The Cupid’s Chase 5k has been put on for about a decade and is one of 48 similar races across the country put on by Community Options. Community Options helps fund programs and housing for people with disabilities, so obviously a good cause. It’s held in Maxcy Gregg park and features a fairly fast out and back course through Shandon. While known for being on the pricey side, the race has a reputation for some awesome awards and door prizes.
I missed last week’s Be the Buffalo, so it didn’t take long for me to develop a bad case of the FOMOs and generalized race withdrawal. Cupid’s was the only race this weekend, so I hoped it would bring out all the hardcore CRCers already out there scrounging for 2025 points even before they get their 2024 plaque. Greedy bastards (me included). The registration was a little steep at 45 bucks but fortunately this esteemed publication had a discount code. READ YOUR NEWSLETTER, PEOPLE.
For better or worse, Cupid’s also starts at 10 am, so plenty of time to sleep late and get ready. I always appreciate ample time for my dramatic colon to play out its typical three act play on race mornings. I get there an hour early and it looks like a decent crowd. Weather is nice though crazy warm for February, 60ish. True to form, Cupid’s race packet has a Nike tech shirt with $22 tag still on it. Not too shabby. I even wore it to the race because apparently, I’m a notal noob.
Silent H and I slog jogged a few miles and checked out his new Honda, even though it made me sad with the recent death of my prized 2005 pilot with all the race stickers. Rest easy, big blue. One surprise encore for my colon and everybody starts lining up. The crowd is sizable but no Hunter (aka 2024 SC male runner of the year) or other super elites. Tanner is on hand, and I say he might have the W on this one. There are some pesky high school kids though, so that’s always a wild card. After my start line selfie, I look over and see Phil Midden. OH NO. Like OJ Striggles, Phil is exactly my age and a far superior runner, as well as a long-time destroyer of my trophy hunting hopes. He rarely races, but when he shows up, he gives me a good beat down. Oh well.
So I should really break this race down into three separate dramas.
1) THE TURN. This course is a simple out and back, with the first part straight up Blossom until you turn on Amherst. Nothing super surprising in the early going. I paced with J-Ly early and Tanner and a group of kids led the way up ahead. I powered up the hill and I’m focused on getting my breathing back when I spot some chaos up ahead. The lead cop car appears to stop suddenly, back up and then turn on Sims. Everyone in the lead pack follows the car. OH NO. I hate misdirects. I’m the next runner and I have a crisis of conscience. Well, I’d like to call it a crisis of conscience. More like a “what should I do so have a chance at that sweet CC swag”. I could run the right course, but we’re only a block or two from the turnaround. Community Options is not exactly a bunch of USATF road racing officials, so a slightly short course is probably not going to result in the lead pack getting DQ’d. Where is HYC when you need him?? The thought of being the lead guy to run the right course and getting a win on a technicality does cross my mind, though. Ultimately, I decided running a 4k today doesn’t sound too bad , so I turn on Sims too.
2) ON PATROL LIVE. After I make the turn, I realize this is even shorter than I thought. I’m all in my head, knowing my time is going to be useless, and Phil has probably stolen my swag already anyway. I’m awakened from my Debbie downer episode when some dude in an SUV takes a hard turn onto the course, followed by a scream of some choice words by the cop managing the intersection. I’m about to cross when I see the cop jump in his car, flip his blue lights and haul ass down Wheat to go get the SUV guy. I look both ways at the intersection, which is a little hard to do when you’re pulling 5k pace as an albino sasquatch. Thankfully any other cars there decide they don’t want to get arrested for vehicular manslaughter either. I didn’t see the aftermath, but H reported he saw the SUV guy in handcuffs. Dayum.
