I got up at 3:45am to go secure a spot for my family at the parade. Tiffany and her friends came a little after 5:00am which freed me up to run the Freedom Run, which I've wanted to do for years but have always been left watching it while saving a parade spot. I hurried to Kiwanis Park to get registered but forgot I didn't have enough cash so I had to go find an ATM. I got registered befor the 6:00am deadline then hurried home to get my running clothes on. I thought I would make it in plenty of time but then I hit parade traffic on 900 E. I ended up parking and running the last mile or so to the park. It served as a good warm up. I saw Vern Henshaw and his daughter, Mike Jasper, and Jason Hodson at the start. Mike was planning to run at about my pace, but he was looking for some extended family members, and Jason was planning to run sub-40:00...way too fast for me at this point on this course. I didn't have time to study the course (more about that later) and had not really given much thought as to how fast to go. I quickly decided that 7:00/mi pace would be a stretch goal, but I wouldn't kill myself and would just take what the day gave me and enjoy the run. The day was beautiful, if a little warm and humid, and I did enjoy the run very much. I smiled and people watched the crowd as I ran the parade route, slapping hands with some of the spectators along the way. I was a little disappointed that Tiffany and her friends were sleeping instead of cheering when I ran by, but I shouted to them and Tiffany and one of her friends got a quick glimpse of me as I passed. I stopped for a quick drink of water at the turn from Center St. to 900 E. The only problem was I was surrounded by a lot of the 5K runners I had caught up to at this point. I followed the correct path at the first 5K/10K split, but I hadn't studied the course and wasn't aware of the 5K/10K split at Center and 900 E. I should have run the 3/4 mile loop towards Seven Peaks and back to 900 E, but alas I didn't see the 10K pointers and followed all the 5K runners up 900 E. Jason passed me going up 900 E. I asked him why he was behind me. He said his quad was a little sore but that we should still make sub-40:00. At this point I suspected I had missed a turn somewhere. This was confirmed when my watch showed only 5.4 miles when I finished...in 39:46. What a bummer! My first concern was that I not be given an award that I hadn't earned. I tracked down the official timekeeper and told him what happened and asked him to pull me from the race results. He calculated my pace and how much of the course I skipped and said he would just penalize me 5 minutes and took my bib number. At the time they were busy correcting 150 or so runners who had run the wrong race. I decided to drive down and run the section I had skipped. This meant first running back up to my car. I had averaged about 7:21/mi for the part I ran. I ran the missing section at about a 7:00/mi pace. Combining the two times had me finishing in about 45:00 (7:15/mi). I went back to check the official results to make sure they had fixed or eliminated my time. They had not, but listed me in 3rd place in my division at 39:46. A 45:00 time would have placed me in 4th, with the 5th place time (my buddy Mike Jasper) at 46:53. I found the official timekeeper again and reminded him of my situation. He remembered and went to talk to the director who was about to hand out awards. I decided to change clothes and finally head to the parade to be with my family. I checked the official results online today only to see that they still had not corrected or eliminated my time. Oh well, I tried. I know I should have studied the course, but my last minute decision to run didn't really leave time for that. However, since the fact that hundreds of runners ran the wrong course at one point or another, I don't think it was entirely my fault. Despite the troubles, I still really enjoyed the run...and it makes a good learning lesson (study the course) and, like most unexpected turns, an interesting experience and memory.
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