Monday, May 10, 2004
Sara Courtney Memorial 10K/Scottsdale Night Run for the Arts 8K
Sara Courtney Memorial 10K
The sun was just coming over the mountains when I got to Sabino Canyon Saturday morning. I had enough time to get registered and loosen up a bit. Someone gave a speech about how this event would benefit the community, and a woman with a very nice voice sang the Star Spangled Banner a capella with no amplification. It was very impressive and moving. I later heard there were more than 600 participants, so there was a pretty good crowd at the start, and she reached us all.
The start was tame. I knew it would be hilly, and some of the front runners were folks who had been talking before the start about how often they ran this road. So I thought I should let them set the pace. It was slow enough so that if I had wanted, I could have taken the lead for a few hundred yards.
We hit a marker that said "5 miles" at about 3:30 into the race. It may have been the half mile mark. There were markers later in the race set half a mile apart. The uphill at the start was gradual, but it seemed that the lead group had just been warming up earlier, and they sped up as it got steeper.
I saw no marker for the first mile. I was still close to the leaders when the first 5 K runner came back past me. He was the only person I saw in the 5 K until later in the race. I found out at the end that I could have easily taken second overall in that race, just running the same pace I ran in the 10 K. I passed a couple of runners who had gone out too fast, and I was pretty much alone when I got to mile 2 in 14:59.
The next marker said "3 miles 10K turnaround," which makes me doubt the accuracy of the measurement of these distances. My time at the turnaround was 23:13, an 8:14 mile, or 1.2 miles.
Back to mile 4 was downhill, still running alone. 29:55 and the same 1 or 1.2 in 6:42.
4.5 (The 5K turnaround) 33:18
5.0 (A different 5 mile marker) 36:54, 6:58 from the 4 mile marker.
It had been cool at the start, and it was shady through most of the canyon. But coming out of the canyon, after the sun had been up for a while, and I was getting out of the shelter of the canyon walls, it was hot.
There was one steep hill right after the 5 mile point, and as I was chugging up it, I was caught from behind. The other runner gave me a word of encouragement, and I had to ask him, "How old are you?"
He said he was 32 and asked if that made me feel better. It did, and I told him so.
I reached the finish in 43:56, 7:02 from the 5 mile mark.
That was good enough for 8th overall, but I don't know how I did in my age group. At least one, and probably more of the runners ahead of me were in the same group.
Even though the web site had said that there would be awards for the first three in "different ages," there was no apparently no effort made to do that.
They gave awards to the top three men and women in each of the two races, and that was it.
But they apparently raised about $50K for diabetes research and education at U of A.
I made a point of wearing my Team Diabetes racing singlet for this race, but I was surprised not to see any other Team D shirts, or anything anyone was wearing that related to diabetes.
Oh, well.
I had driven down that morning starting at 4:15. My car was all right on the way down, but the radiator gave out on the way back. I stopped to refill it on the way back, but it was overheating again by the time I got home.
Scottsdale Night Run for the Arts 8K
The Night Run for the Arts was a great event, but the crowd was a little too much at the start of the race.
Here's why I say it's a great event:
Chip-timed.
Night race through Scottsdale, galleries, museums, nightclubs, bars, parks, suburbs.
Food.
Live entertainment, a very good cover band playing 80s/90s hits.
Results scrolling on a large projection screen.
I went into too much detail in the previous race, so I'll just give the vitals on this one.
2.0 13:48 (6:54)
3.0 21:01 7:13
4.0 28:25 7:23
4.96 35:29 7:04 (7:09 pace)
I think I was 50th overall. I can't remember. I was definitely 5th in my age group.
In both of these races I was extremely overheated, feeling like my car, when I finished. I struggled to get some water, but I don't drink very well during these shorter races.
Anyway, I think I put in two fair races and got some good speed work done.
The sun was just coming over the mountains when I got to Sabino Canyon Saturday morning. I had enough time to get registered and loosen up a bit. Someone gave a speech about how this event would benefit the community, and a woman with a very nice voice sang the Star Spangled Banner a capella with no amplification. It was very impressive and moving. I later heard there were more than 600 participants, so there was a pretty good crowd at the start, and she reached us all.
The start was tame. I knew it would be hilly, and some of the front runners were folks who had been talking before the start about how often they ran this road. So I thought I should let them set the pace. It was slow enough so that if I had wanted, I could have taken the lead for a few hundred yards.
We hit a marker that said "5 miles" at about 3:30 into the race. It may have been the half mile mark. There were markers later in the race set half a mile apart. The uphill at the start was gradual, but it seemed that the lead group had just been warming up earlier, and they sped up as it got steeper.
I saw no marker for the first mile. I was still close to the leaders when the first 5 K runner came back past me. He was the only person I saw in the 5 K until later in the race. I found out at the end that I could have easily taken second overall in that race, just running the same pace I ran in the 10 K. I passed a couple of runners who had gone out too fast, and I was pretty much alone when I got to mile 2 in 14:59.
The next marker said "3 miles 10K turnaround," which makes me doubt the accuracy of the measurement of these distances. My time at the turnaround was 23:13, an 8:14 mile, or 1.2 miles.
Back to mile 4 was downhill, still running alone. 29:55 and the same 1 or 1.2 in 6:42.
4.5 (The 5K turnaround) 33:18
5.0 (A different 5 mile marker) 36:54, 6:58 from the 4 mile marker.
It had been cool at the start, and it was shady through most of the canyon. But coming out of the canyon, after the sun had been up for a while, and I was getting out of the shelter of the canyon walls, it was hot.
There was one steep hill right after the 5 mile point, and as I was chugging up it, I was caught from behind. The other runner gave me a word of encouragement, and I had to ask him, "How old are you?"
He said he was 32 and asked if that made me feel better. It did, and I told him so.
I reached the finish in 43:56, 7:02 from the 5 mile mark.
That was good enough for 8th overall, but I don't know how I did in my age group. At least one, and probably more of the runners ahead of me were in the same group.
Even though the web site had said that there would be awards for the first three in "different ages," there was no apparently no effort made to do that.
They gave awards to the top three men and women in each of the two races, and that was it.
But they apparently raised about $50K for diabetes research and education at U of A.
I made a point of wearing my Team Diabetes racing singlet for this race, but I was surprised not to see any other Team D shirts, or anything anyone was wearing that related to diabetes.
Oh, well.
I had driven down that morning starting at 4:15. My car was all right on the way down, but the radiator gave out on the way back. I stopped to refill it on the way back, but it was overheating again by the time I got home.
Scottsdale Night Run for the Arts 8K
The Night Run for the Arts was a great event, but the crowd was a little too much at the start of the race.
Here's why I say it's a great event:
Chip-timed.
Night race through Scottsdale, galleries, museums, nightclubs, bars, parks, suburbs.
Food.
Live entertainment, a very good cover band playing 80s/90s hits.
Results scrolling on a large projection screen.
I went into too much detail in the previous race, so I'll just give the vitals on this one.
2.0 13:48 (6:54)
3.0 21:01 7:13
4.0 28:25 7:23
4.96 35:29 7:04 (7:09 pace)
I think I was 50th overall. I can't remember. I was definitely 5th in my age group.
In both of these races I was extremely overheated, feeling like my car, when I finished. I struggled to get some water, but I don't drink very well during these shorter races.
Anyway, I think I put in two fair races and got some good speed work done.
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1 comment:
Hey, good runs Jerry. It usually feels good to get those in. The turn around is so quick, it's weird not being at a race for 2 + hours. I wish we had more 5K's around here.
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