Li'l Rhody Runaround 2014

Sunday, November 16, 2014

50:16, 13th overall, 1st in age group!  Full results here.

Already many awesome posts on this race from fellow WTAC'ers.  Here's my abbreviated story:

The preparation:  The 23rd annual running was finally here, after setting the date a year ago, advertising, web posting, planning, spending Saturday on gathering final supplies and sorting shirts in our living room, we left the house at 7:30am and were ready to go.  Volunteers were awesome this year, including adding a new feature for parking lot attendants which ended up being our most organized parking effort ever.  The hours before race time just flew by and all of a sudden Way from SNERRO was asking me to give pre-race remarks and get ready for the start.

2014 mass start

The 1st half:  As usual for me at this race, no time for a warm-up or cool-down with RD duties, just the gun goes off and you run.  Fast!  First two miles were intentionally sub-6 to hit the trails post-campground in a good position.  I saw about 3 guys ahead of me, including Tom Gruczka, and then they were gone.  Between campground and Buckeye Brook, I think I was passed by one and I passed one.  Grabbed a water at the stop, mumbled a thank you, and off we go to the second half.

The second half:  Just before the ledge climb, I caught up to and passed Tom Gruczka as he gave me some words of encouragement.  That would be the last person I saw until Kings Factory.  As usual, I was tiring on the next two miles of climbs and rock gardens.  I looked back at a couple of switchbacks and saw no one.  Exited onto the road, and despite being spent, I knew I was close to my PR (50:14) so I somehow pushed a 5:39 average pace on the road to the finish.  I stopped my watch at 50:15, one measly, tiny, infinitesimal, minuscule second off my PR.  Really?  (SNERRO later posted my time as 50:16 - I guess missing your PR by two seconds is better than by one?)

My finish - close to a PR, but no cigar

Race over:  My plan is to catch my breath and then jog back on the course to find Matthew.  I turned around and who do I see crossing the finish line just behind me?  Where the heck did Matthew come from?  Really happy that we both won our age groups.  So many PRs set by fellow WTAC'ers today, as well as a CR by Mike Galoob.  I was perhaps even happier to get so many positive encouraging e-mails post race, to the tune of "favorite race", "awesome volunteers", "well marked", "can I get that Critchlery guy's autograph?", etc (well, OK, maybe not the last one, but he helped out awesomely in pre-reg as did many of our volunteers).  I have many e-mails to respond to!



Barely holding off the freshman state champ after his 5-minute PR. 
Last time beating him?

Epilogue:  Got home about 3pm to find our first floor in disarray.  Pots and pans and appliances on the hardwood floors, a food closet emptied, couch moved, and a tennis racket on the floor?  What gives?  Went to have a talk with Mark and asked if there was a fight in the house while we were gone.  Sort of.  He said a mouse scurried out from under the couch, and went into the food closet.  He got the tennis racquet to whack the mouse (if you think that's cruel, you weren't here when we had 40 mice in the basement 2 years ago breeding in clothes storage - disgusting).  Mark cleared out enough of the food closet to get the mouse on the move again and failed to dispatch him with the racquet, as he scurried into our gas fireplace.  His plans to cook the mouse failed as we hadn't turned on the gas to the fireplace for the winter season yet.

Later that evening ... We done have bar-b-qued mouse.
(or so I thought, as that damned thing scurried out once it got hot.  this
went on for 2 more days before the mouse finally went to a "better place")