September 30, 2017: The Mercedes-Benz 5K/Walk Like MADD

GUEST BLOGGER: Running for MY LIFE! 
(Or as Frank might say, “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE MY WIFE!”)

Many of you may or may not know me as the (slightly) slower half of Frank McDonald, the ever-faithful wife who gets up at a** o’clock to accompany Frank on his many, many races. The Athletic Supporter. The Photographer. But today, I have been elevated for only the 2nd time to GUEST BLOGGER. Frank is trusting me to give an account of my race today at the inaugural Mercedes Benz 5k walk/run like MADD, benefiting Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

While it’s not the first time MADD has held this 5K, it is the first time that a race was held at the gleaming, brand-spanking new Mercedes Benz Stadium—a billion-dollar masterpiece that was the primary vision of Arthur Blank, founder of the Home Depot. Blank himself was actually spotted in the crowd today, mingling calmly with the hoi polloi.

The excitement over the new stadium translated into a record-breaking crowd with over 8,000 participants registered—more than double last year when it was still held at the soon-to-be-demolished Georgia Dome.

RACEBLOG DETOUR: Frank and I had the opportunity to attend the first Atlanta United Soccer game at #MBStadium for his birthday on Sunday, Sept. 10. What an exciting game that was, a sold-out event against FC Dallas where United destroyed the visiting team, 3-0! Frank and the die-hard fans were mostly on their feet the entire time, occasionally blocking my view (did I mention I’m short?), but that was no problem because the ginormous wrap-around screen around the roof oculus gives a crystal-clear 360 view of the game. Truly, there’s not a bad seat in the house. MB Stadium is a marvelous structure, with so many layers to explore, including a skybridge and transparent wall to see the city skyline. The one minor glitch was that at the time of the game, the camera lens roof was not yet operational. The only roof aperture of its kind in the world, the ceiling can open up in about 10 minutes and was tested for the first time in public at the inaugural Atlanta Falcons game a week later. Arthur Blank really thought of the fans—there are not 1, but 2 MARTA stations that lead right to the stadium, so public transportation is great (unlike to the new Braves’ SunTrust stadium); there’s gourmet food at reasonable prices, with free (!) refillable soda. For his birthday, I bought Frank an authentic Atlanta United jersey and scarf, and he wore the red, black and gold proud. He broke the jersey out again today, just for the race.

This time last week, I was attending my 30th High School Reunion of the International School Manila Class of ’87. I have always had the warmest memories of my years at ISM. Growing up in the Philippines was an idyllic sheltered time for me and my family. My father was working at the Asian Development Bank as an Economist, and moved to Manila in 1967 with my mom. All of the Youn kids were born in Manila, as Korean expatriates, and we attended ISM from pre-K all the way until 12th grade. While that’s undeniably a rare experience, there were at least a dozen in my class who are “oldtimers,” which is a testament to how close we are.

My class consists of some of the most remarkable individuals spread across the globe, but the organizers decided to host the 30th reunion in New York, loosely centralized so that many could attend. In fact, out of the class of 140, almost 50 attended, a huge percentage. We had alumni come from as far away as the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and even Luxembourg. I reconnected with old friends, and also reacquainted myself with classmates I truly hadn’t seen in a full three decades.

This past summer, I had attended Frank’s own reunion with his Ph.D. Chemistry class at Stanford. Having cheerfully braved a class reunion with him, he was game to join me for my own reunion because he had been impressed by how fondly I spoke of my years in Manila. Sadly, that was not his own high school experience in Nederland, TX, so he wanted to see what it was like to meet a class where people loved and cherished one another.

During the trip to Manhattan, Frank reminded me that although he was also signed up for the MADD 5K, he was also racing the Buford Highway Half the very next day. Therefore, he asked, “Would you like me to pace you and coach you during the race?”

ULP. Early on when I had first begun my running journey about 4 years ago, Frank had coached me back then and I had achieved a relatively good (for me) pace of around 16-17 minutes a mile with the run/walk method. However, I’d since become more lax in my weekly runs, and my pacing had suffered. So, however tentatively I may have felt, I gamely said “yes.” Frank responded with a grin. “GOOD. My goal is to get you to PR, so I’ll be PUSHING you, even YELLING at you.” Blink blink. What had I done?

