The Get to the Green 5k is a yearly tradition in Columbia and officially opens the St Patty’s Day festival in Five Points. Its usually been a good benchmark 5k for me, and my times have slowly gotten better since first running it in 2009. For those interested, the 2009 Get to the Green is also the last time Trophy beat me in a 5k. Just thought he would want you to be aware of that.

This is a cool race. I mean, I’m mostly Irish, it’s on St Patty’s weekend, its a 5k , and there’s beer at the end. What’s not to love? The only downside is that the thing is huge..like thousands of people. This of course is an affront to my raison d’etre  , the trophy hunt. You can’t hunt for trophies in gigantic races where everyone and their mom comes out for a huge event. Somewhere there has to be those impossibly fit soccer dads that come out of hiding, never racing except to unexpectedly spoil your chance at post race bling. Damn them. My only “trophy” in this race was because they gave out awards down to 5th place. And who got the token fifth place tubular cooler award last year? THIS GUY.

But this year they added a 10k, presumably doubling my age group glory chances. Having two races automatically creates the tried and true trophy strategy, “the undercard”.  Ah, the undercard. All the studs in their singlets out competing their hardest in the 10k, while I duke it out with the stroller moms and noobs in the 5k.  But hey, thats just because everyone thinks its harder, and thus more prestigious, to race a longer distance. I swear I’ve overheard 6 hour marathoners poo pooing  races being “just a 5k”. Makes me want to grab their hand and take them out on a nice 6 minute pace stroll.

So I signed up for the 5k months ago.  Yes, I’m trying to break 40 in the 10k, but old habits die hard I guess.

The 10k started 30 minutes before the 5k, so I showed up about 15 minutes before the “main event” to take some pics.  There seemed to be a fairly small crowd , and I immediately feared I might have chosen the wrong race. Ashton was there to collect his check, but I didnt immediately see a lot of other elite types. Kenzie appeared to be likely to place among the women, Tigs was also there to compete for the overall and masters. But Eric Allers, Winston Holliday and, dare I say ,  THE CODE were probably the next fastest I knew.    So much for the undercard.

After the 10k took off I tried desperately to get ready for the 5k. Desperately,  in that I had tweaked my lower back the day before and I was trying every maneuver possible to try and make it less tight.  I think people thought I was practicing some new, awkwardly stiff form of yoga. No luck – I was forced to run like a chicken. The smart thing would have been to bag the race and try again next week. I’m not that smart though.

The 5k didnt have Ashton but Justin Bishop and Tim Jeffreys were there to battle it out for the win. Drew Williams ran like 10 miles before the race but was probably going to kick my ass anyway and take the age group.  Lots of 35-39 looking dudes out there.  I saw Ken Cobb at the last minute and knew it would probably be 3rd at best for me. Team Clyburn, Trophy, John Gasque, Ponamarev, James Hicks and Travis Moran were also on hand.  Both of Team Vowles, minus Kenneth, were there, thankfully sparing me getting beat by a middle schooler.  The Outlaws, Griffins and Henry Holt were there as well.  I saw Jennifer Heath and her son John at the start…no word on Jeff?

I tried to haul ass with the start to avoid getting trampled, except my new stiffback running form wasnt exactly making me fast. A quarter mile in the crowd thinned somewhat and I was left running with Travis for the third time in a month. Also Steve Brooks, the guy I chased at part two of the triple dip, was just ahead of me.  It was nice to have some breathing room, because my back wasnt loving any lateral movement. That quickly came to a halt about ahalf mile in, when we climbed a hill and turned on to King Street. This street shared part of the 10k  course, and all of a sudden I’m dodging the 9-10 minute pace pack of the longer race. I was having to pick a seam and use Travis as my blocker. I nearly took out an older lady as I darted between her and a car mirror. You do not want to be in the way of the sasquatch at 5k pace, believe me.  I hit the first mile at 6:22 , about 20 seconds slower than normal, so this confirms what I already know: this race is going to suck.  I thought for a while the back may be loosening up some in mile 2, but apparently I was mistaken.  We turned again on to Ravenel St and by lumbosacral joint decided to goose me. Ouch.  Mile 2 was mercifully flatter but just couldnt get any speed going. I was at least keeping Travis close ahead though, and I think I passed Steve near the end of the mile. Identical 6:22 split. OK, so I’m already close to 45 seconds off my last real 5k (excluding the triple dip) , so I focus on two things: making damn sure I dont go over 20 minutes, and for the love of all that is holy…don’t get Trophied. So I try a little harder. I’m not getting much faster though, because my chicken footed steps arent helping at all. I finally turn on to Devine, and you can see the finish, though its agonizingly far away.  And I’m just toast. Travis kicks it in, and I have to let him go. At some point Code comes up and tries to Seabiscuit me to the finish, but I’m running on fumes by this point. My Garmin spits out a 6:12 split for mile 3, but WTF? the finish is still so far away. Meanwhile I make out the clock and its already at 19:30 or so. Son of a bitch. I then throw everything out the window in a mad dash for the line, breathing like a rabbit on coke, and flop across in 19:57.  Just ridiculous to be this spent running a 5k over a minute slower than the PR.  Turns out I did get 5th in age group though, scoring me a coffee mug and a water bottle. Nice. If it cant be a trophy, at least give me something useful. Oh, and thankfully Trophy decided not have a career day, finishing around 21 minutes. Uh oh, blackjack is back.  But wait a second…checking my Garmin, it shows a 6:16 pace and a 3.19 mile course,  so definitely a bit long. My secret sources inform me they probably set up the finish at the wrong marker. 3.11 miles gives me a 19:27 or so, which is more what the race felt like. Oh well, still got the sub 20 and didnt get Trophied, so I’ll take it.

Results are looking a little messed up right now, but it seems Tim Jeffreys won the 5k, with the  “A Standard” finishing third. Both had times considerably slower than usual.  Amanda Charlton won 2nd overall female.  Eddie , Jason Dimery and Drew all finished top 10. Ken Cobb and Phil Midden both displaced me further in the AG and wildcard Kevin Robinson also took me down. Times across the board are slow, so I’m thinking the long course is real. Laura Howell apparently set a course record for her (and placed 4th in AG), so she would have really torn it up on a legit 3.11. Age groupers also included Emma Charlton, Travis (19:51),  Jen Clyburn, Brian Clyburn,  Colleen Vowles,  Marshall Ramsey, Mike Griffin, Mickie Ishizue, Kim La, Pete O’Boyle, Talley Lattimore, Bill Iskrzak,  Alex Ponamarev, Catherine Lempesis, Margaret Holt and Rocky Soderberg.

Ashton won the 10k in a complete rout. I think Kenzie took second overall female. Winston crushed a sub 40 10k, finally getting his goal, and taking masters. Whitney Keen also PR’d in 42:15. Code finished a shade over 40 in a strong race. Brady Ward won his age group. Shaggy Hodukovich scored an age group placement, though I’m assuming he changed into the green hash dress AFTER the race. Ken Sekley, Lorikay Keinzle, Coleen Strasburger, Larry Bates, Tommy Outlaw, Mike Wainscott, Carol Wallace, Cheryl Outlaw, Pete Poor , Lynn Grimes, Patti Lowden, Ken Lowden, Del Soule, and Henry Holt also age grouped.

http://racesonlineresults.com/events/get-to-the-green/results/2013

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284960896

One of the most difficult aspects of trophy hunting is choosing the right race. I mean, nothing is more frustrating than carefully calculating the factors of rurality, small attendance, the undercard event,  and poor publicity only to have Joe McSpeedy home from college come out in his singlet and blow it all to hell. Of course, what if you didn’t have to choose? What if the stars aligned for three races to be perfectly geographically and temporally spaced to allow for the rarest of rare among the obsessively race addicted – the triple dip?

