October 13, 2018: The Race, presented by the Unity Collective

The months of September and early October have been unusually warm, but my training has gone very well over the past month.  A few days ago, the outermost bands of Hurricane Michael brushed the metro Atlanta area with about 1-1/2 inches of rain - and also brought overdue fall temperatures.  This welcome change in the weather came just in time for my last long run in this training cycle, three weeks in advance of the New York City Marathon.  The plan for today was 22 - 23 miles, as a dress rehearsal for marathon day.  

I decided to combine my long run with a new half marathon and 5K race organized by Tes Sobomehin of runningnerds, and Da'Rel Patterson of Black Men Run, who joined forces as the Unity Collective, to put on "The Race", inviting runners of all backgrounds to explore the diverse neighborhoods of southwest Atlanta.  The Race began and ended at the Impact Center next to a church by the same name, located on the northeastern edge of East Point, a suburb nestled between the City of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.  

For a link to the race site and their interview, click here.  

I should have gone to the Porta-Potty one more time before The Race began, but was chatting with Sheelagh O'Malley in the corral and then it was time to begin!  The temperature was 57 deg F as we began running, with the first glow of sunrise lighting up the clouds to the east.  Over 700 runners ran the half marathon, followed by nearly 500 registrants for the 5K.  We immediately ran up a massive hill on Sylvan Road, approaching Langford Parkway, one of the east-west arteries through the area.  When I saw the elevation map for The Race, I imagined this would simulate the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, although it probably wasn't as long of a distance.  Nonetheless I took my time heading up the hill, maintaining an easy pace.  Quite a few people cheered for us in the dim pre-dawn light as we ran north on Sylvan Road into Atlanta proper, through the Sylvan Hills residential neighborhood.  Around mile 1, I passed Jordan Eison for the one and only time that I will ever do so in a race: he served as a pacer for the 2:45 group, having run the Chicago Marathon last weekend.  

After about 3 miles, we entered a more industrial area and then into the West End neighborhood, just south of Interstate 20.  By this stage, I was running with Jennifer Butz who formerly joined the group runs at Big Peach Running Company in Decatur, before she moved across town.  She was on a slightly different run-walk pattern but we were leapfrogging each other for awhile.  Crossing under the highway, we reached the manicured campuses of Spelman College and Morehouse School of Medicine.  On a couple of out-and-back sections, I saw several friends and running associates, including Brian Minor just behind the 2-hour pacers, Tommy Daniels serving as a 2:15 pacer, and a bit later Beverly Ford Minor.  I had rarely visited these parts of Atlanta and never before on foot.  It was nice to see the parks in the area, and smile to the locals who had woken up early on Saturday morning to cheer us on our Race!  

From the Map My Run site for The Race (above),
which is a little neater than my own map (below), since I
tacked additional miles on the same or similar route. 

The miles ticked by surprisingly quickly.  I used my typical intervals of 4:30 running and 30 seconds walking, and maintained a consistent pace, between 10:15 and 10:30 minutes per mile for the middle part of The Race.  I crossed the 10K timing mat at about 1:07 gun time (1:05:40 chip time), a little faster than expected for an easy run, but with the cool temperatures, I ran smoothly and nearly effortlessly.  Around the 7 mile mark, I began to feel a little soreness in the left Achilles, but later in The Race I realized that the pain had almost disappeared.  That is one of the great benefits of the run-walk method!  The only problem was that with every passing mile, I felt more and more regret about skipping the Porta-Potty before The Race. 

About 8 miles into The Race, we entered the Westside Beltline.  The last time I had run on this path, the temperature was 90 degrees F and I was fighting off the beginnings of heat exhaustion - this morning with temperatures 30 degrees cooler, I was running smoothly and thoroughly enjoying every minute of the run.  I avoided overtly "racing" anyone, but nevertheless I gradually passed people with every run interval.  At the mile 10 marker, I thought, "just a 5K ahead" and then realized that today, it was more like 13 miles to go!  Then I consciously slowed down, a little.  In mile 11, we left the Beltline, where I caught up to and passed the 2:30 pacers, David Bloomquist and Angie O'Neal.  My original intention was to tuck in with them and not pass them, but they had obviously started out much too quickly.  I was on pace to finish in 2:20, and they were walking, so I just said "hi" as I passed and kept truckin' on.  Jessica Rudd and Kristi Swartz were running together about one or two minutes ahead of me, as we passed each other on another out-and-back section. 

