Huntsville, AL
May 25, 2009
Cotton Row 10k
Official Results
7am start
Weather was 87% humidity and a cool 70 degrees
Mile splits
Mile 1: 5:31.99 Sucked out with the pack, lead out by the Kenyans. Felt pretty good and was all smiles running down Church.
Mile 2: 5:52.30 Ran back and forth with Kevin Betts and John Nevels, with the last part of the mile run up hill on McClung, adjacent to the cemetery. I was not the only one who slowed, but so did the whole pack of people I was running with.
Mile 3: 6:12:22 Slight uphill onto Owens seemed to fatigue the runners in my pack, but I took it slow and by the time I hit the top, I found my rhythm again and ran the middle portion of the mile well. The turn onto Mountainwood and hearing the Rocky Theme is always fun and despite the urge to walk, split the hill at mile 3 still vertical.
Mile 4: 6:11.40 Started the mile on the second half of Mountainwood and if I had not seen Twig, I probably would have walked for just a few steps. The humidity was like a blanket at this point and I was wearing a sweater! The turn onto Tollgate was all about recovery and trying to get back into a rhythm again. I had lost Kevin and John and George had pulled away, so I was really running alone. Making the left onto Bankhead felt so good as I was able to stretch out my legs and make up some lost time. This mile rolls more than people think, and my plus 6 minute pace really shows it.
Mile 5: 5:37.73 This was a great mile as I took advantage of the downhill. Running past a friends house on Maysville/Bankhead seeing DJ Pauli and gang really gave me a lift. I dug in and hammered this mile at a pace near mile 1. I knew that it was now about survival and position as my sub 36 target time was out of reach.
Mile 6: 5:55.57 I had caught up to Brandon Smith of Birmingham and we fought back and forth the entire mile. Making the last turn onto Clinton we both picked up the pace and it was game on! I made the tragic mistake of thinking the first banner was the finish and I started my kick too soon. Upon hitting the intersection, I could see the clock still a 100 meters away and as Brandon kicked it in and blew by me, I knew it was too late to respond. I had already started thinking about the 5k race and knew that I was already running at near top speed, so I didn't go with him. We ran the last 0.214 miles at 5:15 pace.
My overall time was 36:31.
I feel pretty good once you step back and look at the bigger picture. I was 31st overall of 2140 pre-registered and 1838 finishers. I was 6th fastest local runner and was beaten by a bunch professional runners, or guys that win most any race that they enter. I was 6th in my age group of 135 runners and the top 5 were all sub 35 minutes. This race is a classic where you throw the time out the window and just focus on position.
Congrats to Team Fleet Feet
David Riddle for 11th, Jason Reneau for 24th, George Dewitt for 29th, Eric Charette for 31st, Kevin Betts for 34th, Shane O'Neil for 35th, Rob Youngren for 39th, David Purinton for 42nd, Marty Clarke for 47th, Candace Jacobs for 53rd, Joe Francica for 57th, Jon Elmore for 63rd, Conrad Meyer for 65th, James Falcon for 85th, Joey Butler for 112th, Kathy Youngren for 141st, Madelyn Patton for 196th, Linda Scavarda for 219th, Whitney Hollingsworth for 235th, Jane Reneau for 248th, Katie Maehlmann for 282nd, Ovella Jessee for 346th, Ashley Cain for 403rd.
Cotton Row 5k
Official Results
9am start
Weather was 80% humidity and 72 degrees
Mile splits
Mile 1: 5:38.19 Amazingly the humidity fell by 9am and with the proper cool down and compression socks, I was able to recover in time to have a great first mile. The 5k is slightly less competitive but still had some horses in the race. I held back slightly and let the kids rush out front, but by the first turn, I was in 8th place.
Mile 2: 6:02.43 I had a little fun with the guy I was running with by making several surges, separated by 15 seconds or so. He tried to stay with me each time and by the time I made the 4th of 5th surge, he couldn't go with me and I held the surge until White Street and had successfully moved into 7th place. I am sure that he will go on to learn race tactics and probably has far better talent than me, but on this day it was experience that helped to carry me.
Mile 3: 5:48.2 Coming back down Randolph for the last time felt great running past the cheering fans at the Sherman household. I was running smooth and as Marty says, I felt like I was floating along. Making the final turn onto Clinton I did pick up the pace a little as there were more and more people toward the end. I didn't have anyone else close, but I still found another gear in the home stretch and dropped the hammer and it felt great. Actually it was this feeling of the people yelling and screaming as I flew down to the finish line, that fuels my inner fire and makes me want to do this again and again.
My overall time was 18:05.
Looking over my performance in the 5k, I am very proud having bounced back so quickly and able to make the top 10 and 2nd in my age group of such a large field of 1900 pre-registered and 1677 finishers.
So my combined time this year was 36:31 + 18:05 = 54:36. In 2008, my combined time was 37:56 + 19:07 = 57:03, so I was 2:27 faster this year which I am very proud. Of the runners who ran both races, I was 3rd in combined time only behind David Riddle and Jason Reneau.
Thanks so much to all of the volunteers that make this event move so smoothly and to the race directors Dink and Suzanne for making sure everything gets done. Thanks also to Laura and the elite runner dinner team for their help last night.
Onto Alabama A&M 10k!