We all went down to the Rochester Track Club Spring Classic races yesterday. Sofia did the Kids Mile, Jace did the 5k and I ran in the 15k. Left, you see Jace in pre-race mode, "I'm 10 and its too early to be awake" or "I don't do camera's." I know the races are called "Classic" but I think Jace's face is nothing less than classic--and that's the second one of the 3 of them--he wasn't smiling in the first one : ) The picture of Sofia and Carin on the right is the start of the 1 miler (8am). Sofia was really excited to run. I think she just really wanted to wear a number like her big brother always gets. Carin just ran beside her, she never wanted to stop--she just trotted/ran the whole mile. They don't time it, but have a watch running. She finished the mile in about 13 minutes. She got a finishers medal and a little bag of treats for it. However, later on when they were giving out trophies to the overall for the 5 and 15, she wanted one of those.  |
Sofia finishing the 1 mile |
The 15k started at 8:30 so I am not sure if the pic below if Jace after the race, or before as his race started at 8:40. Either way, he had a great run. Both the 15 and the 5 were out-n-backs. He finished 12th overall of 90+ in a time of 23:50--1st in AG 14 & under. The top 3 boys in that AG were 10 year olds. Here's Jace's race report:
Me: Jace, how it go?
Jace: Ok, I guess.
That's it.
For the 15k, it started sort of...odd. They explained the rules, no headphones, the route, etc, but didn't line us up--just said "right about here." What...? Anyway, the gun went off and we started at a decent pace. Ian Lanza was out in front from the start, followed by Ron Giles (2010 winner) then me. I stuck right on Ron, knowing he was probably going to run too fast for me, but I figured I would just go with it and see what shakes out. I was on his heels till my watch beep for mile 1. 5:29. Ron looked at his watch too. 5:29 is too fast for me so I backed off a bit. Exactly .2 miles later later a cone was in the path marked "1", and a volunteer was there yelling out our 1 mile times. I said out loud about 50 feet later, "That's a bit off." Ron, about 20 feet ahead looks over his shoulder and says "A bit ?!?!" From then on the mile markers were pretty much on based on where the first cone was--my watch beeped, then about 20-30 seconds later, the marker cone. What I am guessing is that there was a miscommunication as to where to start us and they started us about 2 tenths of a mile back from where they were supposed to. Mile two was 6:08 and Ron's gap ahead of me got a lot bigger. About .1 to .2 miles. Anyway, I kept most of my miles under 6 minutes, but it was tough. We get to the half way point, turn around and about 30 seconds into the way back, I see Chris Chen. I don't know him, but that's who I thought it was (it was). He was maybe a minute back from me. I wasn't too comfortable with that. Then the runners started to come at me more and more. I pushed just slightly harder and kept the miles under 6 minutes--even hitting a 5:52 for mile 8. In the last mile I looked back a few times, but saw no one. Back to the park and across the....um, there was no line so I hit 'stop' at the clock as hit went from 56:07 to :08. You can see it in the photo below. I ended up with 56:09 in the results.
elling out our 1 mile times. I said out loud about 50 feet later, "That's a bit off." Ron, about 20 feet ahead looks over his shoulder and says "A bit ?!?!" From then on the mile markers were pretty much on based on where the first cone was--my watch beeped, then about 20-30 seconds later, the marker cone. What I am guessing is that there was a miscommunication as to where to start us and they started us about 2 tenths of a mile back from where they were supposed to. Mile two was 6:08 and Ron's gap ahead of me got a lot bigger. About .1 to .2 miles. Anyway, I kept most of my miles under 6 minutes, but it was tough. We get to the half way point, turn around and about 30 seconds into the way back, I see Chris Chen. I don't know him, but that's who I thought it was (it was). He was maybe a minute back from me. I wasn't too comfortable with that. Then the runners started to come at me more and more. I pushed just slightly harder and kept the miles under 6 minutes--even hitting a 5:52 for mile 8. In the last mile I looked back a few times, but saw no one. Back to the park and across the....um, there was no line so I hit 'stop' at the clock as hit went from 56:07 to :08. You can see it in the photo below. I ended up with 56:09 in the results. 
I know that GPS watches can be off, but when several have them and they are all in the same range, then I believe the data. My watch measured 9.44 miles (a 15k is around 9.3 miles). The online route map said it was 9.29 and it was a certified course. Two guys I know (Bill Nevala and Greg Couser) both had 9.38 on their Garmins. Maybe they backed us up at the beginning to get that last .01 in ? Who knows. No big deal, BUT, had it been right on 9.3 my average may have fallen under 6. It ends up that 56:09 is a 6:02 pace. What if, what it, whatever. Anyway, I was 3rd overall and they gave me 1st in 40-49. I don't feel right about that because Ron Giles is 42, but they pulled him out of the AG ranks to give him the Top Master (40+) award.
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| Exhausted after the race |
1 comment:
Jace is just like Graham. They are now too cool to be bothered with. I think boys reach that age and then its 'don't talk to me unless my friends are not around'. Of course, after the race is over and they did well....then they want to talk your rea off. Anyway, great family effort. Well done!
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