Run Run Away

Question:

Hi, Jonathan, I hadn’t seriously thought about entering any more races for a while but on Friday I remembered that an annual local event was taking place the next day – what I’ve always thought was a fun run for people who wouldn’t normally dream of racing at all. I’d never tried it before. It starts outside a local supermarket and was first run six or seven years ago when we did all our shopping there. I went up to watch it once in my pre-running days. There was a fair crowd of people then – maybe a couple of hundred.

[report snipped but appreciated] Wow, a 14K (plus biking) warm up for a 10K+ afternoon race! Congratulations on an excellent Fun Run (not to mention the post race awards <G). Your description certainly made me want to participate in it. Wait a minute, 52+ minutes AND did an extra hill top loop??? You dog, you <G. Again, wonderful run and report. And oh, yes – I got sunburned.

My brother. Thanks, Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response:

After another long slightly uphill stretch (I regularly use it when I’m doing fartlek in winter) the course did a loop of about 500 yards before sending the runners back down the hill. As I got back to the starting point of the loop I met Lasse, all on his own. Now, if I want to run on my own I don’t enter a race to do so, it’s much more enjoyable having company on such occasions, so I decided to run the rest of the race with him. So I did the loop again

Wait wait – so you ran an extra 500 yards even though you were on survival mode? And that after already having run 14k that day before the race? You’re so hardcore I don’t have words for it  : ) Congrats on pushing through, Jonathan; it sounds like you still had an enjoyable race! And thanks for the cool report! nina

Response:

Jonathan, Congratulations on another nice race and report. Dot I thought I’d go up and run it just for fun on Saturday afternoon after my regular run with our club. So after 14 K in 25 degrees (upper 70s) and bright sunshine (thankfully mainly on woodland trails) and some lunch I changed running shoes (the morning’s were pretty sweaty by then), donned my new club singlet, and jumped on my bike to cycle the mile up to the Supermarket (the reason we don’t shop there now is that we moved into the middle of town, close to lots of other supermarkets).

… But best of all – and strangest of all – is that my legs – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – had been full of weird aches and pains all week. I had visions of shin splints, tendonitis, hip replacements, you name it . But today? Not a thing. I feel I could go out and run a marathon tomorrow! To anyone who actually finished reading this report – well done! You’ve the patience of Job! And oh, yes – I got sunburned.

Response:

First Anthony, now you Jonathan, racing in the heat, you are tough. Thanks for the report. BTW, I don’t have Job’s patience. —  Bernard     O    ///   / …./ GOTTA RUN! To reply by e-mail remove SPAM

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I hadn’t seriously thought about entering any more races for a while but on Friday I remembered that an annual local event was taking place the next day – what I’ve always thought was a fun run for people who wouldn’t normally dream of racing at all. I’d never tried it before. It starts outside a local supermarket and was first run six or seven years ago when we did all our shopping there. I went up to watch it once in my pre-running days. There was a fair crowd of people then – maybe a couple of hundred. Thee are three races: a three kilometer for the kids, and then a five and a ten kilometer race (the 10 k is more or less two laps of the 5 k) all run around the system of bike paths typical of our area (and typical of Denmark, actually). I thought I’d go up and run it just for fun on Saturday afternoon after my regular run with our club. So after 14 K in 25 degrees (upper 70s) and bright sunshine (thankfully mainly on woodland trails) and some lunch I changed running shoes (the morning’s were pretty sweaty by then), donned my new club singlet, and jumped on my bike to cycle the mile up to the Supermarket (the reason we don’t shop there now is that we moved into the middle of town, close to lots of other supermarkets). There didn’t seem to be that many people around. The kiddies’ race started at 2.30 and by now the temperature seemed even higher. I sat down on a step with an energy drink and watched people buying their bibs and collecting their race shirts (a bright yellow t-shirt with the SuperBest logo on – very fetching). I asked the t-shirt-and-bib-lady if I could collect my shirt after the race as I had nowhere to keep it. Of course I could, she said. I recognized most of the people there. I knew quite a few of them to speak to, too. One mum who’d been on our club run in the morning turned up looking very sporty but no, she wasn’t entering – she was accompanying her kids, who were in the 3 K. A lot of kids gathered at the start, all with race numbers on their bibs. The supermarket owner fired the starting pistol. It was so loud that most of the kids jumped out of their skins apart from three little girls who’d had their fingers in their ears. A good thrill was had by all. And off they went. We moved over to watch them coming up the slope on the final straight. The first little boy was back incredibly quickly: his finishing time was just over 10 minutes. He is ten years old. There were several others quite close behind him; in fact the winners of all the kids’ classes came in in under 15 minutes apart from the 12 to 14 year old girls – the winner did it in 23 minutes. It’s amazing to see children knee-high to a grasshopper scooting up the hill like that! It was nice to see that they got real trophies and medals after the race. They deserved them – and in that heat! Now it was time for the 5 and 10 K. The 5 K runners had black digits on their bibs; the tenners had blue numbers. I took up position right at the back; all the other runners (apart from a scattering of 5 k entrants) looked horribly like "real" runners, i.e. serious ones. There were very few 10 k entrants – about 20 in all – and most of them were either from our club’s 1st team or women in their forties who have marathon times of 3.20 and stuff. I knew a lot of them. Luckily there was a 67 year old guy from our club called Lasse who tho built like a runner doesn’t take himself too seriously. He started at the back, too. So off we went. I overtook a few people (5 k racers who really were doing it as a warm-up to a nice barbeque or an afternoon trip to the beach) but I could see that the other 10 k’ers were streaming ahead (the course is such that you can see almost half a mile down the first hill). My first 1 k (from the gun, not from when I crossed the line) was 4.37, my second 4.30, and then I decided that I’d never last in this heat at that pace, so I dropped back to just under 5 minutes a kilometer. It wasn’t long before I met the leaders coming back the other way. It’s actually quite fun to see the leaders for once! Specially as they all seemed to be from our club! From 3 k to 4 k is uphill and I began to wonder whether it was just too hot to run. But our former nextdoor neighbour was manning the drinks station at the top of the hill and he had a few encouraging words as well as the blissfully welcome water, and I pressed on. Before I could decide to switch to the 5 K and chicken out I hit the junction where the 5 K runners went left and the 10 k runners went right for an extra 100 yard loop to make up the metres, and the marshals waved me right. As I knew them both, too, I couldn’t lose face there and then, could I?! So that was me down for  the second 5 K. Oh, well. I didn’t even look at my watch because we were now talking personal survival rather than a personal best. But the long stretch down the hill was a relief. By now I was running totally on my own, with about 100 yards between me and the next runner in front and the next runner behind. After another long slightly uphill stretch (I regularly use it when I’m doing fartlek in winter) the course did a loop of about 500 yards before sending the runners back down the hill. As I got back to the starting point of the loop I met Lasse, all on his own. Now, if I want to run on my own I don’t enter a race to do so, it’s much more enjoyable having company on such occasions, so I decided to run the rest of the race with him. So I did the loop again and we pushed on home, chatting to marshals as we passed them and exchanging comments with the drinks station folk. Finally we rounded the corner to the finish and crossed the line together in 52-and-a-bit minutes – yet another PR for me (my slowest 10 K in a race and my worst finishing position (4th from last)). But it felt good finishing – and in the draw I won a Lipton’s Iced Tea set (two