Location: Simpsonville, SC
Date: June 13, 2009
Placing: 5th Overall, 1st Master
Race Photos
Results: Click Here

Apparently it's true. I'm getting older. After today's race, I've finally resolved myself to the fact that I will be getting slower. A year ago, I completed this course in 28:14.21 and today - a year later - my time dropped to 28:14.92. Since this was not a 'chip-timed' race, there may be some who would argue that the person running the stopwatch at the finish this year might simply have had a slower reaction time as I crossed the line, but you are probably just being too kind. This kind of sharp decline in my time can only be attributed to age. At this rate, in two years, I won't even break 28:16. And yes, I'm being sarcastic...

I enjoyed another good running event today and although my time was the same from the prior year, the feeling was remarkably different. Let's start with one of my favorite things...history. Now that I have been doing multisport for 4 years, there's a certain bit of fascination about looking back at events that I've done multiple times. In past race reports this year, you could see how my consistency at times has been uncanny. This race is certainly no exception. I'm going to add one more dimension to this 'history report' and that is the dimension of Stephen Sykes. If you read my report in February about the Green Valley 10-miler, I made light of the fact that Stephen and I seem to be eternal shadows. He continues to prove this point...

Of course I get a bit of extra credit for being literally twice his age but by the same token, he is young for a distance runner. Anyway, some interesting food for thought. And no, I am not stalking him. Maybe he is stalking me?

This race draws a good bit of local talent and it seems that every year, there are one or two 'really real' runners that 'run away with the victory'. This year, some 21-year-old collegiate runner took the honors. The Masters turnout at this event rivals just about any other event in the region with 8 of the top 20 placed runners over the age of 40. The race itself is a nice loop that starts with 2 fairly flat miles, then a downhill mile, an uphill mile and the final mile has a little of both. At my last running event (Swamp Rabbit 5k) I tried something a little different for me - starting slower. It worked very well so I decided to try it again. in '07 and '08 both, I crossed the first mile mark in 5:20. Today, I was looking for about a 5:30 start.

The race lives up to its name and we all lined up promptly at 6:25 for a 6:30 start. Although I hate really early starts, it helps that this race is just 4 miles from my house and registration has always been quick and painless at this event. I chatted with friends and teammates around me and was in mid-sentence talking to Mark Render when half the field suddenly jumped off the line. I had been waiting for someone to come to the front of the group with a bullhorn or something but that never happened. I felt a bit like Superman after he secretly heard a call for help with his super hearing. Without so much as an 'I gotta go...', I turned away from Mark, pressed the start button on my Garmin and took off. It was a pleasant distraction the first 100 yards or so as I wondered how many of us were caught off guard by the start.

I settled just behind the lead point of the group about 10 spots back. Ahead of me to my right was the distinctively tall, thin Stephen Sykes in his mandatory blue shorts (we all have our favorite shorts). It took about a third of a mile for the speed demons to create a group of 4 to dangle off the front and at the same time, to shed ourselves of those runners who started the race with a bit more "ooomph" than they really had. At the half mile mark, all I could see in front of me was the lead group of four with a gap on Stephen - who was about 20 feet in front of me. I resisted the urge to race up to him remembering my idea about pacing myself a bit better.

I crossed the first mile at 5:28. Excellent. I was working, but did not feel the least bit over-extended. For the next half mile I continued to close in on Stephen at a slow motion rate of about 1 inch every 10 seconds and finally came shoulder to shoulder with him shortly before mile 2. Now the other funny thing about Stephen and I is that we never actually run together. One reason for this is becuase he goes up faster than me...and I go down faster than him. But also I think we both probably feel that running right next to someone takes you off your tempo. I rounded the turn at mile 2...11:07 (5:39 mile) and instantly was glad to be going down. I vividly remember reaching the end of mile 3 last year in total pain and exaustion. Today, I was steady as a rock.

Stephen re-passed me on the way to mile marker 3 and for the first time in the race - on a downhill - I heard feet pounding behind me. I took advantage of a right turn to glance back and there was 48-year-old Ed Hughes. "Son of a b****". The only thing that kept me from being too concerned is that this year, I was still well within myself at this point in the race; there would be no falling apart for me. If Ed was going to beat me, I knew that he would have to have something extra in his tank today. Mile Marker 3: 16:44 (5:37 mile). Stephen and I were methodically catching one of the lead runners who apparently started too hard and looked a bit like I did at this point last year. Stephen caught him first and actually put in a bit of a burst that seperated us even further. I kept my pace and passed the other runner shortly thereafter.

The climb to the top of mile 4 is not really steep but it's a few hundred yards long and after 4 miles of near-maximum effort, it's not a happy thing. As I reached the turn at the top, I glanced back to see that I had gained some ground on Ed - as well as Stephen. Mile 4: 22:38 (5:54 mile). As I ran the entire last mile just 3 strides behind Stephen, my brain kept saying "OK - wait until the very end then just sprint around him". Yeah; whatever. Neither Stephen nor I ever broke stride and it didn't matter what I told myself, my body simply would not listen. Oddly enough, I still had not overextended myself and yet my body was content. No sprinting today. Maybe there needed to be some promise of a deserving reward - a better reason than bragging rights. Something like an Olympic medal - or a chocolate cake. But my body knew that neither of these things were waiting for me.

I finished out the race with a 5:36 mile (in reality, the final .96 miles since 8k = 4.96 miles) taking 5th place. Stephen finished 3 seconds ahead of me and Ed was 11 seconds behind me. Fleet Feet teammates Elliot Taylor and Matt Pryer both broke the top 15 as well. I felt good not only about my time but about how I felt with the pace this year since most of my training has been geared toward longer distances and my half-ironman event next week.

Race Notes:
* I turned this into my last good half-iron training day by turning around and running a second lap followed by a 52-mile bike ride.
* As usual at this event on an early morning in June, my socks and shoes were pretty much soaking wet although I never felt hot enough to drink much.
* I am slated to do a relay race in September with 3 other Greenville Track Club members. We will be racing the Master's division (ages for 4 team members have to add up to 160+). My other team members for that event are slated to be: Kevin Mosteller - 37 (2nd today), Ed Hughes - 48 (7th today) and Joe Hammond - 47 (12th today). We should be a pretty impressive group of old guys!

Next up: High Cliff Half Iron race - Appleton, WI