3) AMBULANCE FOR ARTIS. So I burn down Blossom as hard as I could, but the two high schoolers in front of me are not going to let a near grandmasters chunky boy chase them down. We approach the finish line and see the clock flip over to the 17s. Yeah, this is super short. I hit the finish in 17:17, Garmin has 2.75 miles. Extrapolate the pace and consider a touch of Blue Shoe Kick and it’s probably about a 19:15. Not too bad. Not too long after, I’m jibba jabbing at the finish when I hear a scream and some brakes. Apparently, Artis Love came crashing through the finish and took a hard right, fearing a Kobayashi style “reversal of fortune”, aka puke. Only problem is that the finish is on Blossom st with an active right lane. A car brakes hard and Artis seemed to take a side swipe from the mirror. I went running over. Because everyone wants a psychiatrist as their first responder. THOUGH WE ARE M.D.s, DAMMIT. Sorry, got triggered. Luckily, he seemed ok, though I’m sure the adrenaline was high. The kid who hit him stopped and was appropriately freaked but he was glad Artis was all right. We walked Artis back to a chair by the finish, when I guess the RD decided to call in the cavalry. A fire truck and an ambulance with lights and sirens showed up and planted themselves right in front of the finish line. Dude got a level 1 trauma response for a bruised hip. Luckily Artis got checked out and was able to walk around later, though I’m sure he was sore the next day.
But, even with all the 911 action, let’s get to the important part – THE AWARDS. Cupid’s Chase awards are usually awesome, but totally random and highly variable. I swear someone will get a 100 dollar gift certificate while the next age group will be a key chain and a pen. I moved back into Debbie Downer mode for the awards until I heard the glorious announcement of the 3rd place overall PHIL MIDDEN. YESSSS. I call this “PULLING AN OJ”, where you get a consolation age group win because the real fastest guy got pulled up to the overall/masters. Some would be ashamed of this victory, but it’s safe to say, between flying elbows, turkey costumes and incessant poop talk, I HAVE ZERO SHAME. I got some rechargable running lights for my efforts, which, while not $100, was better than Julia’s candle collection.
In the overall, Douglas Nover and Justin Meza took the top 2 spots over my age group nemesis Phil Midden. Hannah Hilal and Meredith Moyer took the top 2 women’s spots, with Jennifer Lybrand third.
Age group honor roll: Finn Jaworek won the 2-12 boys. Jordan Seeger won the 20-24. Sellers Valimohamed and Julia Ghering took the top 2 in the 25-29. Artis survived his trauma for 1st in the 30-34. Tanner Lybrand won the 35-39 and was 4th overall. Daniel Mosher and Amy Magee both placed 2nd in the 40-44. Adam Lawrimore took 2nd in the 45-49 behind the sasquatch. Merrit McNeely was 1st and Jennifer McLeod 3rd in the 45-49 women. Kirkwood and H took the top 2 in the men’s 55-59, while Lynda Leonardi and Pam Griffin did the same among the women. Beverly Bauer and Sue Porter were 2-3 in the 60-69 group. Brigitte Smith won the 70+ women while George Cassidy, Jerry Rich and Leeds Barroll swept the men’s podium.
Notable finishers – Most importantly, Patrick Hall is the actual winner of this race, since he was the only one who ran the whole correct course. Other finishers included Joey and Gabriella Swearingen, Antjuan Seawright, Stephanie Mosher, Marcus Cunningham. Tameika Cunningham, Alex Ponomarev, Pete Poore, Harry Strick, Ron and Helene Lipe, Jennifer Reeves, Bridgette and Bryan Honor and current CRC tour race participation leader, Margie Shelburg.
So I’m pretty sure the last time I double dipped, I swore I was done. Two races, one morning. It’s stressful and exhausting. But when I see the stars align for a DD opportunity, I get a wicked case of FOMO and I guess I can’t help myself. As per the usual, porch IPAs may also have been involved.
This double looked to be an easy one. Seven thirty start for the Fill the Pack 5k and 9 am for MLK. A quick google maps look showed a 22-minute drive between race sites. As someone who has pulled off a triple dip twice and a 30-minute double, this should be a piece of cake.
Plus, these were going to be two good races. I’ve done the MLK probably ten times and it’s always well done with cool awards. It used to be on Strictly’s old Palmetto Grand Prix and brought out all the beasts. It still usually has some decent competition, and the course is conducive to some fast times. I had no idea about Fill the Pack, but it was being held on the legendary Stomp the Swamp course at River Bluff, which is brutally hard but features a cool start/finish in the high school football stadium.
Waking up on race morning, I had my usual moment of Why the hell do I do this to myself??, made even worse by the fact it was 40ish degrees and raining. Awesome. But I had to do at least Fill the pack for two reasons. One, Tracy was coming out for a pro bono Jedi photo shoot and despite my questionable looks, I can’t help but be an attention whore. Two, the Visser. The dude (Michael Visser) has been all over social media in search of his first sub-20, and I couldn’t help but get caught up in his enthusiasm, since that was basically me in 2010. I told him “Come follow me to a sub 20”. I couldn’t let him down, right? Yeah, we’ll get to that.