John Gasque, who runs our Tour de Columbia, first pointed this out to me a few months back. Sure enough, on March 2, my birthday weekend no less,  a possible triple dip had shaped up. The March for Meals 5k at Riverbanks Zoo was at 7:30, a new race called the Colorectal Cancer Awareness 5k was at 8:30 at Maxcy Gregg park, and Race Judicata was at 10 at Hand Middle School.  It was going to be tight, but physically possible, to get all three in. The main logistical factor was the March for Meals -Colorectal transition. March for Meals has a brutal course that will either produce a slow time or physically destroy you…possibly both.  There’s about 10 minutes minimum between the Zoo and Maxcy Gregg. So even blasting out the MFM 5k, hauling ass into downtown, finding a parking spot and picking up the race packet was going to take at least 45 minutes. Notice I failed to mention physically recovering from a grueling 5k effort. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

With the triple dip in place, I sent out the opportunity in the Columbia Running Club newsletter in attempt to get some takers. Sure enough there were a few others that were also psychotic enough to give it a try.  Gasque, James Hicks, and Cheryl and Tommy Outlaw were on board. Valerie Selby, Henry Holt and Carol Caulk were also interested but were going to double dip instead. I offered five bonus Tour de Columbia points to anyone finishing all three.

And lets not forget Trophy. He gets wind of my triple attempt and sees a prime opportunity to end his 4 year losing streak in 5ks, and signs up for Judicata, the 3rd race. Well, I figure if he’s going that route, by all means people should know about it. The week prior I made sure the showdown was prominently featured in the newsletter and on the CRC facebook page. Pretty soon Trophy realized he had gotten himself into a lose-lose situation  – win and its because I was weakened by three 5ks, lose and its an even greater shame.

Besides beating Trophy, my main goal was to break 20 minutes in March for Meals, the last Columbia race I had yet to accomplish this. I also hoped to at least pick up some age group placements in the other 2 races.

I arrrived at March for Meals about an hour early, and the place is already packed…excpet no one’s in the zoo. Everyone is in the outside parking lot that I was goign to use for my quick getaway. It takes me a few minutes but then I realize the problem – a very long train is just sitting there on the tracks blocking the entrance. No one can get in. I run a mile warmup and come back, and there’s no movement of the train. I stroll up to the entrance road, and Annie the RD is trying everything humanly possible to get this train moving. The bad part is that she knows it will delay the start, probably to 8:00. I’m already panicking, because there’s no way to make it to Colorectal in time with a late start. Luckily a few minutes later she tells us she can probably get things going at 7:45. Man this is going to be close. This race has already had some bad luck – it had to be postponed last year because of a tornado watch.

Finally the train starts moving and we all get into the zoo at 7:30,  right when the race was supposed to start. I grab my bib and painfully watch minutes tick away at the start.  At 7:46 we get the go ahead to start, which is amazingly quick considering the amount of people registered. With the start I take off like a maniac, as every second is going to count in getting downtown in time for race #2.  Plexico and two kids blast out from the front , along with a crossfit guy behind them. I lag behind mr crossfit and try to tightrope that fine line between optimal speed and complete bonkapalooza. You have to blaze the flat part of this course. Why? Because a good part of mile 2 is a tightly winding 12 percent grade through a mountain on the other side of the river from the zoo. You’re doing well to do 8 minute pace up the worst part of it. I mean, there are freaking steps on this thing.  My first year doing this race I didnt know about the mountain and about puked up a lung trying to climb it. Luckily crossfit guy wasnt quite prepared either, and I pass him on one of the staircases. By the time I reach the top I am sucking some serious wind. They then make you dip a little and run up another incline. Awesome. Following this torture is a complete freefall on a paved road down the other side. There is no elegant way to go down this thing, especially since the mountain climbing has just obliterated you. I basically flop myself down the hill, feels like I’m beating my quads with a sledgehammer. Back over the bridge and you have to wind through the back alleys of a number of animal exhibits. One of these is the elephant area. I assure you when you’re breathing at maximum capacity, elephant poop is 100 times more unpleasant. I can see the two kids ahead of me, but I can tell I probably wont be able to catch them. I have no idea what my pace is, because my new Garmin went into power save mode waiting at the start. As I approach the final stretch in the parking lot, I can make out low 19’s, so I blast it hard and finish in 19:45, a course record by 30 seconds (though dates back to 2011). Goal number one reached. I had no idea at the time, but also managed 4th overall and 1st in AG. I am half delirious, but as soon as I stumble past the finish, I turn around, grab my camera from Trophy (who came to watch) and a water, and start walk/jogging to my car. And I am just toast. I jump in the car still gasping for breath and take off..departure time 8:09 from the zoo.

After flying down the highway ,  Huger, and Blossom St, I pull into Maxcy Gregg right at 8:20. I had to make myself a parking spot on the grass, and run another quarter mile to the packet pick-up. Of course everyone’s done with that so I’m able to get my bib immediately, and  just in time at 8:25. Whew. So I made it, barely. Did I mention I was still wrecked from March for Meals?  I was. Like ready-to-jog-the-Colorectal wrecked. I lined up still sweating from MFM and all the stress in getting downtown. Somehow Gasque and James made it there in time, having even less time to work with. Gasque was smart as he had done early packet pick up and didnt have to deal with that aspect. He’s an experienced double dipper. At the start I realize there’s no elite people at all. A trophy hunter’s dream. Except this trophy hunter is at 40 percent tops, so all I’m thinking about is finishing.

Until the race starts of course. Lead guy , who looks pretty fit, jumps out and starts gapping the field very early. OK, so an unknown ringer, I thought.  His friend, a shorter guy is back quite a bit in second, and a girl/guy tandem is running together right in front of me. I take off probably close to 7 minute pace, just figuring I need to tempo this run and save some for the Trophy showdown. Problem is that a mile into the race, lead guy has slowed down and I can easily see the pace car. And even in my weakened state, I start getting manaiacally competitive again. I pass the couple and start ramping up the pace . OK, just hang out here and you’ll be good. But damned if the other guys start falling back a bit. After a 7 minute first mile, I hit mile 2 at like 6:30. Lead runner is still in range and number 2 is looking back . Probably can hear the sasquatch footfalls. I start closing in on number two but he actually kicks it in some in the last half mile. After ramping it up into near actual 5k pace, I back off because I know I have third in the bag (letting cars in behind me) and my legs are jello anyway.  I cross in 20:23 3rd overall, 1st in AG.

There was actually plenty of time between Colorectal and Judicata, especially since the two races are so close together. I made sure to rehydrate and actually eat a little. Still pretty obliterated from March for Meals but the Colorectal tempo-ish run seemed to flush out some of the lactic acid.  Instead of speeding down the road in a half delirious state, I was able to leisurely make my way to Shandon.