So, during the rest of the reunion weekend in New York, I thought I’d better try improving my running just a wee bit. In fact, both of us took the opportunity to run through and around Central Park. Even though we have visited NYC many times, this was truly the first time both Frank and I have ever taken an actual run through Fredrick Law Olmsted’s masterpiece. Although he also designed Piedmont Park, it pales in comparison to the glory of Central Park. Did you know that in addition to the famed Boathouse and lake, there’s boulders, cliffs, a Dairy (now a tourist center), a Sheep Meadow, a mall, bridges, carousel, fountains, and tons of trails? Magnificent—and I got to run through it two mornings in a row. Even though I knew I had to try to improve my time, I couldn’t help but just enjoy the scenery. I also managed to run up 5th Avenue and through Rockefeller Center (pausing to pose for a thumbs down at Trump Tower). Frank ran 13 miles. I did 4. But I did it at least for 2 days in a row, so I thought, OK, this might be enough.

Coming back to Atlanta, however, my week was so slammed I didn’t run once during the week. So I was rather mentally realistic about what I would accomplish this morning for the race. To prepare, we ate lightly on Friday evening at a delicious vegan restaurant, Herban Fix (not carbo-loading like a small Tucker Running Club crew who ate at Bambinelli’s). Vegan you say? The truffle mushroom rice and scallion pancakes were killer, and Frank indulged in the soy-frosted carrot cake. A.MAY.ZING.

When we got home, I immediately set out my race gear, remembering the old adage: Fail to Prepare? Prepare to Fail! blinding yellow Tucker Running Club shirt, CHECK; sports bra, hat, Balega socks, sunglasses, water bottle in fridge, CHECK. Garmin watch? SET TO CHARGE. Alarm clock:  Set to 4:30 am (parking deck opened at 6), CHECK. Promptly get to sleep? NO. I played Solitaire on my iPad til 1:30 am, urgh. And when the alarm woke me up, I got dressed and we got in the car, and then Frank asked me what time it was. NO GARMIN, because it was still charging on my bedside table. So there is a corollary to the old adage: OVERprepare and you may still semi-fail.

NOW BACK TO THE RACE: Fortunately, Coach Frank is prepared. He had his Garmin, and since he was pacing me, he would keep track of metrics. Very important for my scientist husband. As we sped along I-85 downtown, I took my de rigueur ass o’clock selfie, still quietly in self-doubt about setting a PR. However, I was determined that I would enjoy myself and see what I could do, and not complain or whine even if Frank gave me the stick. We were meeting a very mini Tucker Running Club crew—Carolyn Weber and Linda Bodey Phinney were also coming, and we were going to try to set up a photo.

We arrived right around 6 am, heeding the traffic warnings from Atlanta Track Club, and fortunately, there was still plenty of parking spaces available in the closest Red Lot. Emerging into the Georgia International Plaza, the greenspace between the stadium and the Georgia World Congress Center, racers were beginning to gather and the emcee was warming up the crowd. Soberingly, we also saw poster boards set up commemorating the many beautiful lives tragically lost to drunk drivers.

We took a lap around the early part of the course and around Phillips Arena to warm up. I ran into a few familiar ATC faces—Carole and Phil Limonciello who were up naturally at 4:30 am without an alarm clock, Susie Kim with her headlamp on, a fellow WeightWatchers member. With this crowd and my average time, we were going to run with Wave E.

2nd RACEBLOG DETOUR: If you are running this race, or any one of the many courses around the area between the stadiums and Centennial Olympic Park, and you find yourself quite aways from the portapotties, the Omni Hotel lower level has lovely, luxurious restrooms. With no one in them at that hour.

BACK TO THE RACE: We found Carolyn right around 7 am. She shared that she was nursing a sore knee, so she was going to start with our wave as well. It’s one of the few rare times that both of she and Frank would run with the Wave of my people, so we got to chat and take our selfies in front of MB Stadium before the groups advanced to the starting line. In the distance, maybe 20 yards in front of us, Frank saw Linda, but the crowd was too large for us to call her back. We agreed that we’d try to meet up again once we arrived inside the stadium at the finish. Coach Frank and I also agreed that we would implement the Galloway run/walk method of alternating 30 seconds walking and running. He would use his stopwatch and would signal to me.

