Midnight Madness Race Report
Michelle
Phoenix, AZ last night. This is a 3-mile race, not a 5K, although
historical records show that it used to be 5K. My friend Mary walked the
race; they have a separate walkers division, with its own awards and timing.
After Mary got to my house, we relaxed a bit and then drove to a friend's
home to make an appearance at her New Years Eve party. Everyone wished us
good luck in the race, and after a while, we drove to the race location,
about an hour's drive away. We got there early so I could get a good
parking space and so we could get our tee shirts and chachkas. (In previous
years, they ran out of some of them; last year they had to mail my tee
shirt to me and to some others) because they had to print up additional
ones in my size.) About a half hour before the race began, I jogged a slow
one mile to warm up, and about ten minutes before starting I did some
strides.
The race is gun timed, but they use chips to record the finishing time.
Within just a few minutes after we started, a race walker passed me, going
much faster than I wanted to run, and faster than I could have run for any
appreciable time. I won't say she left me in her dust, but she was really
moving out.
The course is very convoluted, with two 180� turns and five 90� turns. It's
mostly on city streets, but part of it is in a parking lot. When I reached
the one-mile marker, the lead runners passed me, going in the opposite
direction. There were three of them in the pack, with another pack of three
a few seconds behind them.
After I made the last turn, the finish line was directly ahead, about a
quarter mile in front of me, and i started to speed up. As I approached the
finish line, I saw the woman race walker who had passed me very early in
the race. I was catching up to her! I used her as motivation to run even
faster; I wanted to beat her. Walkers and runners have separate finishing
chutes, so there was no danger of a collision or getting into her way or
having her get into my way. I thought at the time that she beat me by a
second or two, but the results page shows that I beat her by two seconds;
there was only one race walker whose time was anywhere close to mine, so
that had to be her.
After my chip was removed and I received my ticket for the raffle, I
started walking back along the course, looking for Mary. I found her about
a half to 3/4 mile from the finish line, and walked back in with her,
voicing encouragement along the way. We then got our chili and cornbread,
attended the awards ceremony, got my medal, and then drove back to my
friend's New Years Eve party.
My time was 34:46, which is a personal best for the distance, by 12
seconds. I came in 3rd of 4 in the 65-69 age group, 1:14 behind 2nd place,
and 2:59 behind first. (I was 6:14 ahead of 4th.) My overall placing was
262 out of 320. They do not report gender placings, and I'm not motivated
enough to figure out my gender place.
My friend Mary came in 6th of 11 in the 40-49 age group with a time of
48:51. Six weeks ago, she walked 5K in 57:50; this is a heck of an
improvement. Her overall placing was 30 out of 56.
--
26.2 Because I can
Charlie Pendejo
> My time was 34:46, which is a personal best for the distance, by 12
> seconds.
Congrats!
> I'm not motivated enough to figure out my gender
You can always ask Caster Semenya where she got hers tested...
> place.
Oops, your gender _place_. I jumped the gun above. As Emily Litella
says, never mind!
> My friend Mary came in 6th of 11 in the 40-49 age group with a time of
> 48:51. Six weeks ago, she walked 5K in 57:50; this is a heck of an
> improvement.
Congrats to Mary too. That is quite a step up for her.
Michelle
<0aab51bb-c950-46fa...@a15g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>,
Charlie Pendejo <charlie...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > My time was 34:46, which is a personal best for the distance, by 12
> > seconds.
>
> Congrats!
Thanks. Both from me and from Mary (as soon as I tell her you
congratulated her and explain who you are.)
Bart Mathias
> [...]
> Within just a few minutes after we started, a race walker passed me, [...]
Annoying when they do that. I remember a male race walker passing me at
about the 20-miles mark in one of my early Honolulus, back in the days
when I always finished in well under four hours.
Unlike you, I didn't come anywhere near catching my race walker.
Bart
Michelle
Bart Mathias <mat...@hawaii.edu> wrote:
I'm surprised that I even came close to her; she seemed to be going as fast
near the end as she had been when she passed me early on. My pacing was
11:41 in the first mile, 11:52 in the second, and 11:13 in the third.