9:00am: Rhythm & Run 5k
The day was warm and humid, and it was only going to get more so as the day wore on. I showed up in Kannapolis for a very abbreviated warm-up (I had to save my legs for the other races) and scouted the field for potential threats. I saw Dustin Branham in his conspicuous, red DART singlet and waved hello. Deep down, he and I were both thinking, "damn, I was hoping he wouldn't show up!" Dustin had only been getting faster, and he was in top form after recently running a 1:27 PR for half marathon. He and I noted a couple more fast looking high school runners before we saw Fam. Well, there went 1st place...
We three lined up for the start line in the front row, along with fellow Reckless Running Ambassador Julie Alsop, who had won the women's field at the race the past two years. The high school runners were there too, asking direct questions about our 5k PRs to size us up. Great... Since I teach in Kannapolis and had previewed the course the previous week, I shared the important details with Dustin and Fam: fast, downhill first half, then a steady uphill, 100 yards of grass surface through Village Park, a tunnel under the Loop Road, a couple of hairpin turns, an awfull uphill in the last mile, then flat for the last half mile. It was not an easy course, especially with the humidity.
At the start, Fam shot off to a predictable lead. Also ahead of me were High School runner 1, Dustin, and High School Runner 2, in that order. The first half mile was a good, open, flat stretch around the NC Research campus where I could nail down a sustainable pace. Dustin and the HS runners were going out fast, and I was not ready to start chasing anyone. Fam was way ahead. In fact, he had left the lead, Segway-driving officer in the dust! HS2 faded back to me in the first couple of minutes, and after his footfalls faded, he never returned.
Shortly after we crossed the Loop Road and hit the Baker's Creek Greenway about a mile into the race, Dustin passed HS1 and kept moving on. My first mile was a 5:52, which meant Dustin must have been in the mid 5:40s. That was fast, but a 5k isn't over until 3.1... The greenway was fast and flat, and I could see HS1 struggling to hold his pace, especially on the gradual uphill leading to the end of the greenway at Village Park. I passed HS1 with confidence on that climb and ran into Village Park with my gaze fixed on Dustin. I was getting closer, but we were now past the 2 mile mark and he still had a few seconds on me. Did he have enough left in him for a late race push?
I reeled Dustin in bit by bit on the grassy section before the tunnel. I knew he would hear my footfalls in the echoing tunnel, so I made my move there and passed him before the double-hairpin walkway leading up to the sidewalk on the Loop Road. I was now in 2nd place. I tried to ignore Dustin and dig in on the big hill and maybe open up some distance between us before the flat homestretch. It sucked, but it was over soon enough. With 1/2 mile left, I saw that I had a chance for a good finishing time, so I opened up my stride. The final turn gave way to a great straightaway, so I sprinted in for what was one of my top five 5k times, an 18:31. Dustin came in hot for an 18:46, which was not only a big PR, but the fulfillment of one of his recent goals of going sub-19. HS1 finished about 30 seconds after Dustin. Julie came in shortly after the 20 minute mark and won the women's race for the 3rd year in a row. Fam had been done for minutes by the time we had finished. DART had dominated with both overall wins and the top three spots on the men's side.
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| Fam (with Lil' Fam) in 1st, me in 2nd, and Dustin in 3rd, all winning cash money! |
7:00pm Moonlight 5k
The 5k at the Moonlight Drive-In race event is what RD Peter Asciutto woud call the flattest, fastest 5k course in Stanly County. The course profile was inviting, but the 80 degree temperatures with 100% humidity would add some challenge, especially considering I had raced a hard 5k 10 hours before. The field for this 5k was smaller and less stacked, and only a few of them were racing the half a couple hours later for the Double Feature award, but I was not going to sandbag any of these three races. After, if you're gonna be dumb, well, you gotta be tough.
Again, my warm-up was very short, just enough to shake out some of the gunk from the previous race. I greeted fellow DARTers Bobby and Nicole Aswell and Sarah Ferris. With very little ceremony, Peter lined us up, explained the simple course and gave us the go. I ran out to an early lead (after overtaking an overzealous 10-year-old) and focused only on pace. I could hear the footfalls of the 2nd place runner, but they were becoming more and more faint. I tried to maintain a 6:00-6:10 pace, but with the humidity and latent fatigue from the morning, it was taking quite a bit more effort than usual.
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| The start of the 5k. I developed an early lead after catching the blurry kid in front. |
When I reached the turnaround at the halfway point, I could tell I had nearly a minute lead on 2nd place, so I felt pretty safe. When I reached the second mile, he was nowhere in sight. I considered easing up the pace a little to save some gas for the half marathon, but that notion just didn't feel right. Besides, I was flirting with another sub-19 finish, so I couldn't in good conscience hold back.
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| After the turnaround in the 5k, I had a big lead. Photo courtesy of Bobby Aswell. |
I was going to be a close call for sub-19. Once I made the last turn, I had about 30 seconds left. The finish to this 5k was remarkably similar to last year's 5k. I poured on the gas to break the tape at 18:53, the same time to the second as last year. 2 of 3 races were in the books. I had a 2nd place finish and a 1st place finish, but with a half marathon left, I was not even halfway done, volume wise.