Trophy was already there, preparing for his big moment. The Diesels have showed up to document the showdown. Pretty meager crowd for this one.  The Color Run had a couple thousand people and presumably some people who do actual road races, and between this and the two other races, Judicata was left the scraps. This race is always a crapshoot. On one hand the course is awesomely flat and they usually have nice gift certificates for awards. On the other hand, the race is put on by a group of law students, that changes each year,  most of whom have no idea what they are doing. Last year they did 20 year age groups. In 2010 they had a volunteer leading everybody the wrong way.

At the start Plex is there for his double dip, and to assure that the Trophy-Blue Shoes challenge doesnt end up being a fight for the win.  Gasque, James Hicks, and the Outlaws are there to complete their triple dipping as well. Henry Holt, Valerie Selby and Carol Caulk are the also there for their second race of the morning.  Geary, Travis Moran and Amanda Charlton are on board to make sure we keep up the pace.  CRC members Ashley Horton and Bryn Schiele are there, along with The State’s Otis Taylor, who has been gearing up for his first half marathon (Columbia Marathon half) the next week.

With the starting gun, Trophy blasts off like its a 400 meter race. Knowing my only goal is to beat him, and not knowing how my endurance is going to hold up,  I tuck in behind him and let him set the pace.  After a half mile I pull even with him , engaging in a little Billy Tisdale psychological warfare.  In the distance I can see Jen and Diesel,  so I pass Trophy and start throwing down. This is not what I wanted to do, and possibly a recipe for disaster, but my tendency towards being an attention whore apparently overrides any sense of race strategy.  My new Garmin is still giving me trouble, so apparently I let it power down again and its not on.  The mile marker has a guy reading times and he yells out a 6:04. ?? Pretty sure the mile mark or the time is wrong.  In either case, Trophy is behind me.  Our absolute sprint/kick is pretty similar,  and he’s definitely going to win that battle after my 3 5ks, so I feel like I have to have a nice lead near the end.  Plexico is already in another zip code, but Travis is running not too far ahead in 2nd. I use him as a pacer and try to reel him in as much as I can. Surprisingly, once the initial pain of ramping back up to race pace is done, I feel relatively OK. Relative to wanting to die, at least.  I’m able to hold the same pace through the second mile.  About 2.25 miles in, I see Plex pop out of a side street ahead and I realize something isnt right. I know there’s a turn off to the right at some point but I don’t see anything marked and Travis is going straight, following Ryan. Damned if I’m turning right on one of these streets just to have Trophy beat me on a misdirect, so I just follow the two ahead of me.  We turn left at the end of the next block and realize were back on the right course. Another right and its just a straightaway to the finish. Nothing helps me more than a glimmer of red clock digits, so I blast into a world of pain as usual. Travis’ kick apparently is pretty strong because he’s able to hold back the rabid bear behind him. In the last block I do take one cautionary look back just to make sure Trophy isnt going to stealth blue shoe me.  Luckily, nobody is there.  The clock tells me the course is ridiculously short, low 17’s, so I coast on in. Finished in 17:37, 3rd overall, 1st in AG. Informal garmin survey had the distance in the 2.9’s, so probably a decent time for me anyway, but I guess I’ll never know.

Trophy did finish about a minute later (18:32, 5th overall) .  In addition to this being a no-win situation for him,  I should note he had been sick in the week leading up to the race and less than 100% on race day too.  Victory is still sweet though.

Gasque, James, and the Outlaws all completed their triples, along with Henry Holt, Carol Caulk, Valerie Selby and the Plex doubling up.  The Lightning brought home two easy wins. They did correct the age groups down to 10 year increments…until age 50, where apparently they just gave up  and lumped everyone from 50-98 in the same group.  WTF?  Something tells me were going to have to have a meeting with these guys next year if they want to be on the Tour de Columbia.   I did win a 20 dollar gift certificate to the Tropical Grill downtown, which I doubt I’ll make it to – so let me know if you want it!

http://runningtime.info/2013/030213R.htm

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/13COLORECTAL.TXT

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/13JUDICATA.TXT

The Make my Day 12k is now in its 4th year, put on by Half Moon Outfitters and going to benefit Friends of Harbison State Forest.  The race has grown a lot by word of mouth because of the cool shirts, socks and other swag you get with registration. Plus, its still just 25 bucks. Its competed with other races before, so somehow I never made it out to the MMD previously.

I should preface this race with the fact that I exceedingly suck at trail races. They favor the small and the agile, and I am decidedly neither. You get nearly 200 pounds of albino sasquatch moving and it tends to keep moving, so all the stops, starts and dodging on trails is a hell a lot of extra work. And then there’s Harbison State Forest. She and I have all the close, loving relationship of a vindictivel ex-girlfriend. Read: not good.  My last tango with Ms. Harbison came last year in the Xterra half marathon, which was as much fun as a waterboarding session. Somewhere there are some ungodly awful finish pics of me –  pale, shirtless and delirious – crossing the line at 2:15 plus.  Lots of walksies and dehydration going on.

One of the most difficult aspects of trail running for me is wondering where the hell I am. I have no sense of direction, which generally isn’t aided by staring at the ground at high speed desperately trying not to fall.  So I will get lost if the trail isnt well marked, but just as important is not knowing how far it is to the finish. I can gauge my pace down to within 10 seconds on the roads, but I’m completely useless on the trails. Plus, even knowing how much distance is left doesnt tell you if its a soft straight downhill to the finish or some arduous nightmare of switchbacks and mountain climbing.

OK, enough bitching and moaning.. Oh wait, did I mention it was in the mid 30’s and raining at race time?  I’d like to voice a complaint about that. OK, done.

I got to the race 45 minutes early and there was already a big crowd. This race has continued to grow. Sure enough the shirts and socks were really nice. No Clint Eastwood this year, but  a high quality tech shirt just the same. Did I mention it was blue? Awesome.  They kept up the best AG awards ever – plastic guns you can wear as a medal. Not that I had any chance at getting one.  They have had 10 year age groups, and I knew Drew Soltau, Drew Williams, Rob Yerger and Ken Cobb were already signed up in the 30-39. Trophy and Charley from our sunday long run group were also there to represent in the thirties.  If that wasn’t competitive enough, a few bearded , scrawny, Anton Krupicka types were roaming around and looking pretty thirtiesh too.

Bri Hartley, Birgit Spann, the Diesels, the Howells, Ted, Dean , Rick , the Clyburns, Geary, Arnold Floyd, Henry Holt, Valerie, Sarah Blackwell, Winston Holliday, Ramsey,  Sekley,  Mike Wainscott, Frank Eichstaedt, Jason Thompson and Jim Lichty were some of the familiar faces.

With the start, Drew Soltau takes off like a maniac, though the rest of us maintained a more leisurely pace. I had major PTSD from Xterra, so I made sure I was going plenty slow in the beginning. I planned on using Geary as a pacer, since he’s a good trail runner and knew the course. My Garmin apparently never got started so I was flying completely blind. I ran with a pack that included Geary, Rob Yerger and Bri Hartley for the first few miles. Greg Howell and Dean took off from the front, but I figured I might be able to catch them later. I’ll save you the suspense: NOPE.  Speaking of going out fast, Charley and his dog Winston were already way ahead just a mile or so in. Charley took a brutal fall but popped right up seemingly not losing a step. I didn’t see him for a long time. A few miles in and the pack has thinned some. I passed Bri and was praying that I wouldn’t get chicked by an 11 year old girl. An incredibly talented 11 year old girl, but you don’t want to get beat by someone born in the 2000’s.  And, I knew Trophy had to be back there somewhere. That would be an even worse shame. I focused on keeping Geary and the Yerg in sight. We went on for what seemed like forever in this formation.

