Bell Buckle, TN
June 21, 2008
Signing up for this race was relatively last minute, with an online registration taking place on Thursday afternoon. I knew from research that this was a tough course and a large field, yet I put the $38.50 on the line, hoping for it to pay off in the end.
The day started early, with a 4:30 am departure from Starbucks with Joey Butler. Bell Buckle, TN is about 75 miles away from Huntsville, so for a 7am race start, we needed to get on the road in time to pick up our packets and timing chip. After crossing the Alabama/Tennessee border, it was mostly country, like country-country.
Bell Buckle was a quaint little town that exists because two roads intersect, and a rail road passes through. That is about the only reason that I could figure out. I had an unusual nervous stomach prerace and had to hit the bathroom three times! The last time was with 6 minutes prior to race time. After that I got to the start with 2 minutes to spare. Lucky for me, the race start was delayed for 2 minutes as last minute announcements were made.
The competition at the start line did not look like it was that strong. There were maybe a handful of 'fast-looking' guys, which was surprising that the field was nearly 800 deep. The gun went off and we crossed the timing mat. The first mile rose 119 feet before the 1/2 mile mark. The lead pack took off fast, but I settled into a comfortable pace 6:06. As close as I could tell, I was in 10th place at the top of the first hill. I made a push down the first hill, passing one guy, but quickly being passed by two others. The last half of the first mile was downhill with an 82 foot drop. At that mile spilt I was in 11th.
Mile two was again uphill, ascending another 100 feet. My time was 6:08 for the mile. I was feeling relaxed and my breathing was calm, but I seemed to be gaining on the runners ahead of me. In this mile, I passed the two runners back that passed me at the tail end of mile 1 and I passed one other runner before the water stop at mile 2. This put me into 8th. Through 2 miles I was aver ageing 6:07 pace.
At the mile two mark, we turned to the north and no longer had to look into the sun directly. The wind was not an issue, but the sun was starting to bear down, now from the right side, but still there. I passed up the water stop at the turn. I am not sure if this was the right decision or not, but I was closing in on the guy in front of me and he didn't stop, so I passed it up as well. Mile three continued to climb, but this time up even more. The climb in this mile was 188 feet. I ran very quickly on the downhills, picking up the pace and closing in on runners, while keeping it conservative climbing up. I was running behind a very strong masters runner for the entire mile. I just locked in on him and followed closely. The pace was good, even for the climb. I ran a 6:22, which was actually very strong given the hill climb.
I knew from reading the race brochure that the largest hill started at mile 4 and climbed for 6 tenths of a mile, ascending another 170 feet in a single climb. This would either break me early or prove to help in the end. I ran very steady, now side by side with the masters runner and then passing him going up the hill. He caught me near the top, but his breathing was so rapid and mine relaxed, I decided to take advantage of it. I hit the crest and pushed very hard down the next hill to the 5 mile mark. The mile split was 6:29 meaning that I had run 31:13 through five miles or at about 6:15 pace through the hardest part of the course. Hitting the half way point was very rejuvenating as my legs were still there, and I felt surprisingly well. We would make a left and run with the sun at our backs for a few miles now and mostly downhill until about 8 miles.
In the next three miles I really started to turn it on. I was running in 6th place with the next few runners within sight. I could not see Jason Reneau or the other front runner, but that meant that with a push and if I could pass three more runners I would make the top 3. This was the weirdest feeling as I was all together mentally and not settling for a comfortable finish. I clocked mile splits of 6:59 and 6:56 now through 7 miles. I knew that I only had to suffer for less than eighteen more minutes. In this stretch I had passed a younger runner who was wearing long shorts and an under armour top and another top runner who stopped to walk. This was very surprising, but I did not question it. He had been running 6 minute pace for 42 minutes, which is not shabby for this course, so I assume that it was cramps and not inexperience. He said 'good job' as I ran by and I told him the same. He would end up finishing stronger, but today wasn't his day.
