For the past two months, I've skipped Saturday races to adhere to the marathon training program. However, today the training program moved 50 miles northwest to Cartersville, for a cross-country meet for various grade school teams, beginning with a community run for Atlanta Track Club members. In October 2014 I ran the Cartersville 10K and scored my first sub-55 minute performance, thanks to relatively flat terrain and the beginning of autumn temperatures. Last year the track club switched to the cross-country format, but I was persuaded by friends in the Tucker Running Club to a local 5K race. That was fortunate because it poured rain that day, and I don't think that I would have enjoyed running through mud and then driving an hour to get home.
Today however the sky was clear and the temperature was cooler than it's been in months, 63 deg F at the start! The marathon training group gathered early and warmed up with a couple of miles in the dark, and then those that wanted to run the race headed to the start as dawn began to break. I had never run a cross-country race and wasn't sure what to expect, other than what the track club wrote about a soft-surface run. I was also thinking that I should take it easy, given the high mileage that I've been running. But when I checked in for my bib, one of the track club regular volunteers, John Wallace, asked me if I was going to "try for 25", and I had to admit that when there is a clock, I tend to try for my best time.
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| The field with flagged running lanes (posted by Atlanta Track Club, probably taken the day before the race) |
The sun rose a few minutes before the start, and I was glad to have my sunglasses handy. At the starting line, we gathered behind a white chalk line in the dirt, stretching at least 100 yards across the field. I was with Myriam Fentanes and Matt Dickinson from Tucker Running Club, Simon Blakey from Emory passed by, saw Tes Sobomehin of Runningnerds, along with several run leaders from the marathon training program, among a group of several hundred eager runners from ages 8 to 91! I hung back a bit from the front but was still within a few yards of the starting line when the gun sounded.
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| "Ready, set,..." |
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| "GO!!!!!" |
I took off with the pack, running as if my life depended on it! There were a bunch of whoops and hollers as we ran across the field. The field had a gentle downward slope and so I let fly at about a 7 minute/mile pace for the first few hundred yards. That was the perfect distance to spread everyone out so that we weren't crowded as we entered the fenced-in race course. As we turned to the east, the sun was occasionally in our faces and so I pulled down the brim of my cap so I could see where I was running. The field was fairly level, until we made a little turn and I was looking down into what appeared to be a small gulley just as I was blinded by the sun shining directly in my eyes! I was glad to make it through that little dip without falling - or without anyone around me going down, but was reassured by good footing on the path.
At several points on the path, we could see the lead runners coming in the other direction on some hairpin turns, as well as later seeing some of the runners behind us. I was moving quickly and maintaining just under an 8 minute/mile pace for the first mile, feeling comfortable thanks to pre-run dynamic stretching and two easy warmup miles before the race. As we reached the one-mile mark, I heard a warning from a volunteer about a sharp turn with another drop, and took the turn carefully side-stepping over the 1-mile timing strip (7:51 on my watch, 8:01 official). Somewhere in the second mile, Matt Dickinson passed me, encouraging me on my effort. I was surprised that he had started behind me, and he didn't seem to be running as fast as I've seen him in the past. Then I remembered that he had told me that he was running the Chicago Marathon in a couple of weeks and so he was simply doing an easy "tempo run" - which I guess is just a little faster than my "throw all caution to the winds" 5K race pace. I managed to keep Matt in sight for most of the race.
In one section there was a fairly steep but short downhill, where I just let gravity do the work and I hurtled past four or five other runners. Around this point my heart rate monitor began to sound (>170 bpm) but I was determined not to slow down, as the race was halfway over for me. Around the 15 minute mark, I could hear the announcer in the distance as the first finishers arrived! The 2-mile marker was a bit after my watch had sounded for the second mile (7:48 on the watch, 16:12 elapsed official). Shortly after passing the 2-mile marker, we turned a corner to see a couple of rows of hay bales. There was a path to run around them to the right, but I decided to take on the full experience and stepped on top and over the bales. Good form, I thought, having never practiced that move! Now I was starting to feel a little fatigue, but after the hay bales I realized that there was a substantial gap between me and the runner in front, and I felt that there was no one behind me. Carol Gsell was doing her long run as a spectator along the outside of the course, and it was nice to hear her encouragement as we passed. I slowly gained on the runner in front of me as we raced through the third mile. Run leader Bob Wells was cheering me as I reached the southwest corner of the course - we're in the same age group and he is substantially faster than me, but I guess he decided not to run the race - and I managed a small thumbs up to acknowledge him as I passed one of the runners that had been ahead of me. For the rest of the time, we raced each other, as my newest competitor caught up to me and moved a few steps ahead, then I pulled even with him.
Shortly before the 3-mile marker, we ran on gravel for a short distance, then scrambled up a small hill at the 3-mile mark (8:02 for mile 3 on my watch, I saw 24 minutes even as we passed the marker). Soon I saw the finish line ahead, and managed to maintain speed, even though it felt like we were running gently uphill, then very gradually accelerated to pass my competitor by a step or two as I crossed the finish line at 25:06. A young boy just ahead of me had stopped as soon as he finished, and I threw up my arms not to celebrate but to avoid running him over! However I was very happy with the race, finishing 307th out of 682 runners and 21st out of 46 in my age group, fairly typical for an Atlanta Track Club race.
Thanks Kevin Allison, 308th place, for congratulating me after the finish. I'm sorry that I might not have properly acknowledged you, I was breathing so heavily! That was a lot of fun, at least with the good weather conditions. I had originally planned to wear my oldest shoes but decided that I might want more tread on the soles, and I think I made a good decision to wear a pair of Brooks Launch that are about 4 months old. They are really dirty now but probably will clean up well enough with a brush on top and damp towel on the bottoms.
