2008 Fleet Feet Monte Sano 15km
Huntsville, AL
October 10, 2008
Official Results
It has been a few weeks since this race, but I do want to write a few things about it. This was one of the races from 2007 that I was glad that I had blogged, because I was able to go back and look at my splits and see how I felt at each mile and 'remember' the course. It really helped to mentally prepare.
In arriving at this race, I realized that this was the best that Huntsville had to offer. It's not too often that you can count 25 people capable of breaking an hour in a 15km race and stacking them all up against each other in the same field. As with other races, this created some ill feelings on my part, as I started to doubt my ability to contend in this field.
There were too many stars in this field to name, but let's just say that the only one I didn't see was David Riddle. Everyone else in town was there to run this first race in the HTC Gran Prix for 2009.
The year before, I had run 58:23 and finished just behind Dink. I knew that I would shatter this mark, as I had blown through the 15km mark during the 10 mile Moon Pie race from this summer (which is a much harder course held on a hot day in TN) in 57:11.
Based on my recent 5k/5m/10k race times, I should have been able to break 55, but for those of you who know this rolling course (especially late on Panorama), know that you need to add some time to your goal. 'A' goal was break 55, 'B' goal was to break 56, 'C' goal was to set PR.
It was much warmer than 2007, and I ended up running without a shirt. Smart choice as in the sun, it was very, very warm. In the shade it was still too warm, but tolerable.
I started out hard in the first 3 miles, running 5:47 pace trying to stay up with the leaders. It worked well early, but Hodges, Harris and Dewitt pulled away after a mile. I wanted to go out hard and hang on, knowing that the late hills would be taxing either way, so I might as well have time in the bank.
The second 5k was a lot harder as it started to warm up. I was now running alone, despite a competitive field of 300 runners. I could barely see Donald Bowman in front of me, but I knew John Krichev was looming behind so I wasn't about to lose motivation yet. I went through this 5k at 6:00 pace, which was ok with me, especially since the course had changed to rolling hills. I was still averaging under 6 minute miles, so I was on pace to break 56, so 'B' goal was in sight.
The wheels started to fall off late and the final 5k was run at 6:06 pace. I really struggled, especially coming back out onto Monte Sano Blvd. It was good to see other runners still heading out for the Panorama loop, but it wasn't enough to fuel my tired legs to run any harder. I was now just holding on, and doing a poor job of it.
Toward the end of the race, I began to realize that I was no longer under 6 minute miles on average and that I wouldn't hit my 'B' goal any longer. I really wish that I had been running with someone to push off of each other, but that just wasn't in the cards today.
I made the last corner into the park and could see the clock and although I turned on what I had left, clocked 56:01 in the end. Remarkably, this was 2 minutes and 22 seconds faster than my time from last year, which is 15 seconds per mile faster. I really am in good shape and this race showed it. I think that on a flat course and a cool day, I will break 55, but it will not be easy. I think that I could dig 6-8 seconds more per mile out, which would bring me down 62 seconds to do it.
I finished 7th overall, and 1st in M30-34.
I do like to see where I am at compared to others that I have raced at recently. In the summer, John had crushed me in a 5k in Gurley and I was able to stay ahead of him, which was a mental victory. John is a very good runner. Maybe he is my new arch nemesis (I say this jokingly) but it is nice to have someone new to measure your ability against.
Names in the top 30 were:
1 Brad Schroeder 24 Owens Cross Roads, AL 1/12 51:48
2 Kameron Ulmer 20 San Bernardino, CA 2/12 52:04
3 Andrew Hodges 32 Madison, AL 1/18 52:19
4 Tyrone Harris 28 Athens, AL 1/15 53:43
5 George Dewitt 50 Madison, AL 1/27 53:49
6 Donald Bowman 40 Huntsville, AL 1/27 55:00
7 Eric Charette 33 Huntsville, AL 2/18 56:02
8 Jon Krichev 31 Huntsville, AL 3/18 57:26
9 Keith Buell 16 Huntsville, AL 1/8 57:44
10 Marty Clarke 46 Huntsville, AL 1/27 58:18
11 Caitlin Heider 23F Huntsville, AL 1/11 58:19
12 Christopher Brahm 15 Huntsville, AL 2/8 58:39
13 Candace Jacobs 28F Huntsville, AL 1/17 58:55
14 Andy Davidson 18 Athens, AL 3/8 59:04
15 Brett Addington 31 Owens Cross Roads, AL 4/18 59:15
16 Russell Berger 22 Huntsville, AL 3/12 59:20
17 Shane O'Neill 36 Huntsville, AL 1/16 59:36
18 David McKinney 49 Baldwyn, MS 2/27 59:42
19 Eric Schotz 36 Decatur, AL 2/16 59:59
20 Jon Elmore 42 Decatur, AL 2/27 1:00:36
21 Tim Vinson 44 Madison, AL 3/27 1:01:19
22 Tyson Snider 22 Lima, OH 4/12 1:01:48
23 Robert Youngren 34 Huntsville, AL 5/18 1:02:09
24 David O'Keefe 34 Owens Cross Roads, AL 6/18 1:02:21
25 Gregory Reynolds 26 Huntsville, AL 2/15 1:02:59
26 Dink Taylor 43 Hampton Cove, AL 4/27 1:03:43
27 James Micciche 23 Troy, AL 5/12 1:04:00
28 Mike Greene 46 Harvest, AL 3/27 1:04:31
29 Edward Blankenship 43 Madison, AL 5/27 1:05:11
30 Richard Rodenhausen 54 Huntsville, AL 2/27 1:05:32
Overall I will look back at this race in a fond way, knowing that I was in good condition and ran a good race. Notice that I did not use the phrase very good or even great. I still have lots to learn and know that I need to do more long tempo runs to be able to race at top speed (for me) for this distance.