I showed up an hour early and the race already had a decent crowd. It is apparently being used by F3 as their local running championship, so some pretty fast looking dudes out there. I don’t understand F3’s lack of racing, but they will show out when they actually put on a bib. I always have to look out for unknown superfit millennial soccer dads with this group. Branham is already there blowing up the bathroom and adjusting his nose strip when I arrive. I’ve made up some of the gap between us, but he is still kicking my ass since my Achilles betrayed me in ’23. Wesley also shows up a couple of minutes later. I used to be able to beat him too, but recently he’s been giving me a smackdown more often than not. And then there’s the Visser, who I apparently completely misjudged since he’s dressed like an elite in a singlet and arm warmers and is super lean. I only found one potential double dipper in Margie Shelburg. With her average 5k of around 50 minutes, this would be a tough double, but she swore she would do it, even if it meant an HYC style late start at MLK.
Thankfully for the doublers, we started right on time, and the weather wasn’t too terrible. Kind of a light mist, low 40s. Definitely different from the mid-August swelter of Stomp the Swamp. The start is a diagonal across the football field and wow, everyone is hauling ass immediately. It should be known this course will destroy you if you go out too fast. It’s mostly uphill for the first half, with a part they call the “calf crusher”, a huge hill in the middle of campus that you go up and come right back down. But first you have to climb out of the sports complex, and that’s no joke either. Branham has a good lead on me only a quarter mile in, and apparently Visser will not be “following me to a sub 20” because he’s already out of sight. We hit the calf crusher, and it certainly is aptly named. I manage to catch Trey McCain and we basically climb it together, both chasing Wes, who is about 10 meters ahead.
The Visser
I feel decent in the early going and decide that I must be killing it since the pace feels fast. We kick out into a parking lot after the calf crusher and the 6:15 mile of my mind is actually 6:41. WTF?? I guess the hills are taking a greater toll than I thought. I try to kick it up a notch but even the parking lot and the connector to the upper entrance of campus is uphill. Around 1.5 you enter a forest paved trail area that is pretty steep in some sections. Yeah, this isn’t helping my pace. Finally, I hit the top of the course in the forest and start plummeting down. I’m afraid of slipping and ripping something in another sharp turn as we enter into another parking lot (site of Silent H’s most recent injury). I didn’t think it was possible, but mile 2 is even slower at 6:57. Jeez this more like the 21-minute pace group than a sub 20. But at least the rest is almost completely downhill. I crank it up a notch and manage to pass a younger guy in a yellow shirt, then set my sights on Wes. Unfortunately for me, Wes is not having it and I’m having trouble closing the gap. We hit the sports complex again and counselor Sawyer is still holding me off. But I’ve been known to channel my inner Rocket Sanders and pull off some epic blue shoeings on the astroturf of the River Bluff football field. Just ask Code Brown and the Yerg. As soon as my feet hit the soft turf, I start throwing down. But that is when the running gods paid me back for Blue shoeing and turkeying. No sooner is my kick in motion when I hear it. Footsteps. Oh no, no one passes me, right? Pace gets amped again but all I see is a yellow blur as the guy I passed whips by me like I’m standing still. DAMMIT. As it turns out he and three other young dudes up ahead join forces and whip Wes’ ass too. Both of us brutally Gen Z’d. I end up with my tail between my legs, crossing the line in 20:21. 6:09 last mile and a 5:39 kick, and I still get a beat down. Oh well, still good enough for 1st in AG, though no overall points since I was 12th. Visser absolutely crushed a 19:20, a huge PR and probably good for a sub 19 on a flat course. Thankfully he decided not to follow the chunky old man.