Did I mention it was cold? It was. VERY.  I was actually wearing my old school CRC jacket and it was soaked through.  There were bits of sleet and an occasional wet snowflake or two falling, but mostly just soaking, bone-chilling rain. Several areas on the trail were just complete mud pits. I was trying my best to avoid the worst, slowing to basically a walk at times, but I think I was witnessing the death of my latest blue racing flats. Why I couldn’t just break down and wear my heavier trail shoes is beyond me.  Oh wait – overwhelming maniacal competitiveness… that’s it. Some nasty hills in the middle.  The Midlands Mountain trail is no joke. I was exceedingly thankful we turned away from the Spider Woman trail – many horrible memories from Xterra lie there.

Luckily the trail was marked very well, because I had no clue where I was, or how far I had to go. At some point there was actually a five on the trail, so I assumed this to be 5 miles. Of course, trail courses are anything but accurate in distance. I had heard the 12k (7.4 miles) was more like eight.  At some point I passed Geary on one of the hills, though I know he was close behind with his industrial machine breathing.  Then I saw Charley and Winston up ahead.  I was thinking total roadkill, but I’ll be damned if Winston isnt dragging Charley up these hills. Every time I got close on the inclines they would pull away a little on the downslopes. I started ratcheting up the pace a bit so I would be sure to catch them by the finish. But apparently Charley was doing the same thing.  I got real close on a particularly steep hill, but he pulled away again on the straightaway. At the top of the hill we passed a field that I recognized and I started to realize we were getting close. I ramped up the pace a little harder but wasnt making much headway on the Charley gap. And then suddenly, there’s the finish. I crossed in 59:20 something, 20th place.  As mentioned , my Garmin was never started, but informal survey of others had the course around 7.8 to 7.9 miles.  I wasnt thrilled with the result, but not too bad considering the trail and conditions.  And at least I didnt get Trophied. Charley, Clyburn , Rob and Greg all kicked my butt though.

Drew Soltau ended up in 3rd behind two guys from the upstate. Bri won overall female in a close battle with Birgit. I dont know all the age groupers since I missed a little of the award ceremony desperately trying to stay warm in my car. Dean, Brady Ward, Sarah Blackwell, Henry Holt, Arnold Floyd, and Winston Holliday all took home some glory. I’ll have to check for the complete results when they get posted.

The Red Shoe Run is a 5k and 10k put on by Ronald McDonald house that was known in years past as the “Red Nose Run”. Apparently they lost the sponsorship of the circus, hence the name change. The  name is referencing the shoes of Ronald McDonald, a clown who was my personal nemesis in elementary school.  Him and that bastard Old McDonald and his farm.

So somehow I’ve done this race every year, despite the fact that I’ve pretty much sucked every time I’ve run it. I started in 2009, when it was held on the coldest day in Columbia since 1986. The low was 9 degrees that morning, and I ran the 5k in full sweatsuit regalia, adding another couple of pounds to my less than svelte frame at the time. I about died sprinting out the last 100 meters to finish in a blazing 25:36. I did the 10k the next year, when they had a really cool course that crossed over the blossom and gervais st bridges into Cayce. I think I ran about 45 minutes and didnt place in my age group. Oh, and it was a beautiful 34 degrees and in a frigid downpour. The next two years they modified the course to take out the scenic aspect of the 10k and made it 2 miserable loops of the 5k course. Awesome.

I had gone back and forth about which race to run this week, and finally decided on the 10k. Yes, it sucks to climb the monster hill that starts the course twice, but its still a lot better than trying to do it once at 5k pace. Also, I need to start doing more 10ks to whittle down my PR of 41:23, which is way slower than what it should be based on the 5k PR (18:46).

So I get there and have just placed the 10k registration in the volunteer’s hand when Jordan from Strictly comes over and tells me everything’s changed. They’re doing major construction at the Coliseum area, so the course had to be switched to the BGCM Turkey Day 5k course, which made the 10k uncertified, and changed the Palmetto Grand Prix race to the 5k.

Holy crap, my whole carefully planned race strategy was now completely in up in the air. I impulsively switched to the 5k when I heard “uncertified course”.  But then I realized that all the big dawgs were switching to the 5k too, and I might be missing a rare reverse undercard trophy possibility in the 10k. I’m  embarrassed to say how much I agonized over this ridiculous meaningless decision. I almost switched back a dozen times, but eventually I figured that there would have to be a complete “kids and old ladies” field for me to overall place in a 10k, so I just stayed put.

Sure enough Jason Dimery, Howie Phan and a few lean looking dudes in singlets lined up for the earlier 10k start, so that at least released me from my trophy fantasy. Mark Robertson, Jim Lichty , Valerie Selby and Travis Cowan also manned up for the longer distance.

5k start was loaded with all the Palmetto Grand Prix champs from 2012, since Strictly comped them all an entry into this race. Sadly, they had nothing for Mr. 13th place. John Sneed, J-Lybrand, Geary, Billy Tisdale, Amy McDonaugh (with Justin “A Standard” Bishop guiding) Birgit Spann, Sharon Cole, Lightning Plexico, Thomas Tapp, Albert Anderson, Arnold Floyd, Henry Holt and Rocky Soderberg were all present with the PGP champion gold racing bibs. Joining me in the ranks of mere mortals were Trophy, Jen/Diesel/Brady Ward, Gasque, Pete Poore, J-Reeves, and Palmetto 200 ringer Andy McNiece.

I was so not feeling it at the start, but I had made my bed so i’d better lie in it. One bonus was that only Amy, Justin and Plex were from the open division in the PGP.  Andy was sure to beat me too, so what I saw was basically a battle between Billy and I for 5th place. The start felt rough and immediately I saw Amy and Justin leave me for dead, and Billy started gapping me right off the bat.  After a flat quarter mile, the course goes straight up a mountain from the Colonial Center to the Horseshoe. Although I was able to basically draw even with Billy at the top, I had also lost my will to live somewhere just past Assembly. Or at least the will to run like a headless chicken and suck wind for the next 15 minutes. I missed the one mile split but looked down at about 1.1 and saw the watch flip over to 7 minutes, so I knew this was going to be ugly. Billy was a few paces ahead, but it was starting to get congested as we caught the tail end of the 10k, which started 7 minutes before the five. Why they couldnt have everybody go off at the same time is beyond me. So the second mile is very difficult to pace because there’s no other 5kers around me, and the back of the 10k is going at 12 minute pace, which makes me feel like I’m a total beast. It doesnt take much for me to lapse into delusional grandiosity. I just try and keep Billy in range, with our typical give and take of me  catching up on the hills and him gapping me on the declines. Mile 2 feels slowish so I dont bother to look at the split. I figure I need to make up some serious ground on mile 3 or I’m going to post something really ugly, and/or get blue shoed by Geary or maybe even Trophy. So I do kick it up a notch, but there’s considerably less motivation in just trying to not suck versus striving for your best. The good thing is that the last mile is a flat to downhill loop near Longstreet Theatre, passing by such revered collegiate Blue Shoe landmarks as Hunter Gatherer and Sandy’s Hotdogs. After a turn at the back of the State House, its straight down that awful opening mountain. Blazing fast by default. By this time though I’m really phoning it in – the only glory up for grabs is sprinting to catch Billy, and between his kick and my apathy its just not happening. I make the last turn and its already 19:20 something. I do throw in a feeble effort to break 19:40 but end up right on it. 6th place overall, 1st in AG.

