The running event in this summer's All Comers Track & Field meet is the 100 meter dash. The intimidating thing about this event for me is, I have the perception that I need 100 meters just to get started. But in such a short race, every second counts, especially starting from a set position.
Prior to this week, the only thing that I really knew about the 100 meter dash was that Usain Bolt held the world record. He covered the distance in less than 10 seconds, 9.58 seconds, to be exact. My goals for the race were:
1) To finish faster than twice Usain Bolt's time, meaning faster than 19.16 seconds; and
2) To avoid getting hurt.
A couple of days before the race, I did a little reading, and watched a You tube video on the 100 meter dash:
I remembered five points from my research:
1) Drive off from blocks for the fastest start,
2) Fall forward without straightening for the first 10 - 20 meters,
3) Maximize velocity in the middle stage of the race,
4) Pump the arms to maintain speed for as long as possible, and
5) Accept that slowing down before reaching the finish line is inevitable, even for the greatest sprinters.
Having never used blocks before, the day before the race, while warming up for a group run, I found a quiet dead-end street near downtown Tucker in which the block seemed about 100 meters. I took a four-point stance pushing one heel against the curb, and went through the five stages Drive - Fall - Maximize - Pump - and tried not to Accept before reaching the end of the block. That went pretty well the first time, and after a few minutes to catch my breath, a second sprint went even better. In fact those two sprints might have been the first time that I've ever run faster than 10 miles per hour on a level surface.
On the morning of the race, the Atlanta Track Club published the heats. I was scheduled for the fourth of eight men's heats, with a group of men ages 55 - 62. This was an intimidating group: Ken Youngers in lane 2 won a recent 5K in which I ran 7 minutes slower; Matthew Dickinson in lane 7 nearly broke the 20 minute mark in a 5K earlier this year; and Bert Leib and David Bloomquist are both reliably a little faster than me, by a minute or more in most 5K and 10K races. I didn't know the runners in lanes 1, 5, or 8.
I just hoped that I would not finish last.
I arrived about 45 minutes before the first heats were due to begin. That was plenty of time to check in, dynamic stretch, and warm up with short jogs on the field. There was a set of blocks on the other side of the track, which a few of us took turns practicing. I didn't know how to adjust the blocks to my liking, but I tried a four-point stance and a practice start, and it felt good. I then spent quite a bit of time watching the unofficial heats, and then the first few heats of the women's races, so that I knew what to expect at the start.
Finally it was time for the men to line up! None of us had run a 100 meter dash since our grade school days - I didn't let on that I had "practiced" the night before. I normally don't get nervous about the competition in a race, but tonight I felt a little anxiety.
And now it was our turn. I was the only runner that would use the blocks. It helped that the blocks were already in place in lane 4. They were a little close to the starting line, I thought. I pulled them back a few inches from the line, as if I knew what I was doing. But I didn't fool around with adjusting anything. Now was not the time to decide which foot I wanted in back and which would be in front. It would just have to work, as if they were already perfectly set for me.
The starter very carefully gave us instructions as we stood a meter behind the line: "When I say, On your mark - feet against the blocks, position your hands behind the start line, resting on your knees. Set - you'll rise up into a four-point stance. Don't jump the gun start! You'll be disqualified - and you won't get your Grand Prix points!"
Staring into the setting sun, glad for my sunglasses, I stepped over the blocks, took a couple of seconds to get my feet positioned just right, bent down to put my hands just behind the line, then remembered to get down on both knees as well. Thanks to the starter's clear instructions, and having watched the previous heats quite closely, I had a good anticipation for the timing of his commands. If he went a bit slowly, his timing was perfect for this amateur, and ensured that I was comfortable with my start.
"On your mark!" I was alert and ready. "Set!" Knees off the ground, butt in the air.
"CRACKKKK!!!" As the pistol sounded, I automatically sprang off the blocks, reacting without thinking. It was the most natural thing in the world. I accelerated faster than I've ever moved before. For a fraction of a second I wondered if I would fall to the track, but in the first dozen steps I grew comfortable with my balance, drove my body forward, trying not to straighten up too soon. And to my amazement, I kept up with the others! I wasn't in the lead, but I wasn't too far behind the lead runner. Between the sun and my exertion, my vision was a blur, but I remained safely in my lane, making a beeline to the finish line. Running at my maximum velocity, I remembered to pump my arms to maintain my speed. People were cheering, midway down the track I heard someone shout "Go Frank!", and that propelled me forward even if I might have slowed a bit. As the finish line clock came into view, I saw 13 seconds, but no one in my heat had finished yet! Pumping my arms to keep pushing forward, I was definitely finishing under 19 seconds!! The last number that I saw on the clock was 16. I looked straight ahead instead of turning my head to the left to follow the clock. I didn't know exactly when I crossed the finish line, but as I saw the others slow well past the line, I gradually decelerated. I needed nearly the entire 20 - 30 yard "buffer" area to come to a stop.
How exhilarating!
I had no idea if I wasn't the last person across the finish line, but I was close to all of the runners in front of me, and was very pleased with my sprint! I guessed that my finish time was probably 17 seconds and change. It took a day and a half before I received an e-mail from the Atlanta Track Club with my results, but my sense was correct:
Official time: 17.56 seconds
Fifth out of eight sprinters in the heat
I calculated my average speed: 12.7 mph!
I was only 2.20 seconds behind the first finisher in our heat. Unlike many of the heats that preceded us, our finish times were all bunched within a 4 second window. Even the eighth-place finisher in our heat crossed the line in a very respectable 19.05 seconds, beating "double-Usain-Bolt's-time" of 19.16 seconds.
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