The kids really wanted to get some sunshine this weekend so we decided to fly down to Phoenix to spend the weekend with some friends. I also knew there was this $10,000 purse 15k race in Fountain Park, which is an area we love, so off we went. I got a registration done just a few minutes before the deadline. This is a super competetive race with some serious backing from the community. It was also a chance to meet Greg Mcmillan of Mcmillan coaching and some of his masters runners. I knew I'd get my butt kicked. Brett Gotcher and Cabada were running today, Gotcher just ran a 2:10 marathon and Cabada holds the American 25K record. The womens elite field had 9 women who have qualified for the trials. The masters field had 7 masters invited in, among them was Paul Zimmerman, Greg Mcmillan, Joseph Ekom, a Kenyan and Shaun Haley, so it was fun to run with some of these guys as an average runner.
This course looked like it could be fast with a net downhill, but some hard uphills and I felt like I wanted to start out conservative since I keep starting races too fast. The lead group took off super fast and since the start was uphill I kept an easy pace and was soon on my own. Mile 1 came by at 5:45 which was perfect and we started down the downhill couple of miles of the course so I knew I had to put some time in the bank. Miles 2,3 and 4 were all right around 5:10 and I was finally catching up to guys again. Miles 5 and 6 had flattend out and then the hills started. I actually hit around a 6:30 mile up the hill at the 10k, it was kicking my butt. On the backside I passed the last person I could catch in the race, who ended up being Shaun H, so it put me into third masters. I was real happy with this race since it was the first race in a long time that I ran smart, not dying halfway through. I was more interested in running a 5:30 than race position so I could judge where to start with training this year. I had felt my threshold was about 5:35 and ran just under it and ended up with enough to kick at the end and stay ahead of Shaun trying to catch me. Everybody's comments at the end was how horrible the hills were. They need to go run one of Striders Winter Circuit courses..
I ran an easy 4 mile cooldown enjoying the 80 degree sunshine and went to the after race party. This is the kind of race that reminds me why I run. There was an awesome kids race for my kids they ran in their bare feet and a live band that they just loved. The best postrace stuff to watch was the team racing. The winners of the teams got the weight of their heaviest runner in beer so each team had a REALLY big guy in it. At the awards ceremony they put this guy on the seesaw and then stacked up cases of Kiltlifter Lager on the other end until he came off the ground. I was laughing so hard by the end I was crying. | 