Approaching the mile 11 marker, the Atlanta Track Club manned a water station, with executive director Rich Kenah handing out cups of water.  But I focused on the porta-potty next to the water station.  I slowed to a walk, but the door was locked.  At least, the red slide was showing.  I decided that I could hold on for 2.1 more miles.  We returned to Sylvan Road, running in the bicycle lane.  I waved to a man sitting on his front porch strumming a guitar, and gradually passed more runners as we went up and down the hills.  Then I saw Langford Parkway in the distance at the top of the big hill, just after taking walk break at 2:10.  I bounded on fresh legs up the hill, and through the busy intersection protected by the police.  Passing under the Langford Parkway, and a little more uphill, my watch signaled time for a walk break at 2:14:30.  And just as I reached the Reggae Runners cheer group at the top of the hill!  Well, it would really be poor form to take a walk break through the most enthusiastic cheer group of the morning, so I could wait a moment - but then more people cheered for us as we continued toward the finish, so I just kept running, trying not to press too hard.  Gliding into the long finish chute, there were hundreds of people cheering us (me!) into the finish, seemingly most of the 5K runners and many of the 263 half marathon runners who had already finished!  I crossed the finish line at 2:20 gun time, official chip time 2:18:26.  That was more than 11 minutes faster than my goal time for The Race, but I wasn't too tired and was ready for 9 more miles - once I had stopped at the Porta-Potty! 

Bib and bling sporting the colors of Africa

Relieved of my burdens, I stopped by the car, dropped off my bib and medal and picked up a cold bottle of Nuun (having drank a 23 oz bottle in the first 13 miles), and set out again before any leg stiffness set in.  Fortunately I didn't have much trouble getting back into the swing of running.  I ran a little slower, trying to stay out of the way of the other official runners or the cheer groups.  Upon entering City of Atlanta, I moved onto the sidewalks and just tried to encourage some of the other runners - there was Beverly Ford Minor less than a mile from the finish.  Instead of remaining on the official race path, I decided to simply continue north on Sylvan Road.  The sidewalk was nearly continuous, if cracked in a few places, and so I just focused on keeping my footing.  I didn't want to ruin an excellent training cycle with a fall or another broken collarbone.  I wanted to re-enter the Westside Beltline, but as Sylvan Road turned onto Murphy Avenue paralleling the MARTA tracks, I couldn't find an entrance to the Beltline.  I must have passed over it, as I remembered a long tunnel just past the mile 10 marker during the race.  

Before long, I had crossed interstate 20 and was near the Spelman College campus, well into the 18th mile.  I had planned to turn around after completing mile 18, but I decided to turn a little sooner, hoping that I might still find part of the Beltline for the return trip.   Just before my watch signaled the end of mile 19, I saw a long ramp heading down to the Beltline (I had noticed the ramp earlier in the race) and went back onto the protected and pristine surface of the Beltline.  I passed the point where we had turned during The Race, and just continued south along the Beltline, which was nearly deserted.  Reaching the southern terminus, I saw ahead a big housing project with the front door missing from the nearest building.  Hmm, should I go back?  I stopped for a moment and checked the map program on my phone.  I realized that I could get back to the Impact Center by running straight past the projects to turn right on Metropolitan Parkway, parallel to and one-half mile east of Sylvan Road.  

Heading south on Metropolitan, I reached the intersection with Dill Avenue.  I recalled an intersection of Dill Avenue with Sylvan Road, and saw sidewalks ahead on both sides of the street, so this was a good place to make a right turn.  This was the Capitol View neighborhood, with modest but well-maintained single family homes.  With 20 miles done by this point, I turned onto Sylvan Road to return to home base.  Momentarily, I thought that I might have turned too soon and would have to find some additional streets to run around, but the mile 21 alert sounded well before I saw Langford Parkway once again.  Heading back up the hill, all of the other runners were long gone.   There were no police directing me through the intersection, so I waited for the light to turn.  And upon entering the city of East Point, the sidewalk ended, just as the mile 22 alert sounded.  Oh well, I had officially run the minimum mileage for the day.  I slowed and cautiously ran on the grass shoulder, watching for any holes in the ground that could twist an ankle.  Disaster avoided, I stopped at the intersection to cross over to the Impact Center.  Music was coming from the venue, as volunteers were in the midst of packing up.  Running easily through the parking lot, I kept going until I reached my car at the far end of the lot.  22.45 miles for the morning in 4:00:42, not counting the short breaks when the watch paused in the Porta Potty, or waiting at a few intersections in the final 9 miles.  

Amazingly, my legs didn't feel too sore.  Had I really just run 22-1/2 miles?  I was still good for 4 more miles, if had I needed to cover more ground today.  As I stretched by running backwards through the partially empty parking lot, Brian and Beverly came from the expo, sporting The Race jackets.  We caught up for a few minutes, and I proudly showed them my elapsed distance on my watch!  Brian achieved his goal of breaking 2:00, with a 1:59:37 chip time, and 1:59:53 on the clock!  

With my mission accomplished for today, I'm definitely ready for New York - at least if the weather is cool and clear!  Coming next: three glorious weeks of taper, including the Atlanta 10-miler next weekend as part of a short little 16-mile workout. 

And as for The Race, this event was very well-organized, along a nice route that was new for me and perhaps for many of the other participants.  Congratulations to Tes and Da'Rel for your success in creating year 1 of The Race!