ran a 7:49 first mile which was a little slower than
I had intended but given the circumstances about right. The course starts with a long gradual climb
up from the river to the Capitol building and then has 2 miles of short steepish ascents and
descents before dropping back down to the river. The last 2.2 miles are pretty flat along the banks
of the river. Splits were: 7:49, 6:49, 6:49, 6:44, 6:45, 6:40, 1:38. My age group (50-54) was won in
35:28 by some young (50 yr old) speedster from Albuquerque NM - the advantage of training at
altitude!! This I believe is a new age group record. 92 year old Sidney Smith finished in 2:17:11.
An 88 yr old man finished in 1:13:32 (11 min/mile
- just a nice LSD pace!!) The better weather this year brought out better runners and faster times.
My third place age group time last year wouldn't have got me into the top ten this year. Oh well,
there is always next year. The weather also brought out some cuties. They seem to get better each
year, or is that just my failing eyesight? I carbo-loaded the night before at the Bitter End (a
micro brewery in downtown Austin), and very nice it was too. The strangest sight was the gentleman
holding a sign near the 1st Street Bridge (about .5 miles from finish) saying "Doctors against
Circumcision" What the f**k was the relevance of that??