RFYL 4 Miler 07.11.09 @ 22:49 10th OA
"Win with class and lose with grace" That is my quote to use for today. David Dye another local Masters runner showed up and bested me in the RFYL 4 Miler. David is from Matthews, NC. He and I hooked up during the OBX marathon last fall.
Going into the race, I didn't have high expectations but with the overcast skies, I was hoping for the best.
From the start, my legs didn't feel exceptionally good. This feeling was not helped as streams of people were going by me on the hill. Steve Spada appeared to be running well. I didn't catch up to him until we were ½ way up the hill. We both were looking ahead and Steve said that he thought a lot of runners would come back to us. Crossing the first mile in 5:51, it didn't look as if that many people were coming back.
In my blog profile of the race, I advised people to not push too hard down East Blvd. I wish I had followed my own advice, but I didn't. The 2nd mile was my fastest mile of the race. By this time, David and I were running together. We exchanged surges over the next couple of miles. Passing the 3rd mile, David gapped me on the steep downhill. I tried hard to make it up but couldn't. We covered the 3rd mile in 5:39 and the forth mile in 5:29. I passed Mike B. pushing his young daughter and he kept yelling "open it up". Unfortunately, I was already running wide open. David was running strong and maintained his lead all the way to the finish.
Only after the race did I realize that Mark Cox had come up to pass Steve and was closing on me. He has been running really well. I will probably be chasing him before the end of year.
All things considering, I came away from the race happy and with no more races until Blue Points 5k in August, I can just focus on running, biking, and swimming.
Life can be good. :)
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