Racing For Wilma Rudolph

    I was looking for something fun to do the weekend following the Lock 4 XTERRA and noticed that there was a run going on near my house. So I was up bright and early Saturday morning, June 25, for a bike ride down to the Sango side of Clarksville for a 10K and 5K event called the Wilma Rudolph Road Race. Wilma Rudolph was an Olympic runner from Clarksville that was diagnosed with polio at age 4. At one point during her illness, she lost complete control of her left leg. It took 7 years of rehab and massage to get the control back. She then became a runner and 5 years later was in the 1956 Olympic games at the age of 16. She would go on to win three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy, becoming the first ever American woman to do so in track & field competition. She would later retire and become a school teacher and athletics coach. I'd say she is definitely worthy of having a race named after her. And I was excited to go do such a race in honor of someone who did such great things both on and off the track.

     My lack of running did not seem to effect my decision of which race to do. I was really in good enough shape to do the 5K, but I thought I could probably pace myself well and make the 10K. So I signed up for both. Yeah, sometimes I worry about myself. The 10K was first. It took place on roads I am very familiar with that I ride almost every day and are part of our Tuesday night group ride. The weather was partly cloudy with a slight breeze so it felt nice. There was a good turnout as well with 165 starters in the 10K.

10K start. That's me over to the right in the dark orange shirt.

There was a good turnout for the 10K

     I had a good run. I felt bad early on and was thinking that maybe riding over to the run was not such a good idea. Then I looked at my watch and saw my first half mile was run at a 6:00/mile pace and then I knew why I felt so bad. That pace is way more than I can hold. I backed down and finished my first mile in 6:54. I got settled in behind a lady that was a bit faster than me. She was strong up the hills and it was a good challenge for me to hold her pace. I felt good by the halfway point and wanted to go around her, but I was running much faster than I thought I should have been. My goal was to average an 8:00/mile, and I thought that was reaching a little far with my goals. My halfway time at the 5K point was 23:16, which is about as fast as my best 5K times. I really was expecting to die in the last 2 miles so I stayed put behind the lady and just tried to pace myself.

     I had been behind her about 3 miles when she said, "I'm not much to draft off of." I laughed because she was quite short and small compared to me. Then she turned her head toward me and yelled, "So why don't you just go around!" I was like whoa lady! I'm just running with you! I nicely said "I would if I could." Then I dropped back and gave her a little room. I guess she doesn't like people running close to her which makes me wonder why she entered a race with 165 people in it. I stayed behind her until 2 miles to go then I dusted her just because I could. I don't know if I felt bad about follwoing her or if I was mad that she yelled at me. Either way, it made me run faster. I had a strong finish, ending with a slight sprint. Only slight because I still had another race to go. My goal time was to finish under 50 minutes and I clocked a 46:37. I was very pleased and surprised with that. That landed me 26th place overall and 11th in the Men 25-29 age group.

The 10K winner Micah Tirop. He ran the 6.26 miles in 33:12. Holy crap!

Me finishing my 10K

     I had a 45-minute break between races to refuel and rest. Dina joined me on the line for the 5K. It was the first race she had entered since early December. I had no idea how I would feel in a second race. I have never done two running races in one day. I had already logged my longest run since the half marathon back in February, but I was lined up for more when 8:30am rolled around. There were 267 runners on the start line for the 5K. It was much of the same course that the 10K used, only skipping out on the flat section in the middle.

5K start

    The start was uphill and it was fast...and I had no legs! Man the first mile hurt, but then I got settled in and began to make up some ground, catching several people in the final mile. I was impressed with a young guy named Sam Parris. He was 10 years old and plugging away with a mile to go when I came by. I shouted a little encouragement and that was all he needed to pick up the pace. He matched me stride for stride for a good half mile, then he came around me and forced me to lift my pace! He would fade and I passed him back, again providing some encouragement. I thought he had fallen back until we hit the last 200 meters. I could hear little footsteps behind me and realized this kid still had a sprint left in him! He got close to me and it sounded like he was coming by. I dug hard with everything I had left, but still the sound got louder. I was surprised to see that it was a female that slipped by on my left, beating me by a step. Apparently, Claudia Wanner had a great sprint left too, passing both Sam and I in the final 100 meters. All three of us finish within 3 seconds.

Sam Parris and Claudia Wanner sprinting in to the finish. I am just out of the picture ahead of them.

    I took 29th overall in the 5K, good enough for 5th in my age group. My time was 22:58, a good 5K time for me even without doing a 10K before it. I averaged 7:27/mile for the 10K and 7:23/mile for the 5K. Both are very fast averages for me. They did a special combined category for the people that ran both the 10K and 5K. I took 5th out of the Men with a combined time of 1:09:25. Dale Brown topped the combination chart with a time of 1:01:47 for both events. Dina had a good run, finishing 5th in her age group.

 

     It was a good day of triathlon training for me. I had a great time. The plan was to ride home on the bike, but a nasty thunderstorm rolled in just after the finish of the run and I had to hitch a ride home with Dina.