Certainly less than overjoyed with the time, but I was able to cross the finish and not collapse in a sweaty, heaving mess as I’m prone to do. I ran the exact same time on Thanksgiving day on the same course and about blew out a set of heart and lungs in the process trying to beat my brother. Plus, last mile was in 5:59, so a sub six mile is always nice, even if it was freefalling down a half mile of mountain. Hopefully I can ratchet it up a few notches at my next race, which is Race for the Place on Feb. 9.  Last year Gomez took 3rd in AG at that race..with an 18:36.

In the 10k, Dimery crushed a sub 37 on a really tough course, so he’s definitely returning to form. Two of the singlet kids took 2nd and 3rd, while 16 year old Anna Johnson won the women’s race. I probably would have finished 7th in the 10k, so good thing I didnt switch. Mark finished 2nd in AG while Lichty finsihed 3rd in strong races for both of them. Howie Phan predictably torched his age group by 5 minutes, while Valerie Selby and Alex Ponamarev also placed.

In my race, Plex easily won in 17:20 followed by Andy. Justin placed third by guiding Amy to an 18:36, a new PR, and the women’s overall win. Very impressive.  Fifth went to Billy, who finished five seconds ahead of me. Second place female went to Lache Kimana, who unmercifully chicked the Trophy, with Birgit Spann not far behind for third. Brady Ward made the Diesels proud by winnign his age group by a mere 20 minutes. Mrs. Diesel claimed first in the 30-34, while Trophy broke through the Blackjack barrier en route to a 20:45, 2nd in AG. Sharon Cole claimed first in the 45-49, while 50-54 was swept by Billy, Thomas Tapp and Gasque. Geary and Albert Anderson each crushed their age groups, while Pete Poore placed 3rd in the 60-64. John Sneed and Arnold Floyd had an epic fight to the finish, with Arnold holding off a vicious Sneed kick. Both finished first in AG. Rocky Soder berg and Henry Holt finsihed 2-3 within ten seconds of each other, while Margaret Holt also won her group.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/13redshoe.txt

The Snowman 8k is a race that’s quietly been one of the oldest and most competitive events in the state, held at Caughman Road Park – a small, almost rural facility near Lower Richland High.  This race, in part because of the decent prize money, has produced some of the fastest 8k times I’ve seen.  Its often won by some pro out of state, and when that doesn’t happen, Eric Ashton is usually there to pick up the check.

That’s not to say this is a fast course. Far from it. I went in completely blind to the layout in 2011, went way too fast in the mostly downhill first mile, and suffered an epic death march most of the way in. Schmitz taunting me in mile 4 still haunts me.  Just a cursory review of the course map would have shown roads like “Cliffside Drive” and the “Dominion Hills” neighborhood, so I should have known. Essentially its a net downhill first mile, followed by a mountain, then constant rolling hills until a pretty flat mile at the end.

I got to the race my customary hour in advance and had to sign up, because this race still holds on to snail mail only registration. The theoretical probability of me finding an envelope, my checkbook, a stamp and remembering to sign up are essentially zero. Luckily the race provides a “no-tshirt”  option, which saves me getting the race-day gouge and from adding to my monumental pile of white race shirts.

Other than the registration issue, this race definitely treats its runners pretty well.  CRC member Lisa Smarr directs, so when you have someone who knows about racing themselves, there’s usually a good outcome. They get local artist Ernest “Chicken Man” Lee to make paintings for the awards, which is exponentially better than a generic medal. You get lunch, and they even go 5 deep in awards for some of the male age group categories. This is on top of cash awards for first clydesdale, athena, and active and retired military.

After showing up I did a warm up with Ted and Billy. There was a big crowd, but I didnt notice as many elite level people this year. No professional singlet wearing dudes/ladies. Ashton was there, and I didnt see anyone else that was even in his ballpark. Dimery , Hedgecock and Gregory Jones were the only guys that I knew would beat me. Kenzie was clearly going to win the women’s race from what I could tell.  Flicker was there to defend his Clydesdale trophy. Aubrey Johnson was making a rare appearance since going off to college. Masters elites Albert Anderson and Birgit Spann were good bets to pick up some cash awards. Diesel was finally breaking free of “coaching” (aka “hiding behind”) his son Brady so we could finally see him race for the first time in months.  Jen was taking his place with Brady.

Trophy was MIA. Through my CIA level intelligence gathering, I knew he was stealth trophy hunting in Augusta. Turns out he got 4th in age group in a misdirected 5k. Serves him right! Speaking of MIA, WHERE IS THE CODE? Pride injuries take a while to heal I guess.

Ken Lowden and seemingly his entire SR crew were on hand. Sarah Blackwell, Ponamarev, Henry Holt, Frank Eichstadt, J-Reeves and daughter Rachel, Gasque, Amanda, Valerie, Mark and family, Mike and Pam Griffin were some of the familiar faces. Meg Weis showed up seven months pregnant, which was awesome to see.

I mistimed my preparation to the start line, so when they sounded the horn, I was caught strapping on the camera belt and trying to reset my Garmin while trying not to get trampled. It was probably good because it distracted me from the forgotten fact that the race starts uphill for the first quarter.  By the time of the first turn, the pack had already thinned out a lot. Ashton was in another zip code, followed by Dimery. Hedgecock and Kenzie were running together with a kid and Gregory Jones in the same vicinity. Billy and I were already battling it out.  We hit the long downhill in mile 1 and he blasts ahead, knowing exactly how much I suck on the declines.  My race strategy was to take it easy on the first mile, and try to average in the 6:20’s overall. This all went to hell when I saw Billy gapping me pretty bad. I surged to keep closer. I didnt know my pace at mile 1 since my Garmin was offset from the start. Soon after the mile marker we hit the mountain that drained my will to live in 2011.  Garmin then spits back a 6:08. Nice job, hero.  Way to show some restraint.

I did manage to power up the mountain and draw even with Billy before he dropped me again on the ensuing decline. This basically happened for most of the next few miles. All rolling hills.  I felt like complete death. Nothing is worse for me than going out too fast, and I’m betting the actual first mile split was closer to six flat. I kept cursing my self, spouting internal f-bombs when I wasnt having Flicker hallucinations.  Somehow I had forgotten that Scott was running Clydesdale and that my age group was in jeopardy. So every time my belt made a noise I was deathly afraid of him blue shoeing me.  Turns out my pace wasnt fading as bad as it seemed…my last Garmin check was at about 3 miles, 6:21 was the last split. After that I just ran by feel. And by feel, I mean the pace that was going to get me to the finish line without collapsing. Mile 4 was the worst. Sun started beating down, still a few nasty inclines.  Sucking wind like there’s no tomorrow. On the upside, they started letting traffic in behind me, so I figured I at least I had a decent gap on the ghost of Scott Flicker.

And I was at least keeping Billy from getting too far ahead.  On the last hill I drew pretty close, and tried to silence a volunteer who was yelling at me to bring him down. Ruining my stealth with your encouraging cheers – jeez! Sure enough he blasted ahead on the last decline as we headed on to a dirt road on the last mile. From the dirt road/Trotter road intersection, there was a half mile to the  finish, having scouted the course just before the race. Billy looked back for a second, but I darted behind a bush at the corner, so I couldnt tell if he saw me. I was in a world of pain on the last stretch. I kept alternately giving up on catching Billy then getting overwhelmed by my dark, maniacally competitive side and surging closer. I was just about to close on him when he sensed the finish line and kicked it in, breaking my spirit in the process. When we head into the park driveway I see the sub 32 almost in reach. I try to blue shoe it but I am complete toast. I cross the line in 32:02.. 8th overall, 1st in age group. 26 second PR!

Then I turn around and see that I’ve been running from no one. Flicker does come in next in 33:11, winning the Clydesdale by like 15 minutes.  Ashton ended up winning by 5 minutes, which was no surprise. Dimery took second and the kid, Brady Rafanan, ended up outkicking Hedge (masters winner) and Kenzie to finish 3rd. Kenzie won overall female by 3 minutes over Anna Johnson and Birgit Spann. Carol Wallace and Greg Jones took grandmasters,  while Nita Eichstadt and Albert Anderson took great grandmasters. Frank Eichstadt won great great grandmasters in 38:59. Impressive.

Age groupers included J-Reeves’ daughter Rachel winning 3rd in the 20-24, Jen Ward winning the 30-34, Amanda and Sarah going 1-2 in the 35-39, with Matt McGrievy taking 2nd in my age group. Diesel took 4th.  Ted Hewitt and Mark Robertson took 1st and 3rd in the 40-44, while Dana Burgess and Lisa Hart did the same in the female division. Teresa Harrington, Sandy Smith and Coleen Strasburger swept the 50-54, while Billy, Mike Griffin and Tom Hart placed in the men’s. Valerie Selby continued her domination of the 55-59 and Patti Lowden took home first in the 60-64.  Del Soule and Ken Lowden went 1-2 inthe 65-59 while Henry Holt and Jesse Smarr won the 75-59. Lonnie Collins was the oldest finisher, winning the 80+ category.  Oh, and Meg finished the race in 54:55, which is a little off her usual pace, but I guess I’ll cut her some slack.

http://www.rmssports.com/results/13snow.txt

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151373685410419.507782.777475418&type=1

The MLK 5k is one of Columbia’s older races, now in its 23rd year. It’s organized by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and goes to benefit their charity, Bridging the Gap.

I missed the race last year in my ill fated attempt to break 1:30 in the Charleston Half Marathon. Those 22 seconds still hurt.  My only time running this race was in 2011 – I remember my run sucked (20:09 with a death march) but the race was a good one. Well organized, timely awards, interesting course.

This time around I was going to race it better. The course does have its share of rolling hills, but is generally flat in the Shandon area. The standout feature is definitely “the mountain”.  You start at the foot of said mountain, and get to bathe your legs in lactic acid right off the bat climbing the thing. Kind of like starting the race with a punch to the stomach. Or maybe the lungs. Either way, sucks. On the flip side, the course is an out-and-back, so you get to freefall back down the thing on the way home.

I had little hope of trophy hunting in this race, since its Palmetto Grand Prix as well as Tour de Columbia.  Sure enough, there certainly was a host of masters all-stars on hand: Arnold Floyd, Lynn Grimes, Lorikay Keinzle, Rocky Soderberg, Tisdale, Henry Holt, Birgit Spann,  Albert Anderson and Thomas Tapp. I knew Paul Reardon was coming, so that took one trophy spot away, and then Plex showed up, so that would give me 3rd at best.  Angel was there too, but announced at the last second he wasnt running, so at least my age group was up for grabs. J-Reeves, Brie McGrievy, Valerie Selby, John Gasque, and Pete Poore were representing the CRC.

I was feeling some pressure at this race, since I had just laid down 3 straight sub 19’s in the past 3 weeks, including a win at the VDP 5k on New Years Day.  I still have no idea how this sudden breakthrough came about. I mean there was the Moses Mosop video that I had been studying, but I think its mostly been mental.  As in actually believing I can hold a ridiculous pace. 5ks basically come down to how much suffering you can endure, and that seems to be my specialty. Just look at my finish photos. Whenever I start thinking I’m too cool, all I have to do is look at one of those pics. Damn I’m an ugly runner.

So WLTX’s Darci Strickland does the start, and immediately I abandon all sense and go charging up the mountain.  Bad idea. By the time I reach the top I’m pretty obliterated.  Generally its poor form to be gasping and heaving a quarter mile  into a 3.1 mile race.  You see, who need Runners World when you have advice like that? I feel Billy riding my shoulder again, and the suffer train has left the station. It takes me the whole 1st mile to regain any semblance of efficient oxygen exchange, and Paul has already left my zip code. Thankfully, Billy is still behind me…somewhere. First split was called out to me as 6:15, but my Garmin has 6:23. There’s a kid ahead of me about 20 meters and another guy right in front of me sporting a very new looking Spring Valley high cross country singlet. I tucked in behind him for most of the second mile, though who am I kidding about being able to draft off of anyone. I never look back, so I rely on my official trophy hunting in-race intelligence gathering skills to figure out Billy – 1) cheers/time calls of volunteers behind me and 2) whether the cops let any cars pass after i go through the intersection. In the second half of mile 2,  these signs tell me I’ve opened up a decent gap. Mile 2 caller gives me a 12:35 split, so I know I’m way off the sub 19.  What’s worse is Mr. Spring Valley leaves me in the dust and overtakes the kid ahead of him in the next half mile. I’m pretty much hating life at this point. I’ve apparently abandoned all form and have been unconsciously tensing my arms into a crippled velociraptor pose, so even my arms are freaking tired.  But if I can just hang on to get to that downhill.  Despite my lungs exploding and my honey bunches of oats wanting to make a repeat appearance, there is potential roadkill ahead, so of course I go for it. Just before the mountain I finally overtake the kid that Spring Valley took down earlier, and I go flopping down the mountain like a headless chicken. So much so, it seems, that the kid is riding my tail. Halfway down and I can feel it happening without any power to stop it….I’m getting blue shoed. DAMN YOU KID.  Total sucker punch to my wilting spirit to live at this point. I turn the last corner and amazingly can still see the 18’s. I try to muster a kick but you can stick a fork in me. I cross in 19:16. 5th overall, 1st in age group.

Three weeks ago and I’d be thrilled with this result, but I’m pretty disappointed to be honest.  Wasted way too much energy on that initial hill and I was running on fumes the rest of the way out. Just felt way worse than usual. Should probably lay off the wings, raw fries and beer the night before. Oh, and I forgot to mention it was almost 70 degrees. In January. Man, with all these excuses I’m starting to sound like the Code or Trophy.

