It’s over, the 2008 Haiti Run for Health 4 Miler is in the books. I placed 3rd in my age group! I don’t want to diminish my accomplishment by saying that there were only 4 women in my age group, but, there 4 women in my age group. Number 4 must have walked a lot because she came in some 6 minutes behind me. That’s okay, my 3rd place finish netted the fine coffee mug in the first photo below.
I arrived in Oak Ridge about 7:20 AM, Saturday morning and followed the big orange cones around the race route to the start-finish line. Not much activity but I noticed a couple of people setting up folding tables so I stood around for a few moments and watched racers warm up along the turnpike. In a duh moment, I decided to actually read the race menu and discovered the bib pick-up was in the basement of the Catholic Church across the street. I jogged to the church, picked up my bib, stood in line for the bathroom and returned to the start line.
As I waited with the other runners for the start gun (actually shout), I ran into Shirley who worked beside me at the Covenant Health Expo in March. We chatted for a few moments about her finish in the Knoxville Marathon and Boston Marathon then I moved toward the back of the group. About 20 walkers for the 2.5-mile course were behind me so I wouldn’t be the last on the course.
The start “shout” occurred almost on time. This was not a chipped course and I noted it took me about 7 seconds to cross the start line. Remember I said I was in the back of the runners pack, there were only 82 runners in this race!
The first mile went well. On my training runs this week, I payed close attention to my breathing and this race pace breathing felt about the same, a little rapid but still comfortable. As I crossed the mile marker, I looked at my watch and couldn’t believe it read 9:44 minutes. WTF? Too fast for me to maintain with my current level of training, I slowed the pace a bit.
The first water stop appeared shortly after mile 1. The course was a double loop and I knew I would pass this stop again, but the temperature was warming up quickly and my body was heating up even faster so I slowed and grabbed a cup. The cold water was refreshing and I happily wasted a second or two aiming the empty cup into one of the laundry baskets on the street, strategically placed for garbage. The second mile clicked off in a more reasonable 11:13 minutes.
Mile 3 included a little hill. At this point that I looked around and realized I was running next to a runner-walker (R-W). As I ran up the hill, I passed the R-W who was walking. She flew by me on the downhill, she was an incredibly fast runner. I slowed for water as we looped around the bottom section of the course again, the R-W slowed for water too and I passed her. At this point I was getting pretty hot. I tucked my short sleeves under my sports bra straps and tried not to listen to my mind, which kept telling me to walk. I don’t remember what my 3 mile pace was.
The R-W was still close as we started the 4th and final mile. I was counting at this point and knew I had only 600 or so steps to the finish. I realized I was going to finish the race running and attempted to pass the R-W just before she took off in a sprint. There was no catching up. I finished in 43.15 minutes by my watch, 43.21 official time.
John usually acts as my support team and race photographer and we don’t stick around for the post race festivities. Since he was getting in a bicycle workout instead of attending the race, I decided to take the opportunity to grab a snack and watch the awards. Imagine my surprise when I received an award for coming in 3rd in my age group. Second in my age group? The R-W. I talked to her after the awards and she told me she was a sprinter; she could not keep up the pace in an all out run.
All in all, this was a very good experience and I will consider signing up again next year. Many thanks to the volunteers from the Oak Ridge Track Club, who worked so hard. Everyone was encouraging and friendly and the race was well run.
John and I closed the evening with a wonderful dinner “in the country” with friends. A very pleasant evening indeed.
Pictures from the race are below:
Picture hijacked from the Oak Ridge Track Club’s photo page. I am almost directly behind the guy front in the cap (next to the lady in the gray shirt who came in second)
Picture from the Oak Ridge Track Club webpage again. I am a couple of people to the right of the girl in the orange shirt and white shorts.
Start-finish line
Really bad sweaty post race self photo!