As we progressed to the start, I confess I did feel a little anxiety, because I didn’t want to let Frank down. However, I just reminded and reassured myself—enjoy the race, don’t get injured, and do your best. Finish strongly.

Aaaannnd….we were off! The adrenaline rush of the start is always a big boost of speed. Frank always tells me he has to tell himself not to go too fast in the beginning. But this course started with downhill momentum, so I let myself go. Frank tells me, and the metrics show, that this was the fastest pace I achieved in the race. The weather was excellent—in the 70s at the start, but with cloud cover and stiff breezes, it felt even cooler. The sun didn’t come out actually until near the end of the 2nd mile.

As we rounded the corner onto Marietta Street, I felt strong, keeping up with Frank and gamely and relatively easily maintaining the 30/30 splits. Even with my warm-up, though, my calves still felt a little tight, and my feet were heavy. I hoped that by the 2nd mile, that would alleviate. However, the 2nd turn onto Forsyth Street led to a slightly higher elevation. I was slowing. I found myself more eagerly awaiting for the 30 second walks to start as Frank motioned with his hand to slow down. With a few of the uphills, Coach Frank allowed me to take longer walk breaks, thank goodness, but when there were downhill stretches, I managed to maintain a longer run pace. The hairpin turn onto Northside Drive was probably the longest uphill stretch, but Frank yelled, “this is NOTHING compared to Cardiac Hill!” and he was right. In my mind, I was ambling and pumping my arms a little faster every time he yelled “RUN! GO!”

My second mile was the slowest. However, as we were approaching the end of the 2nd mile on Northside, there started this beautiful downhill. I said to myself, “you can run downhill Bonnie.” So I picked it up a bit on that downhill, and found I wasn’t breathing too hard. Go! Go! Go! I could see MB Stadium in the distance! Frank pulled out his camera and started taking photos to document my race, right at the Jerk Chicken stand. Here’s when I actually started passing people (yeah, I mean you, couple in the camo-blue shirts!). As we pulled closer to the T-intersection of MLK Drive, Frank reminded me, “Bonnie, this is where we got out of the MARTA station for the Atlanta United game! You’re going to make a run for it into the stadium!”

Come on Bonnie! As I crested that last turn into the stadium, mentally, I was still strong, but in my mind, I had thought it would be a little like the Georgia Dome when I ran it last year. That actually had a few bumps and hills before hitting the field, so I was bracing for it. Not so at Mercedes--the entrance was pretty much a flat straight shot! Hit the nitro! That last 50 yard dash was kind of a blur, but I could hear Frank’s voice kind of ringing behind me, and his breath hot on my back. GO! GO! GO!

And then it was over! I crossed the finish, and to our great pleasure, Carolyn was right there to capture that winning moment!


The photo that captured the essence of the entire race. That woman the left? Her face says it all: I passed her!

Frank caught my view from behind—pump those fists! (#ATC Coach Amy Begley, I hear your voice too!)






Frank told me that the course was a true 5K at 3.1 miles, with the 3 mile mark right at the entrance of the stadium. And when I finally caught my breath…here comes the best part: THE PHOTOS!
#MedalProud!

#Hotdogging!

Coach gets a kiss under the goalposts!


Frank does his best Terrell Owens!

I #RiseUp!

Frank breaks through the ceiling:

And for the running geeks: my stats.
No PR, Alas. No land speed records broken at chip time of 57:21. BUT:
  • -    I was faster than 356 people (more if you count those that stayed home on the couch)
  • -    I finished without injury
  • -    I finished strong
  • -    I enjoyed myself (really!)
  • -   I can say honestly that I run more than I ever did 30 years ago in high school, and if you ever told me that I’d accomplish that back then, I’d say you were a liar. 

So the moral of this story is: The future is truly unwritten. Go and make and break your own records! Have fun along the way, and if you’re lucky enough, you’ll find and marry a great coach (and even better husband)!


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