At this point, it was only a half mile more to the last turn and time for another hill. I came to the intersection and turned, seeing that the 3rd place runner was within reach. We climbed yet another hill and passed the last aid station with water. Even with the hill, I ran a 6:08 pace mile. I had been taking a little bit of water each time (at 4 and 6) and dumping a little on my neck. Despite this, the heat was really cranking up and my singlet was heavy with water and sticking to me. It didn't seem to be wicking any moisture away. I picked out a land feature that the runner ahead of me passed and then I looked at how long it took me to pass that mark; it was 20 seconds. I would have to run 10 seconds faster per mile for the last 2 miles just to catch him. Then if he was still strong (having not been pushed with the distance between him and the leaders being minutes) he would probably have enough for a kick. I decided that I was going to go for it.
Mile 9 was slightly downhill but I was increasing my stride rate and clocked a 6:03. I had made up maybe 10-12 seconds up on the runner. He was running without a shirt and he looked young, yet muscular with a quick and efficient stride. I knew that the only was I was going to beat him was by gutting it out. There was a hill from 9-9.25, climbing 83 feet. I pushed hard, running 6 minute miles up this hill and catching him before the crest. We ran together briefly, but I pushed hard on ahead. The last half mile was downhill, and I put a little gap on him of maybe 5 seconds. I gave a quick look back but could not see him, but that didn't mean that he wasn't there, I just couldn't see him.
Here is where it gets interesting. We were coming back into town nearing the end, and I saw a left hand turn that had 6-8 cones across it, blocking it off. I figured that this meant that the road was closed and we were supposed to run straight (and not turn). There was no one standing at the intersection directing runners and no markings on the road. I kept going straight for maybe 15-20 meters, point in the direction I was running, hoping that people standing down the blocked off road would see me. They did and yelled to turn, waving their hands in the other direction. What a colossal mistake! I had to stop, turn around and veer back into the road that looked like it was closed. My lead had disappeared and the younger runner was right behind me. I had lost my momentum and my focus. It was like the 2004 Olympics when Vanderlei Lima was tackled by a fan in the marathon; he never recovered and his edge and when from first to 5th. I ran quickly down the end, clocking a 2:46 last half mile, but in the end the younger runner passed me at the end. What was very annoying was that as we turned into a parking lot to cross the line, he brushed up against me, hitting my arm, then cutting me off by running front. He totally broke my stride and finished right in front of me. I am a very calm person, but I did not like the fact that he did this. I was fine with him passing, but in the fashion that it happened was very unprofessional. He was a young 18 year old kid who has a lot to learn.
In the end I ran a 1:01:20 (6:08 average pace) and finished 4th of 796 people. I was very, very happy about this finish, but it was spoiled by the ending. I had a very difficult time with the lack of race coordination at the end, which may or may not be my fault with not knowing the course, and the poor sportsmanship of the kid cutting me off in the chute. Again, if he was a better runner with a good kick, that is fine, but doing it that way was poor tact.
My second half split was 30:07, so I negative split the course by 1:13. In the post race, the results were posted as my and the kid having the same chip time of 1:01:20. In the awards, his time was announced as 1:01:20 (the same as mine) and he was given third place. Keep in mind that this was chip timing, so the fact that he passed me at the end didn't matter was it was all up to the chips to decide. I took first in M30-34 as the top two runners (including Jason in second) were taken out of our age group for overall awards.
This was a 10 mile PR and even as I glanced at my watch at 9.32 miles (15k) it would have been a 15k PR by over a minute. Actually, I kind of wish this day had been a half marathon as I think I could have held the pace for another 3 miles.
After a good lunch at Quiznos on the way home with Joey, I later checked the race results online. The chip time of the kid in front of me changed down to 1:01:19. If milliseconds were used the rounding was incorrect in the original race results, that is fine, but I'd like to hear an explanation of how the tie was broken otherwise, and why his chip time was changed from what was posted and what was announced in the results.
This memory will fade in time, but for now I am having a hard time letting it go. I am competitive in the sport and getting beat will push me to train harder. It may not be in your nature to do so, but I will let this be my mantra in the days to come, as I will not let getting kicked in the end happen again no matter what the case. That is what drives me. Healthy or not is arguable, but that is the way it is. At least I am honest about it.
Joey had a good day, setting a huge PR; congrats to him and thanks to him for driving me up there and then dealing with me in the aftermath of my meltdown. Not my best moment, though I tried to keep it in. He was a good friend for putting up with my crap.
So this is a blog; a chance to rant and rave about what is good and bad. That is what I am doing. To get over it, I needed to get it out.