Race Back to Clark

This is about a race I did on August 13.

Why this race instead of others going on that day: because the start and finish lines were a mile from my house.

Cause the race benefits/celebrates: Clark Montessori High School is ready to move into its brand new building, after several years of operating out of another building in a bad neighborhood on the other side of town.

How I found out about this race: First I heard of it was when I saw some little road signs set out in the grass across the street from the Kroger the week before. That is not the way I usually find out about races.

The course: 5k start and finishes in front of the school. Covers some streets found in both the Flying Pig and the Hyde Park Blast races, and passes by my old house.

What I did the day before: Went for a little jog along the course. Found two different descriptions of which way we would go, so I picked the one that made most sense to me. My take on it had us running against traffic, and on the busiest and least-scenic streets first. It was a mostly downhill first mile, mostly flat second mile, and a slightly uphill third mile.

I picked up the course at an intersection about a half-mile from home, so it makes a nice little four-mile route that I think I will do again. I already run most of these streets regularly and have for years, but not in this exact configuration.

The weather: was supposed to be overcast but turned quite sunny by the 9 am start. But at least it was cooler and less humid than it had been recently.

What I wore: Black shorts, black shirt, pink cap from Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon, Nike Pegasus shoes. Debated wearing bike shorts instead and also bringing Chomps. I was going to try to make this into a 10-mile run by combining a long warmup and cooldown with the race.

What I was expecting at the race: There were two other well-established 5ks and a 10k event going on at the same time in other parts of town. So I was expecting that most "regular" racers would be doing one of those other events. At this race, I expected students, parents, maybe a few alumni and teachers. And chaos, I expected a bit of chaos. Which is not a big deal if you are ready for it.

What I found at this race: Pretty much as expected! But overall a nice community event with just a few glitches that are easy to fix, and did not prevent me from having a nice time. These little community 5ks are my absolute favorite kind of race.

Pre-race: Left house around 8:20 to jog the mile up to the start line. Picked up my race number at the table on the sidewalk. I had thought we would probably start and finish in the school parking lot, but it looked like maybe it wasn't ready/safe enough for us to do that yet in the construction zone. So the start and finish was out on Erie Ave., offset from each other by about .1 miles.

I know from my jog that the loop is slightly less than 3 miles around, so I figure we are going to have to run past the finish line in the beginning or do something a little different to get it up to 3.1. The web site says the race is USATF-certified---except they spell it USTAF-certified. Ohoh. Harbinger of chaos!

I asked a volunteer which way we were running, and he tells me that it is the opposite direction of the way I jogged yesterday. Oh goody, so the last mile is all uphill. Well, it's not like I haven't run up that hill a few times before. But I was kind of looking forward to running down it.

Well, it's still early and I'm bored, so I jog a little more up and down Erie Ave. I run into Ralph B., an old runner guy I used to work with who lives on the race course, on his way to the start. I don't know if he remembers me or not, but he asks me if it is too late to register and I tell him he has plenty of time.

I wonder where David Jones is. He also lives along the race course. Maybe he is at Newtown.

Lots of teenagers and parents around. Everybody is smiling and happy. Some people are wearing shirts that say things like "it's good to be back home" or something like that on the back. It is a very nice atmosphere.

At the start line: There are some announcements and I can hear them but I can't remember what the guy said. I decide to line up pretty close to the start. Even if these teenagers are on the Clark cross-country team (if Clark has such a thing), I don't expect many to be very fast. And there are not too many potential old lady competitors for me in view. Many of the women are not even wearing running clothes, so we assume they are walkers. This does not seem to stop them from lining up near the front.

For example, there are two older women right behind the start line, and if I don't look like a runner to some people, well, let's say these two women really don't look like runners. They don't even look like walkers, despite wearing running shoes. I guess they want to be close to the start so the race will be as short as possible for them? One of them is wearing a backpack. The other one---get ready, this is amazing---is reading from a Kindle! Well, she does have an earphone in so maybe she is listening to an audiobook. But really! She has a giant shoulder bag and she is holding the Kindle, and she is right up at the start line of the race!

So I make sure I am not right behind these two. Having to throw some elbows or run right over their backs just doesn't seem in the spirit of the day. The announcer does say that walkers should start in the back, but these gals don't move.

I am next to Cindy Moore and her husband, who is pushing their toddler in a jogging stroller. Cindy Moore is younger and much faster than I am. I am wondering if she is maybe going to win the race. I think about telling her she needs to get in front of the lady with the Kindle, but I stay quiet.

The race: starts a couple of minutes late but not too bad. Fortunately it's not too crowded, and unlike at the Kilgour 5k, the kids are older so there is less chance of getting tripped. I feel like Cindy Moore is behind me, and wonder what's up with that.

We run west on Erie and turn right on Paxton for a short, steep climb (but it's very short and early in the race). A pack of three young girls with heavy footfalls are chatting and soon complaining about how tired they are already.

We take the first right onto Victoria. This is a lovely street of homes built mostly around 1920. Our old neighbor when we lived on Marburg used to say that if you had $5000, you built a house on Marburg, if you had $10000, you built one on Portsmouth, and if you had $15000, you built one on Victoria. (Our house on Marburg was where the builder supposedly lived, and where he must have used his leftover windows and doors and all the other mismatched odds and ends. But it is still a nice solid little house).

Anyway, Victoria is a very nice street. There is a water stop a bit past the first half-mile. Kinda early. Doesn't make sense. And the guy manning the water stop is calling out split times. Chaos? Would make make more sense if we were going the other way, close to what would be the two-mile mark.

Victoria ends and we turn left onto Portsmouth, passing Coffee Emporium (one of the race sponsors).

Around this time I realize there are no mile markers. Chaos! Well, I certainly know right where I am, and I'm a pretty good judge of my own pace, so I can deal with it. I would be irritated if I wasn't so familiar with the route.

Portsmouth is a nice street too, just not as nice as Victoria. Both roll just slightly and have plenty of large shade trees. Victoria and Portsmouth find their ways onto all of my neighborhood long runs. When I lived on Marburg, I ran them just about every day.

Portsmouth ends back at Paxton, where we turn right and then make another quick right onto Wasson. This is the "ugly" and "commercial" section of the course. We run by the Kroger and Richards Industries. But the really bad part is that we are running into the sun. Now, if we had my way (and my way is always so much better!) we would have gotten this stretch over early, and we would have had the sun at our backs. Better to run into the sun on Portsmouth. But here we are.

People I am aware of during the race: Okay, the pack of three girls had passed me but then I caught them again and now they are well behind me. There is a young boy and a woman/girl (can't quite tell her age, could be anything) just in front of me for the second mile, and I stay behind and draft off them a bit but then I have to go around them. And I am thinking, what is wrong with you kid that you are letting an old lady "chick" you? Sad.

Another woman comes from behind and passes me. She is tall, and looks to be over 40. I hope she is not in my age group. She puts some distance between us, and I wonder how far behind me she started.

We turn right on Marburg, and we pass my old house and I barely notice, as I am really focused on the race. We make the final turn onto Erie for the last hill, and I just keep telling myself this is my hill, I run it all the time, no big deal. I am running beside a young girl. A woman tells us that we are in the top ten females. I find this motivating but I don't know what happens to the kid, because she drops back.

I would like to pick it up and see if I can catch the tall woman, but I don't want to kick until I see the finish line. She is slowing down. And there it is, so I kick, and I almost catch her.

No finish line clock. Chaos! I look at my watch. No way! I know instantly the course is at least .2 short. Chaos! If we'd had mile markers out there it would be even more obvious. I have not run within two minutes of that time in ten years. Get serious. I did not run a 5k three minutes faster than I did two months ago.

Kinda bummed, because I would have liked to see what my time would be on an accurate course! Oh well.

I grabbed a bottle of water and walked up a little dirt trail to the school’s turf playfield. There was a great potluck spread put out by the parent volunteers, but I wasn’t ready to eat yet. I had some Gatorade and then I went off for a little jog around the neighborhood, then came back and ate some food. There were sandwiches and a great assortment of stuff, but I had some sweet baked goods because that was what seemed most appealing at the moment.

I wanted to hang around for the awards, because there were not that many women in this race and I was pretty sure I was getting something. Also, I was caught up in the warm feeling of the parents and the students and the teachers, who were all so happy to be on the site of their new facility. It felt like leaving early would be dishonoring them.

But, I was just about to leave when the awards started. Well, turns out that not only did I win my age group (1 of 5) but I was also the fourth woman overall (4 of 65). I told you Clark does not have much of a sports program. And I was 36 of 141 runners, and I also beat all but one of the 107 walkers. But many of them were like the woman with the Kindle, so they really can’t be counted!

I beat the trail runner woman again! And most amazingly, I beat Cindy Moore. That has never happened before. Not even close. I wonder if she is sick? Or pregnant? Something definitely weird about that.

Including my jog to the start line, after the race, and then back home, I had a total of 7 miles for the day. Not quite the 10 I had planned on but it would have to do.