Plex easily won the race in 17:18. Paul ran the whole race by himself as well, finishing 2nd in 18:40. Spring Valley , also known as Hugo Rodriguez, crushed that last mile to place 3rd in 19:02. The kid was 19 year old Wells Thomas, who finished 5 seconds ahead of me. Billy pulled a 19:45 on a rough day for him too.  Albert Anderson is amazingly getting faster again at age 64, crushing a 20:26 en route to an 80+ percent age grade. Birgit Spann also went 80+ to finish 2nd overall female in 20:45. 16 year old Anna Johnson won in 20:37. Lorikay Kienzle finished third. Age groupers include Thomas Tapp, who also placed 10th overall and 2nd in AG behind Billy. Brie McGrievy had a strong race and won first in age group, despite John Gasque pulling an epic blue shoe on her. An increasingly lean and mean Valerie Selby scored yet another AG win, while Lynn Grimes, Pete Poore, Arnold Floyd, Rocky Soderberg and both Henry and Margaret Holt also took home some AG glory. Interestingly, the male 70+ AG was more competitive than the 25-29. 30-34 and 40-44 groups. Hopefully I can still be out there in 2045!

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/13MLK.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/261180109

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151359612600419.506241.777475418&type=1

Ah, Cold Winter’s Day. The end- of- the -year,  all-the-big-dawgs-show-up blowout to decide who’s the best 5ker in SC.  It’s a special race for me, since it was my first in Columbia. I came to this race in 2008 not knowing a soul and having no clue what the course was like. I wanted to break 23 minutes, but ended up sprinting to what I thought was the finish only to find out I had another half mile to go.  That last half mile about killed me, and I look as bad as I felt:

I failed miserably at the sub 23, sprinting with everything I could to get a 23:59. It was still a PR at the time though, after a year of being unable to run consistently with bad shin splints. In 2009, I was jacked up to redeem myself and to make a try at my first sub 20. Instead I got one of my most awesomely hideous finish pics:

Wait, did you catch that? Let’s take a closer look.

Wait ladies, dont get too excited. Soooo much of the sexy right there.  In 2010 I did finally break 20, though it was a brutal race with wind and snow/sleet. Got a 19:47 , though not one of my better efforts of the year.  Me and Brumbach look like a couple of street thugs in this pic, and Drew like a total maniac.

In 2011,  I actually did run one of my best times of the year, a 19:24. What did I get for it? Gomez blue shoed me, Greg kicked my tail, and I finished in 51st place, like 8th in age group.  Oh, and it was like 40 degrees warmer.

So despite getting progressively faster in this race,  its not exactly been glorious. I’ve never even come close to age group placing.

I really didnt think I had much chance of getting AG glory this year either. Jordan Lybrand had told me Strictly had invited some elites, as if it wasn’t tough enough already. I figured that even if I had a crazy performance like my first sub 19 last week, I had only an outside chance of getting 3rd.

I showed up my customary hour early, though the 10 am start is nice to get some extra sleep. Did a warmup with the Code, Trophy and Billy.  I could attempt to name the familiar faces at this race, but really just about everyone in the Columbia running community comes out for this one. The only thing that made me remotely hopeful of age grouping is that Angel was hurt, and Yerger , Drew Williams, Stephen Johnson and Gomez were all MIA. A strange 35-39 year old hole in the competition. Of course, as I’ve mentioned before, there are plenty of stealth age groupers out there that never race except to dash my trophy hopes at the worst times. Damn you surprisingly fit suburban dads.

Selwyn bills this course as “flat and fast”.  As a psychiatrist, I can assure you this man is delusional. I think you’d have a hard time finding any flat surfaces on this course, save for the bridges.  Basically a loop course that almost constantly rolls. There are definitely some extended downhills though that seems to produce some decent times, and the finish is like a roller coaster drop.  So I’ll give you fast, Selwyn.

Big crowd for this race, though the top end seems a little thin this year. The winner of the Jailbreak 5k, Scott Wietecha, is there, undoubtedly out for the prize money and the sub 15 minute bonuses. No Ashtons , A-Standard or Plexico.  The start sucks.  A quarter mile of pure, definitely not flat, hill.  Like a punch in the stomach right off the bat. I power up the thing but damned if Billy is already trying to psych me out, surging right past me. I catch up to him at the top, and then pass him on the way down a half mile of downhill. I hear someone deliberately stomping their feet right behind me, so I give that someone, who I thought is surely the Code,  the one finger salute. Turns out its actually Billy again, who keeps surging every time I pass him. I have no idea where the Code is, but figure he must be near. Up another non-flat hill to the first mile marker. I’m disappointed to see 6:12 on the clock, because I am already sucking some wind.  A long not-flat downhill  after the mile mark and Billy is all up in my s$%t again, passing me on both sides, cutting in front. Some serious psychological warfare here.  I concentrate on keeping the pace strong. Up ahead is Amy, being guided by Drew Soltau. I use them as a pacer, trying to keep them within 20 meters or so.  Then comes the beast, a decidedly not level , nearly half mile of incline. I’ve had enough of Billy’s Guantanamo Bay tactics at this point and set the freak quads into action. In powering up the mountain,  I start nearing Amy and Drew, and finally pass them just after the ensuing not-flat downhill. I give them the thumbs up but I’m breathing like I’m on crack, so I don’t know if I actually verbalized anything. Mile 2 clock says 12:15 or so, so I know I’ve picked up the pace some. When I pass mile 2 I just go to some very dark place and dig deep. Time to throw down whatever I’ve got.  I’m so zoned out that apparently I completely missed a big single car accident scene on the side of the road. Everybody was talking about it later, put apparently I was just listening to that maniacally competitive dark passenger in my head.

I hit the faux finish from 2008 and ramp it up another notch. More rolling non-level terrain. I have no idea what my pace is, but suddenly I realize I’m passing Claudia, who has consistently kicked my ass for most of the past 2 years. See below:

I’m in a world of pain by this point but I see Kenzie just up ahead, so I work on trying to catch her. I’m slowly drawing near but then we hit the last stretch, a freefall to the finish. I’m so tired I now I’m just flopping around, form going all to hell. I catch sight of the clock and I’m astounded its at like 18:30ish. One more notch of torture and I’m now pulling sub 5 pace to the finish, crossing the line a half step behind Kenzie, 18:52.  Strictly didn’t have an official finish photo for me, wisely cropping out the sasquatch to get the first overall female, but I do have Angel’s pic, which I like to call “Beauty and the Beast”:

15th overall…and shockingly..1st in age group. Another sub 19! I got my precious trophy. And all was good. Even cooler was getting to witness Tigs finally get back to sub 20 land, which I know has been a monkey on her back for a long time. This pic Angel took , with Eric cheering her finish, was awesome:

Also won her overall female masters.  Scott Wietecha won the race with a 14:57. Nuts. Kenzie and Claudia went 1-2 in the female overall, despite interference from the albino sasquatch. Paul Reardon took male masters with an 18:37, and Guantanamo Billy did take grandmasters. Lynn Grimes went sub 25 en route to female grandmasters, while ageless Nonie Hudnall and Albert Anderson won senior masters.  Age groupers include all 4 Golbus kids winning trophies, and Kenneth Vowles running a strong sub 20 to win 1st in his AG. Shannon Zeiders took 3rd in the 20-24, while racing machine Jennifer Lybrand won 2nd in the 25-29. Jason Dimery outkicked an out-of-towner by 4 seconds to take the 30-34, while Kristin Schmitz won the same group in the female division. Will Brumbach placed 3rd in the 35-39, while Amy cruised to 1st in her age group, with Marian Nanney taking 3rd. Eric Allers just outkicked Jason Gibson to go 1-2 in the 40-44 men, with Shannon Iriel taking 1st among the women over Shanequa Coles. Greg Howell continues to throw down good times despite recent injury and took 1st in the 45-49. Sharon COle took 2nd in the same division.  Thomas Tapp and Drew Walker both managed AG places with Tawanna Dennis taking 3rd in the 50-54. Geary, Pete O’Boyle and Carol Wallace won in the 55-59, while Patti Lowden and Alex Ponamarev won in the 60-64. Power couples John and Nancee Sneed and Henry and Margaret Holt dominated the 65-69 and 70+, with Jesse Smarr taking 3rd.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/12cold.txt

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151335564635419.503060.777475418&type=3

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/255578978

pic courtesy of James Boyd photography

This is the third year of Bayler’s Bash and also my third time doing the race.  Its been held since 2010 to honor Bayler Teal, a 7 year old with neuroblastoma who was a big fan of USC baseball and was a rallying point for the team during their run to the national championship that year. Sadly, Bayler lost his battle to cancer that summer, but his parents and the town of Bishopville have continued to honor him by putting on this race to benefit Palmetto Children’s cancer center. Its held on his birthday, which also happens to be Christmas Eve.  Bayler’s parents and family are always on hand and give out the awards, so a really cool event all around.

In addition to important reasons for running this race, this event also offers a hidden gem to its runners – the course. Total pancake. Not a single hill of any significance. Probably the flattest course in the whole midlands, with only the Colonial Cup 5k coming close.

I’ve been throwing down some pretty good times in the past few months, but my recent 5ks have all been either hilly, long, or both. I’ve been dying to get a race to really throw down and make a run at the 5k PR.  Strangely, my last 5k in Lexington, where I ran a 19:57, gave me confidence I could go very low 19.  This is because that 5k was some sadistically designed mountain range meant to torture its victims. But I still broke 20…in the Himalayas, on a 3.17 mile course.  I must be getting faster?

And of course there is the 5k PR question. I think my PR on an actual full length, certified course is probably 19:17 at the 2011 Runway Run. I ran a 19:06 on a short JA twilight run in 2011 and an 18:44 on a very short Judicata 5k course this year, but I don’t really count those.  It has been my primary goal to break 19 in a 5k for a very long time.

In an effort to get me faster, Angel had showed me some videos on Kenyan marathoner Moses Mosop’s running form the day before the race.  I figured I would really try and focus on form this time, especially increasing my strides per minute (cadence) and the mid-foot strike. I had nothing to lose in this race since it was not Tour de Columbia and I didnt think I’d be able to overtake the 300 point gap between me and Justin Bishop in the Palmetto Grand Prix. I know, crazy.

The Mosop video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTMgIViinuQ

I carpooled up to Bishopville with Angel and his wife and got there about 45 minutes early. A nice crowd was already there. Although World trampoline wrestling federation champion Jay Nester and Kevin Kelley were not in attendance, the other Hartsville elite showed up with Robbie “OG” McLendon (with Nicole) and Paul Reardon.  Jen Lybrand, Kimi and “Trackstar Eddie”  Vergara came up from Columbia.  I gotta be more stealth with my trophy hunting, since I had encouraged Eddie and Angel to come, basically relegating me to 3rd at best. With Paul on hand, that was now 4th.  It being a Grand Prix race, ” Club 80 percent age grade” also showed up with John Sneed (and wife Nancee) , Arnold Floyd, Birgit Spann and Lynn Grimes. There was also a large contingent from Florence’s Fitness World Run club, which seems like a really cool and supportive group.

We all gathered on main street in Bishopville, and after a short prayer, we were off. Vergara took off like, well, a track star, and Angel followed him. I got caught up a little in the sprinting and settled down a little after the first quarter to catch my breath.  A teenage girl was running stride for stride with me, and a tall kid was up ahead about 20 meters after the first half, with Eddie, Angel and Paul ahead of us.  What is it with me always racing kids his year? I was aiming for a fast start, hopefully about six minutes flat.  By the mile mark I had dropped the girl and hit the marker at 6:02…almost perfect.

I usually lose it in the second mile of a 5k.  I start to get winded and it still feels far from the finish. So I focused on my new friend Moses Mosop. Midfoot..quick stride… It felt a little awkward but it seemed to maintain pace without as much effort.  Although I was hurting at the start of the mile, I actually began to feel better. Tall kid ahead of me was just near enough to me to provide some motivation to catch him.  I noticed his stride breaking down some and he actually looked back.  Bad idea..nothing fires me up more than the chance for some roadkill!  We turned a corner and I really started bearing down on the kid.  And then my Garmin spit out the mile 2 split…6:05. Holy crap.  I was on sub 19 pace.

Now, I’ve been trying to get under 19 for most of the past 2 years, and I had never been close after 2 miles. The only low 19 efforts had been through ridiculous blue shoe kicks in the last mile.  I was hurting already, but then again suffering is what I do best. So I just threw down right there.  Not a surge, but an honest “pain is temporary, pride is forever” Prefontaine style blast.  Passed the kid immediately and then had to head down a long straight stretch that sucks because youre actually going past the finish line the next block over and heading out again.  Incredibly I can see Eddie and Angel way out in front, but I feel like I’m slowly gaining on them and Paul.  A lot of wind sucking is going on but once I hit the turnaround block I can already hear the finish line crowd. Finally we head down Main street again. Paul is a lot closer but there’s not enough distance to overtake him.  The clock is half hidden, but I suddenly feel a jolt of pure adrenaline when I see 18:27 just 100 meters or so from the finish line. Moses Mosop turns into pure headless chicken albino sasquatch as I sprint to the finish. 18 freaking 46.

I’m in complete shock after the finish. I double and triple check the distance on the Garmin, but sure enough  its 3.15. A little long even. Last mile: 5:53, with a 5:35 pace on the last bit.  Essentially  about a 30 second PR, on a 5k.  And I don’t even know what to do. I think there was some fist pumping or something, but I was half delirious from the effort. I’m sure it probably looked ridiculous for a 37 year old man to be as giddy as a  schoolgirl over a road race, but man was it sweet.  Christmas came a day early. Placed 4th overall, 1st in AG.

Eddie took the win with a blazing sub 18 effort – 17:54. Angel ran a very strong race and nearly got his sub 18, finishing in 18:14, his best 5k time of the year I believe. Paul finished 3rd with an 18:21. Among the women, the 16 year old pacing with me early ended up winning in 20 minutes flat. Birgit Spann and Sharon Cole finished 2nd and 3rd, Birgit in 20:25 /83% age grade. Incredible. Getting age group glory were Jennifer Lybrand, who fended off a strong kick by John Sneed, to take 1st in AG and sub 23. John finished 1st in the 65-69, and Arnold topped the 70+ in the mid 23’s.  Lynn went sub 8 pace and took first in age group over Nancee Sneed, while 2010 Baylers Bash champion Robbie still finished 2nd on a tough day for him.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/12Bayler.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/254078555

My pics: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151326149180419.501718.777475418&type=1

Race face pic by James Boyd: YES!! lol