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| 1st place in the 5k. 2 races down, 1 big one left. |
9:00pm: Moonlight Half Marathon
Fellow DARTer and ultra runner Chad Randolph showed up to participate in the half, so I grabbed yet another short warm-up with him in the full dark before the race started. I could tell from those brief 10 minutes of easy running that the legs were tired, and I was not looking forward to this hilly half marathon with my usual pre-race enthusiasm. The temperature had cooled, but not by much, and the humidity was still high, making the air sticky and uncomfortable. The competition was also more fierce. I briefly met Michael, a younger runner who recognized my Reckless Running singlet because he had seen Fam train with App State students when he ran in college. Michael was far younger than me, and if he had run for his college, he would be formidable. Also present was Adam, a.k.a. Tall Man from last year's Moonlight Half.
I tried to shake the gunk out of my race-addled legs by jumping up and down at the start, but I knew I just wasn't going to feel loose again until we started running. I was tired, but I felt like I still had 13.1 miles left in me. After the go, Michael and Tall Adam shot off ahead in a mid-6s pace, while I settled in to a 6:50ish pace. My ultimate goal was to win the half again, and maybe beat last year's time, but I was not going to do that by challenging the leaders too early. Last year, I had let Adam and Rob get far ahead of me before I reeled them in. No matter what distance the race, from 5k to marathon+, I always try to have focus on the long game. Plus, my tired legs wouldn't have much of a fifth gear after the day's racing, so I needed to save it.
3rd position proved to be a relative no-man's land for the first few miles. I could see Adam's blinky light ahead, and Michael was not wearing one, so I only saw him when he was in view of Adam's headlamp. As far as I could tell, there was no one behind me for minutes. As we made our way into Morrow Mountain State Park, I caught up with Adam at the 4-mile mark. This was a lot earlier in the race than when I caught up to him last year, but the race was feeling longer to me already. I focused on the barely discernible outline of Michael ahead of me, but I couldn't help but notice that Adam's footfalls were never really fading away. He wasn't racing in my pocket like Benny the Belgian did at the Race for R.A.R.E., but he was close enough to be heard, so he was in my head.
The ceaseless, rolling hills became more and more pronounced as we neared Morrow Mountain, the capstone of this challenging course. After making the hairpin turn leading to the steepest part of the climb to the summit, I tried to convince myself, "this is the worst part...it'll be over soon, harden the f*** up!" The climb was awful, more so than I remembered, or perhaps I was just more tired. I could see Michael and hear Adam still, so there was incentive to keep pushing, but the summit just never seemed to get any closer.
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| The elevation profile for the Moonlight Half Marathon. Morrow Mountain looms like a giant middle finger flipping you off in defiance. |
After an eternity of climbing, I reached the top a few moments after Michael and turned around for the downward plunge. The pressure was on, and I couldn't let Michael or Adam gain too much ground. Soon, I was cranking out gravity-assisted 6:00 paces. I saw Chad near the bottom of the steep hill and he cheered me on. He had a solid hold on 4th place, and he eventually would finish in 4th. After rounding the hairpin, the mountain continued steadily down, giving back all of the altitude we had climbed leading up to it. Suddenly, Adam's footfalls grew louder--a sound so unwelcome it was almost deafening. My calves were aching from the bounding downhill, and I had given myself a side stitch from chasing Michael, so there was nothing I could do to respond when Adam passed me decisively. We were over 7 miles into the half marathon, and that's the first (and only) time someone passed me during all the day's races. I had more than 5 miles left to run on very hilly terrain, and anytime I tried to shift into a higher gear to pursue the two runners ahead, my body protested. I could maintain a low-7s pace, but that was all I had left. I felt bonked like the end of a marathon, so the only thing left to do was sustain the pain and bring it in for a 3rd place finish.
That's exactly what I did. The last three miles were utter crap. I maintained my pace, but every second was painful. I finished with a 1:31:58, which was only half a minute slower than my time the previous year, but it was still my slowest and most painful half in over three years. However, I did make the podium with all three of the day's races. In fact, it was a solo trifecta; I got a win, a place, and a show. Also, my combined 5k and half marathon times earned me a repeat win for the Moonlight Double Feature award. So despite the agony I was feeling, it was a good day. Long, but good.
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| Coming in for a 3rd place finish under the headlamp. Photo courtesy of Bobby Aswell. |
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| Me with Chad after the half. Chad got 4th. The trophy is the Double Feature 1st place award. |
Some lessons learned:
1) Racing a hard, hilly half marathon after two sub-19 5ks is not the best idea.
2) Don't ever believe you can't bonk during a half marathon, because you most certainly can!
3) After a hard evening of racing, the 75 minute drive home through the rain in the middle of the night is the worst part.
4) Being dumb and tough isn't all it's cracked up to be...or is it?
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