Race Report - Celebrate America 2008 version

I wanted to put up some pictures and a race report from my Memorial Day race. Monday morning I ran the Celebrate America 10k in Alpharetta, GA. I had been holding off putting up a report until the official results were posted but I have decided to just update the post when they are. This race represented a great measuring stick for me for many reasons. This is the first time I have run the same race for a second year – although last year I ran the 5k version. This is also the exact same course that I ran my 10k on in early March, right before I really ramped up my training efforts.

This was my first race since I started my fundraising efforts so here I am posing in my yellow Diabetes Action Team race shirt. This picture is actually in my back yard after my long run on Saturday. Knowing I had a race on Monday I forced myself to take my 9 mile run very slowly and my 1hr20min time for that run felt like a crawl – good thing since that is the exact pace I want to run my marathon at…


The other really neat thing about this race is that it is the first time I have successfully guilted, I mean, talked my wife into attending a race and she dragged the kids along to boot. That was great! The race was scheduled to start at 7:30am so we got there about 6:45. I went and signed in, got my number, 232, and my T-shirt, then went back to the van where everyone was waiting. We then got out and took the picture below of me with my personal cheering crew. When we finished it was about 7:05. Jamie went back to the van while I went for a warm-up run. I jogged just over a mile at something like 12 minute pace that felt like not much more than a shuffle but it got the blood flowing. At 7:20 I returned to the van and dragged everyone to the starting line.


Here is the field lined up to start. Can you pick me out? Remember, I’m in yellow, I’m looking generally in the direction of the camera, and your best clue is that I’m the good-looking one. I would guess there was 400-500 runners there but this was a mixture of 5k and 10k runners. The course is a 5k loop that you run twice for the longer distance. I lined up a bit further back than I should have, like I always tend to do, but it is kind of nice to spend the first mile passing dozens of people even if it does slow you down.


So for a general description of the course you should know that the first mile is slightly uphill but at a low gradient the whole way. As you start mile two you immediately drop down a good hill for a quarter mile and then run close to level the rest of that mile. The third mile in the loop starts with about .4 mile hill that is the largest on the course and then drops back to close to the same elevation by the end of the mile – net a wash but with a big hump in the middle. For the final .1 miles you climb up a little hill into the parking lot and like I said, for the 10k, you repeat the loop.

Mile 1 – The start was delayed slightly as the run organizers realized that a policeman’s motorcycle was blocking some runners and we had to wait for him to move it. As I crossed the starting line I tried to look to the curb and find my wife and kids for a final wave but I never did see them through the crowd. Apparently they saw me though because Mischa let out a "Go Daddy" that I heard clear as day. What a lift it gave me! My pace was a bit faster than I had planned especially considering the crowds I had to weave through but I didn’t feel like I was pushing it and I wasn’t winded. It was my first clue that my race was going to go well. – 7:21

Mile 2 – I cruised down the hill with long strides. The crowds were thinner now and most of the passing was done as people set into their groups. Not wanting to burn out I tried to pull back on the reigns a bit. I felt I was in a comfortable zone and I was feeling good. I passed the first water station as it was clogged with a large group of people who obviously went out much faster than they should have and were now standing at the water table instead of running past. For some odd reason the volunteers weren’t handing out cups either, letting the runners grab their own off the table. – 7:22

Mile 3 – Holy Cow, was my watch reading right? How is it that I pulled back but ran almost the same pace? As I pondered race strategy for a couple hundred yards I failed to focus on the big hill I was hitting. I finally came back to awareness I pushed into the hill knowing I could coast down the far side to regain my breath on the long downhill. Still feeling strong through this mile I remembered the struggles I had at this point last year. If you remember the famed pinched butt post and my need for a port-a-pottie, you know what I’m talking about. – 7:42

Mile 4 – As I rounded the corner into the parking lot I noted the clock for the runners finishing their 5k. Had I been in that group I would have crossed in the range of 23:10 even without a kick. That was 41 seconds faster than my 5k personal record (PR)! Was I going to die on this second lap? Just before the finish line for the 5k the 10k runners turned back out of the parking lot to start the second lap. There waiting on the corner was Jamie and the kids. They screamed and cheered and I blew them a kiss (right before the picture below was snapped) grabbed a cup of water from a volunteer and then headed back up that long slow climb again. – 8:09


Mile 5 – Crud, I just ran a mile split over 8 minutes. My goal for this race was to run sub-50 minutes and I knew that to pull that off I needed to run 8:02 per mile or better and although I had built up a bit of a buffer in those first 3 miles I could easily burn through it if I died off. Knowing I had that hill in mile 6 to climb I pushed into this downhill/flat mile. My breathing quickened a stride here but still not overly labored. I did hit the water station this time but this time there was no other runners there as I went by. I was feeling strong but would I have enough for that last hill? – 7:52

Mile 6 – With that number my confidence began to build. I knew that no matter what this hill threw at me there was no-way I was going to run a 9:20 mile and blow it. I pushed hard into the hill. A high school kid had stopped and was walking up the hill. I yelled out to him as I approached and told him to push it and I would pull him up the hill. As I went by I heard him start to run and I heard him on my hip all the way to the top. Amazingly it felt like he was pushing me, not as I had promised him… He fell back as I strided out when we crested and started our decent. I didn’t see him at the finish but he couldn’t have been too far back. – 8:15

Last .2 Miles – Crud, I thought my kick down that hill would get me sub 8 for sure but I guess that hill took more out of me than I thought. I really pushed into it with everything I had. I rounded the corner into the parking lot and my first glimpse of the clock said 47 something. Are you kidding me? I had done the math but it didn’t sink in until I saw it on the official clock. There was Jamie and the kids cheering me again. I think Caleb looked up from his DS to acknowledge me but I know the other kids were waving. I hit my watch as I crossed under the clock, 48:12 unofficial time – 1:29 for that last .2 miles. That is an average pace of roughly 7:47 per mile.

Did I expect to go sub 50, yes, did I think I would be this far under 50, no way! With that I qualify for group 1A at Peachtree next year where this year I’m in 1B. If you understood that sentence you are a runner, if not, don’t worry about it… I broke my 10k PR by 3 minutes and 31 seconds! What a great feeling! Vindication for all of my miles the last few months, not to mention the last few years! I eventually made my way back to Jamie. She will tell you that after I run, for some unknown reason, I talk like a 13 year old girl! You can’t shut me up. The harder or faster or longer I run, the more I talk! Maybe that is why I blog so much about running and they are always my longer posts… who knows?

I will put up my official results including place, field size, and all that jazz once the race organizers put it up. Until then, all I know is that I think I was 98th overall for the 10k based on the number on the finish line card I had to complete and I’m guessing I was 5th or 6th for my age/sex based on the number of cards in the box already when I turned mine in. Lets see how close my estimates are…