W.C. Handy Festival DaDooRunRun 5K
Florence, AL
July 19, 2008
Official Results
In order to run this race, I had to get up at 4am in order to meet Joey in time to drive the 58 miles from Huntsville to Florence, AL. The temperature by race time would most likely be in the mid 70's. I was coming off of another 60+ mile week without any rest so this should not have been anything spectacular when it would come to my performance. I would still give it everything that I had, but the variables in the personal record equation did not add up.
In warming up for this race, it looked like the competition would be very good. Many young runners and other fast names had showed up. I guessed that it would take a mid 17 to be competitive and there were dozens up people who could run under 20 minutes. When there would be less than 200 total runners, having 10% top runners who could maybe win this race made this a very competitive environment. As usual, I was very nervous that they would leave me in the dust.
At two minutes after 8am, the clock started and we sprinted away. Within the first 1/10 of a mile, the lead pack had already started to seperate from the rest of the runners. There were about 15 people grouped together. Surprisingly, there was a single runner who lead this pack and was running a blistering pace. The pack run closely through the first left, then right and the lead runner had already built a sizeable lead. I thought that this point that the hopes of winning for anyone were lost. He appeared to have the look of the prerace favorite and he was holding form. Before the 1/2 mile mark, I had to make a decision to either sprint ahead and stay with the lead pack, or let them go. If I stayed back, there would be no one to push me later on and I would have to do all of the work on my own. I would be in the same position that I am at in every race, which is the worst of the best runners. So in a split second I decided that I would push ahead and stay with them. The pace was not tough and despite the first half mile being uphill I still ran a 2:49.76.
The second half of the first mile began to flatten out as we turned to the north and run through part of the downtown. I was running a smart race, staying to the tangents. I had made my way up from about 12th place to somewhere in the top 10. We dropped a few people who weren't up to the challenge on this hot day. Even with the heat, I felt light on my feet and was running at near VO2max velocity. I was running in new Saucony Fastwitch racers and could tell the difference between them and my normal trainers with less weight to carry. On a straight away before reaching the city hall square, I hit the one mile mark in 5:44.55. This was right where I thought I needed to be in order to clock a personal record, but I never thought it would be on this day. Before the race, Linda Scavarda was given some advice from a friendly local runner in which she shared with Joey Butler and I. She was told that you should hold back on this course in the first mile and then pick up the pace in the middle when the profile turned flat, then lower the pace in the final mile when the profile would drop back down to the start. I was following that plan perfectly.
I was no running in the chase pack that trailed the lead runner. We were down to 5 people. I had just passed Heath White, whom had beaten me earlier this year and every other time we had raced each other. I kept pushing harder and harder and as the strides came one after another, I got more guts; I began to pass one runner at a time. These were runners that in the past I would have just settled to stay behind and let them carry me. On this day I was feeling great and started to think that today might be different than the rest. I ran the next half mile split in 2:47.45. This pace was ahead of 5k PR pace for me, but I had a long way to go.
We made a left just past the half way point and crossed back over the rest of the runners. I was know in 3rd place, trailing the lead runner, with young runners from Russelville both in front and behind me. I made another push to pull past the 2nd place runner and take over that position from him. We had been jockeying back and forth since the first mile and he was the only runner that would stay with me when I made a charge. This time he let me pass as we cruised through a 5:34.23 mile. I was now in new territory, never having run this fast this late in a race. I would only have to hold on for a little while longer in the easiet part of the course for a great second place finish.
As we came back through the downtown, I could tell that the lead runner was either starting to slip on his pace, or we were progressviely getting stronger and closing the gap. Either way, he was no longer running the sub five minute mile that he held through the first mile. We ran across a cobblestone road which was horrible footing, but luckily it did not last for more than a block. I had passed both water stations without taking water. As usual, the runner in front of me didn't take any at either so I wanted to stay with them and didn't take any either. I traded place with the other Russelville runner a few times in this section in running another 2:47.77. I wasn't looking at the distance or the pace now, but just giving it everything I had.
We were now down to the final half mile, plus the finishing kick. We came to a section of the road, almost a boulevard, where a row of trees lined the center. From having run the course in this section in warm ups, I knew to stay to the left for the shortest distance, which was also how the course was marked. The lead vehicle lead the lead runner down the right side. I knew that this mistake would be just what we needed to take the lead over. By the second to last left and then final right, I had passed the lead runner. The two Russelville runners stayed close to me. It almost seemed like they were working together somehow. When we would pull ahead, one kid would turn and look to the other. We ran a 2:44.74 half mile split, making the last mile a 5:32.51. Had the last two miles been a two mile race, I would have run 11:06.74, which would have been a personal record.
At the 3 mile mark, we slowly crested the final hill, exposing the finish line. I had never been in this position in a road race of 5km. I was now giving it more than everything I had. I was in a full out sprint, probably dipping my pace into the very low 5's. Even with that push, I caught a glimpse of the two young kids out of the left side of my eye. There were running side by side, at a pace that I can only imagine was in the mid to low 4's. They flew past me with less than 100 meters to go and stayed ahead to the finish. I took a quick peak behind me to make sure that I wasn't going to be passed by the early leader but saw that he was no where in sight. Despite being passed at the end and losing the lead, I had finished 3rd overall and crushed my old PR (of 17:49) with a finishing time of 17:31.22.
Mile 1 - 2:49.76 + 2:54.79 = 5:44.55
Mile 2 - 2:47.45 + 2:46.78 = 5:34.23
Mile 3 - 2:47.77 + 2:44.74 = 5:32.51
Mile 0.107 - 0:39.93
Total: 17:31.22 Pace: 5:38.34
When the race was over, I jogged a little with my friends in a cool down, but I was still in utter disbelief over what I had just accomplished. In something I would realize later and tell Laura, I noted that my last 20 5k races had mostly been in between 18:30 and 17:49, with only 2 races breaking 18 (that came this summer) and I had somehow run 18 seconds (nearly 6 seconds per mile) faster than ever before at this distance. It was truly remarkable to me how making such a quick decision at the start of the race to stay with the lead pack would motivate me enough to run so well and finsih so high. There were 175 runners in all and I was beaten only by two of them and I would lead my age group by over 4 mintues.
Now days later, I am still in awe at what I did. I had the fluke performance that comes by once every few years. A performance that I haven't had since setting my 4 mile PR in 2006 when I would run a high 22. When I have a race like this, I wonder if the fluke races are the ones that I don't run well and if I have the talent and ability to run this fast all of the time.
13 runners would break 20 minutes on this day, 7 would break 19 and the top 4 would be under 18. In the end I was right; the top runner would be around a mid 17:)
P Name Age Hometown Time
1 Nebiyu Osman 16 Russellville, AL 17:28
2 Hirbo Hirbo 22 Russellville, AL 17:32
3 Eric Charette 32 Huntsville, AL 17:32
4 James Whitehead 29 Madison, AL 17:36
5 Phillip Halley 17 Harreot, AL 18:09
6 Ian McDermott 18 Florence, AL 18:11
7 Heath White 25 Florence, AL 18:34
8 Mason Dye 22 Florence, AL 19:04
9 Christopher Hobbs 19 Athens, AL 19:39
10 Brandon Black 29 Birmingham, AL 19:45