08 Running of the green
I have officially made a splash on the Rochester running scene. Saturday, 3-15-08, I raced Johnny's Runnin' of the Green, five mile road race.
The race itself, could not have been more stereotypical of my style. Heck, I even raced the same way in the 800 I ran last weekend. I started conservatively and finished hard.
The race began with a semi-steep up-hill, followed by a long gradual up-hill. Adding sting to the start, a sharp headwind rebuffed us as we set out for the University of Rochester from downtown. Jeff Beck and Mark Andrews, well-known local runners, took the early lead and left me in third. Ryan Pauling and Dave Bradshaw paced alongside me.
I didn't wait long to tuck in behind Ryan for the draft. Up ahead I saw Jeff drafting off Mark. I worried that Jeff would be able to conserve enough energy to give me a fight when I later went for the lead.
I split the first mile right around five flat and told Ryan to draft off me as I took the lead of our little group. Normally I'm not so courteous when $500 is on the line, but I felt like shoring up team solidarity; Ryan is also a Genesee Valley Harrier.
I continued to act patient, but I never lost track of the leaders. Mark and Andrew passed a road sign and I started counting. Seventeen seconds later I passed the road sign. Repeatedly, I gaged their distance in this manner, letting out the fishing line, but never releasing the pole.
Ryan and I took one more cycle of turns drafting and soon we reached the half-way point, a system-shocking 180 degree turn. I accelerated back up to speed and then hit the gas pedal. It was time to catch the leaders.
The rest of the racers passed me on the opposite side of the road as I headed downtown. Many shouted words of encouragement and a surprising number cheered me by name (dear god, I need to get better with names (and faces)). Running is a sport that requires comfort with solitude and an inner, lonely power, but a supportive crowd sure does help. I inched up on Jeff Beck as Mark Andrews began to put a gap on him.
Catching Jeff was like watching the moon move. It didn't look like it moved at all, until suddenly, it had. I caught Jeff before the four mile mark and went right on past towards Mark. I was moving fast. All that headwind had become wind in my sails, and I added every ounce of energy I had to it. I certainly had doubts about catching Mark. I was locked into pace. If he had accelerated at that point, nearly four miles in, I wouldn't have responded. Just after the fourth mile mark, however, I knew that I had him. I could finally see my progress and this spurred me on faster. The speed at which I would pass him would be mentally devastating. I would let it speak for me, I'm not slowing down.
I caught him and passed, and moved away. Much of the last mile was spent fighting the urge to settle. With a downhill and the wind at my back I was flying and it was hard to imagine that the pace wouldn't be enough. I reminded myself, he's got the same wind and downhill that I've got. At the top of the steeper hill to the finish I kicked into high gear and secured the win. Good thing to, he finished only five seconds behind me.
After the race a few reporters rushed me, which I egotistically enjoyed, but also found very strange because I haven't had this sort of attention since I won Nationals and the two races aren't even in the same galaxy of significance. Determined to give a much better interview than I gave to CBS in 2005 (which I am semi-thankful was never aired), I tried to clear my head and answer their questions as best I could. I think I still sound inane on paper, though you can decide for yourself since they quoted me verbatim a surprisingly large number of times here: MPNnow and here: Democrat and Chronicle. I mean, thanks, I guess. Obviously conversational English from someone who just ran really fast and fairly long is going to be a bit broken. Oh well, I guess I'll have to try even harder next time.
Jeff Beck finished third, which is phenomenal when he placed second at the Snowshoe National Championships only the week before.
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