5&10

[jeff]

In the past two months I’ve run in three races at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. The soccer park has been around for 10 years. It’s changed names a couple times, but it remains the home field for the North American Soccer League’s Carolina Railhawks. Havedn’t been to a game, but the facility appears to have comfortable seats with good sight lines. The restrooms are open on race mornings and there’s even a Cash Points on site. Most importantly, there’s a nifty cross country course that wraps around the perimeter of the park. Not sure if the XC course has been there as long as the soccer fields. I did run a race there back in 2006, but I can’t recall if the course had the same configuration as now.

Basically, the start/finish area is one big long runway. C-47s could land with room to spare. The rest of the course follows a lane similar to an Umstead bridle path thru shady forest. There’s no single track or, for that matter, asphalt road to deal with. Out in the woods there are a couple small rises, but the main grade change encountered is the 1/3 mile or so approach to the start/finish line which racers endure twice during the 5k races run on the course. That grade is not steep, just relentless.

I do like the kilometer markers out on the course. For one thing they come into sight a lot quicker than mile markers and I find they help me maintain pace. Can’t recall seeing kilometer after kilometer markers at any previous race, but strangely enough I did encounter them at this past Saturday’s Chasin’ for Chalfin 10k run up in Pennsylvania. The trail race was a benefit event for jockey Jake Chalfin who was paralyzed in a Steeplechase accident. The race was held on a private estate on which we runners were able to ramble alternately thru long beautiful fields and snake our way thru forested single track. A wee bit of mud here and there mostly at the stream crossings of which there were several. In addition, there were fences and downed tree trunks that we had to straddle over. Some folks, perhaps many folks, hurdled those obstacles. I had to straddle and much to my chagrin and old age I had to take a wide arc in doing so resulting on two occasions of me kicking a more graceful and ultimately forgiving competitor.

Anyway, I was progressing along quite well, noting my time at the various kilometer markers. They appeared to be spaced quite accurately, I had no aberrant split times and when I got to the 9 km sign in under 52 minutes I knew I had a sub hour race in the bag. Except that it took me nearly 13 minutes more to get to the finish line. Considering that I hadn’t slowed my pace or gone off course, I thought that was a bit, uh, rude. Clearly in my mind that was an 11k event not a 10k. Of course, an 11k race may not have the same curb appeal as a 10K. Still it was a lovely course whatever the distance.

If running on the xc course at WakeMed Soccer Park interests you, there are 3 separate 5k races scheduled there in August.

[jeff]

On the Nightly News Monday nite there was a story about a Pennsylvania mom Angela Badaracco suffering from Parkinson's.  Running and, no doubt, a lot of other things in her life became difficult or flat out impossible.    Then she underwent a new surgical procedure and, voila, a short time later she's on vacation in North Carolina and jumping in a 5k at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.

 

Video here:

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/NBCNightlyNews/#48731399