Earlier this week my running buddy, Dave, decided to put together a team of 5 to compete at a local 5K in Ft Worth. This is an annual event run to raise money for an AIDS/HIV charity. The trophies for this event are wooden parrot statues, and we thought it would be cool to earn one of those cherished baubles. After looking through the results from last year's race, it appeared that if we could put 5 of our friends together on a team, we would have a shot at the "team" championship.So, we signed up.
Race morning was a bit on the warm side, but comfortable, with a strong breeze from the South. 65F is fine for a 5K, just glad I wasn't running a half or full marathon in it.
The 10K started at 8AM, and the 5K was supposed to start at 8:30, so at about 8:10 our team went for about a 1 mile warmup jog, then did a few strides. At about 8:20, we hear "1 minute to start", so we rushed over to the crowded starting area and worked our way though the crowd to try to get near the front. There was a team of kids from a local running club, and they were everywhere..especially near the front. When the horn sounded I had to do a little weaving to avoid running some joggers over.
The plan for today was to try to run 20:00. The plan was to go out easy in the first mile (6:40ish), then speed up from there. I drove the course before the race, and realized that the first mile was by far the easiest, and most downhill, so I ran what felt like an easy pace and crossed the 1st mile make at about 6:17. I felt good, and I could see the first hill up ahead. At about 1.5 I caught up to my friend, Ruthie, at about the same time Dave caught up to me and passed me. I decided to try to stick on Dave's tail. The 2nd mile was 6:30. I knew the 3rd mile was going to be a bit tougher, as there's a fairly steep hill to climb, and then a turn into the south breeze to the finish. I stuck behind dave, maybe 10 yards or so. Close enough to keep him in range. Up the hill we trudged, passing 1 or 2 people. Once we crested the hill, there was a little relief on a slight downhill. At about a third mile to the finish we turned into the wind and headed south. At this point, I was still feeling OK..and better yet, Dave was still 10 yards ahead. I'm so used to running with Dave, and always finishing right behind him. I finished 8 seconds behind Dave at our last 5K in Feb, and just as I was about to resign myself to another finish behind him, I decided to go for it. I don't get too many opportunities to be within striking distance this close to the finish. Today was going to be my day. Dave was going to eat my dust. With about 200 yards to go, I made my move. I kicked it down a gear and sprinted past Dave. I'm pretty sure he was shocked to see me, and by the time he realized what happened I was a few yards ahead. He kicked it in, too. I finished ahead of Dave!!!!! Woohooo!!! My day was made!!!
When the results were posted, I went over to see how we did in our age group. Imagine my surprise when I saw Dave had finished 20th overall and I was 21st. In the shuffle to get to the starting line, I worked my way up a little further than Dave. So, even though I finished ahead of Dave (gun time), he beat me with chip time! The margin 0.6 seconds (yes about 1/2 a second). Dagnamit! :)
It turns out that our training group of Dave (20:08.4), Darin,(20:21) and I(20:09.0) took the top 3 spots in our AG (45-49) out of 44. We each received a progressively larger parrot statue for our efforts. It turns out that our team placed 3rd overall -- out of the trophies (only 1st and 2nd for team division).
I'm really not at all upset that Dave beat me (by 0.6 seconds), and that our team didn't place. In fact, it's kind of funny, and something I'll remember for a long time (Dave won't let me forget it, I'm sure :) It was a fun day, and I was happy to have a strong finish -- it seems like it's been a while. Sub 20:00 is still within reach, so we'll have to go for it again soon....and next time maybe I'll finish ahead of Dave. ;)
Pictures are here:
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