10K on the 10th

Nancy, writer of the blog Notes of a Non-Runner, has become a virtual race director extraordinaire. She organized another virtual race today, 10K on the 10th, and this has been the best ever. The entry fee was cut in half, prize money doubled, there were double the number of spectators lining the course, race timing was trust-based and self-reported, and there were toasted bagels with lowfat cream cheese and fruit for refueling.

The weather for the race was pretty good, at least in the Richmond, VA leg of the race -- 55° and 98% humidity, overcast but not raining, and a very light, cooling breeze. One of the nice things about a virtual race is that even if you're late for the start, all of the assigned race crew are still in place, the spectators stick around, and the refueling food never runs out -- and you can still run. Good thing, too, because I was late! My heat was schedule to start at 6:30 but I didn't make it to the starting line until 7:30. No problem except that I had to run by myself. Traffic control was good as drivers obeyed the virtual police and either moved to the left side of their lane or completely over to the left-hand lane.

I ran well, though not a PR. My time was 47:27 -- here are my splits:

1.0 x 8:15
1.0 x 7:33
1.0 x 7:18
1.0 x 7:12
1.0 x 7:47
1.0 x 7:44
0.2 x 1:38

Another perk of this race? It's not to late to sign up and run. Do 6.2 miles and post your time and blog link on Nancy's blog (when she starts putting the race reports up) -- you might also want to join Runner's Lounge and the 10K on the 10th group and post your results there.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Ukrop's Monument Ave 10K, Richmond

The Richmond 10K is history. The temperature at the start was about 61° with a very light mist. Some 31,000 people were registered but a lot of folks didn't show.

I didn't hit my target time but wasn't too far off. Considering the crowd, I'm not bummed. I had hoped for a sub-45:00 but my time was 45:43.18 -- a 7:22 mpm pace. That was enough to finish somewhere in the top 600-700 or so overall (so far, I have only seen the top 500), 32nd out of 830 finishers in my age group (50-54), 9th out of 64 53 year olds.

I'm really proud of my wife. She participated and finished well -- her first race and she finished in 1:20:56, #390 out of 1115 finishers in her age group. After I finished, I wound my way out of the finish area, ran about 2.5 miles of the course to try to catch her wave, then moved to the median (out and back course) to try to find her on the return leg. We walked and finished the last @3 miles together. It's the farthest she's ever run/walked. And, she had to run in a lot more rain than I did.

A huge THANK YOU to our daughter who stood in the mist and rain and cheered us on.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Ukrop's 10K played host to the USA 10k Men's National Championship Race. It was pretty neat to watch these elite runners start the race. As my wave hit mile 1, the leaders passed us on their way to the finish. Abdirahman and Browne were in the lead and it looked like it could be a good finish. Richmond's WTVR online news reported the results this way:

Abdirahman Wins Ukrop's Monument 10K Race

Abdi Abdirahman showed Richmond his strength as a world-class distance runner, winning the 9th annual Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k in 28:34, about 27 seconds short of record pace, and defending his men's 10k national championship at the same time.

Abdirahman, a Somalia native who now lives in Tucson, AZ, nosed out second-place finisher Dan Browne, from Beaverton, OR. Browne, who was stationed at Fort Lee in 1997 and 2006, finished 4 seconds behind Abdirahman at 28:38. Fasil Bizuneh from Massachusetts finished third at 29:04.

It will be nice not to be tied to a training plan for a couple of weeks. I get to simply run. Then, it will be time to start getting ready for a late August half marathon.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

MLK Day

Monday is Martin Luther King Day. CNN did a special on him this morning. This Last Word clip is a portion of that report. He was a great man in many ways. What courage! He didn't sit in a mansion or a fancy hotel room and direct demonstrations, he was right there, marching in the front. He continues to be an inspiration to many. Despite his strong insistence on non-violence, even he couldn't prevent individuals in his movement from committing violent acts -- CNN commented on the fact that some youth broke storefront windows in Memphis even though King had called for passive resistance. Those kinds of independent actions undercut the power of a movement (in case anyone is unclear, I'm thinking of the current situation in Kenya).

Before King's I have a dream.... speech, he counseled with his advisors until the early morning hours. Then, CNN reported that he told them he was going to his room to counsel with the Lord. When he gave the speech, it was not what the human advisors had agreed on. I trust King's final authority.

One of the best lines in the speech is this (IMHO):

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

That's worth remembering as each of us makes a decision about who to vote for in the primaries, caucuses, and the November election. Character is not the only consideration for a President -- he or she does need to understand the Constitution, be able to make decisions, know how to enlist advisors, have leadership qualities, etc. -- but character is the foundation for all of that.

I'm not sure if this will be a repeat of what I saw this morning, but looks like it will be good. (From the Student News section of CNN.com):

Set your VCR to record the CNN Special Investigations Unit Classroom Edition: MLK Papers -- Words That Changed a Nation when it airs commercial-free on Monday, January 21, 2008, from 4:00 -- 5:00 a.m. ET on CNN. (A short feature begins at 4:00 a.m. and precedes the program.)

Well, let me toss in a running-related comment. Isn't running strange? Today was my 3rd day in a row -- 6th day out of 7. I should have been more tired today. In addition, I was planning to run longer than any other day. Yet, though I ran almost 9 miles at a faster pace than any other day (7:58 mpm), overall, it was the best and easiest run of the week. Miles 3 and 4 were pretty tough but the others weren't. Go figure!?! I hope your run was good today.

Run well, y'all,
Bob
Richmond