Blue shoed. From Jedi Runner Photography
In the overall, Patrick Timmerman took the win in 17:42, with top F3 John Mouzakis second in 18:58. Rowan Anders was 3rd in 19:17. The women’s race was won by Leah Austin in 21:22. Twelve year old CRCer Cooper “Honey Badger “ Robbins took 2nd in 25:16. Fellow CRCer Shenequa Coles took 3rd in 26:36. Branham took home male masters in 19:58 while Geraldine Schnupp was the women’s winner in 27:34. Highlights of the age groupers included Mark Bedenbaugh and Mark Gallagher winning the 60-64 men. Pam Griffin won the 55-59 women, while Patrick McElderry and Kenny Culbertson went 1-2 in the 50-54 men. Double dipper Margie was 3rd in the 65-69 women. Full results here: https://www.strictlyrunning.com/json/Index_JS_C4.asp?uYear=2025&uRaceId=4520&uEvent=5k
MLK start
After a failed attempt to recruit Wes for the double, I jumped in the car to head to MLK. The twenty-ish minute drive was just enough to get my legs super stiff. It didn’t help I was cold, wet and was wallowing in my shame from the football field. If I hadn’t forked out the cash already, I probably would’ve bailed. I get there with over half an hour to spare, which is a good thing, because my colon decides to wake up a la the True to the Poo incident on the Palmetto trail. It’s still freezing and now I’m doing bathroom intervals to add to my misery. Brady had told me the registrations were pretty similar for these races, but the terrible weather has apparently driven quite a few away from MLK. CRC hardcore regulars were out there though, with Jimmy and Hunter Jarvis, Tanner Lybrand, Shannon Godby, Ashley Graham, Pete Poore, Ponomarev, Kirkwood, Shawanna, Artis Love, Ivery Baldwin, Joyce Welch, Lynda Leonardi, Jenny Nance, Michele Edmundson, Stephanie Mosher, Darci and Pippa Kenagy, Asheigh and Lauren Carpenter, Marcus Cunningham, Gretchen Lambert, Bridgette Honor, Jerry Rich and Marcus Cunningham. Margie made it there in time too, with 4 minutes to spare! Pete has done this race over 30 times and is probably an honorary member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the fraternity that puts this race on.
The course for MLK is certainly easier than FTP. The first mile is a pancake flat loop around MLK park and into 5 points. Mile two is the tough one, a climb into Shandon on Blossom and King, a la the old Get to the Green course. After the turn around on Heyward, the last mile is mostly flat and downhill, save for a little bump at the end on Lee Street.
With the gun in race 2, I am feeling rough in the early going but start to loosen up on the back half of the park loop. I’m definitely the ugliest in a three-person pack with Shannon and Ashley. I get a flashback to 1995 chasing girls in five points. Ashley surges ahead and Shannon falls back a bit as we make the turn into Blossom. Mile 1 in 6:15. Hunter has already exited the zip code and Tanner has put a pretty big gap on us three. My legs are a little cashed, but my lungs feel better since they were already blown out at FTP. Despite my Sasquatchean physique, I’m better at hills than most, so I throw down the hammer on Blossom and break free. The Blossom/King hill combo is pretty brutal, so I mail in the next quarter mile to recover. Rounding the turn on Woodrow back to home feels good, so I try to at least stay in sight of Tanner. Mile 2 – 6:36. The last mile feels decent cardio wise, but my legs are begging me to stop. Thankfully, it’s all flat on Woodrow/Wheat and King on the way home. I’m running all alone but I’m still deathly afraid of getting a repeat of the last race. Apparently, Mr. Yellow shirt, Andre Smith, lives rent-free in my head now. Cresting the last hill on Lee st, it’s one long fall down a mountain to the finish. I can see the clock and it’s still in the 19s but it’s going to be close. One last blast and I manage to cross in 19:50. Whew! Very happy with the time for the second half of a double. Good enough for 3rd behind Hunter and Tanner, and 1st old man (Masters).
In the overall, Hunter Jarvis cruised to another win in 16:10. Tanner got 2nd in 19:10. Ashley managed to hold off Shannon for the top two spots in the women’s field, with Hannah Hilal 3rd. Shawanna scored 1st female masters while Kirkwood won among the men.
Age group honor roll: Pippa Kenagy and Lauren Carpenter took top 2 in the 11-20. Artis Love was 2nd in the 21-30 men. Sellers Valimohamed (nee Williamson) returned to racing with 1st in the 21-30 women. Ivery Baldwin was 3rdin the 41-50 men. Shawanna White, Merritt McNeely, and Ashleigh Carpenter won the 41-50 among the women. Joyce Welch and Lynda Leonardi took top 2 in the 51-60 women. Legends Jerry Rich, Alex Ponomarev and Pete Poore swept the 70+.
Tour de Blue Shoes 