Beat the Heat 5k Race Recap 7.17.10

Last night, I was in Winston Salem at Wake Forest University for the Beat the Heat 5k. Rain was the main concern on everyone's mind.

The rain started falling on me as I was leaving Charlotte and pretty much rained all the way to Winston Salem. Even when Caitlin and I were out for our warm up there were still light sprinkles.

As race time neared, there was plenty of cloud cover keeping the sun away but with the humidity at near 100%. There wasn't much work needed to work up a good sweat.

Race time was 7pm and everyone was already gathering by 6:50. With a field at close to 600 runners squeezed into a small area, it was tight start and made even hotter with everyone bunched in together.

Following a few last minute instructions and the gun sounded. There was plenty of pushing and elbowing during the first mile. I caught a couple of shots in the ribs which didn't make me any too happy. And, believe it or not I returned the favor to make some room for myself and to protect my ribs. They certainly didn't like it.

We charged up the first hill and Caitlin was running a few yards in front of me. I made a small push to join her around a mile. But I was struggling and my breathing was really labored. My ribs were hurting and I was taking shallow breathes to minimize pain. I think we were about 5:21 for the mile. Caitlin then opened up a gap on me. Clearly, it is very easy to see why she is running so well. She looked smooth and relaxed with each stride.

Mile 2 had a nice downhill before turning up hill again. By the time reached top, Caitlin had a good gap on me. My brain, my ribs, and my legs were all telling me it was time to stop. Mile 2 was covered in 11:20.

Mile 3 had some flat and downhill which I actually think made things worse for my ribs. The jointing of each foot strike sent ripples of force up through my ribs. Sometime, you have to grin and bear it.

Crossing the finish line my time was 17:52. I was disappointed in the time, but what can I say. I don't like making excuses even if I have a good reason.

Caitlin, Billy Shue and I did the course backwards for a nice little 3 mile cool down. Billy was running polo shirt and dress shorts. I give him credit for joining us because it was hot.

Bobby Mack certainly made it look easy. He finished in just over 14 minutes.

John Hinton and Ulf made things look fast for the masters group with 16 minute times. Somehow, I need to find my way back to those times again.

The Beat the Heat race uses a different awards system which is age graded. I think more races should take a peek at this system. Giving more people a shot at finishing well up in the standings is what we all strive for. By the way, it didn't help me much, but I did get a mug for my efforts. I was a little embarrassed to accept it.

One area where this race really excels is in the post race perks. Even with 600+ runners, there were plenty of subs and pizza, water, soft drinks, energy water, and beer for those who like it.

The race shirt was Cool Max Running T with a small logo on the right chest area.

Honestly, other than the tight starting area and maybe the chip timing, I didn't see anything wrong with this race. They do an excellent job.

One point about the chip timing, they didn't use chips but the results and awards came out in a timely matter. So I give them major kudos for their speedy efforts.

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner.