Westy Spring Tune-Up 5K

April 10th, 1999

Sheri, Mark Oveson, Don Ford, George Bell, Steve, Sue Bennett, and I ran the race. Chet Thompson was there to warm us up and cheer us on at the two mile mark. Since I hadn't been doing any speed work, I was hoping to be around 20 minutes. The conditions were very windy and the course has a number of small hills on it. Don Ford had run 19:30 at Carlsbad and wanted to go out in 6:30. That sounded just right to me and I was planning to pace off him.

At the gun Sheri and Mark, both shooting for around 19:30 in these conditions, separated from Don, George, Steve, and myself. Sue was further back and I couldn't monitor how she did, though apparently she ran well for two miles and then got a bad side cramp. George, who has a very fast natural pace, was going to pace off me because he didn't have much race experience. Mark and Sheri went through the first mile at 6:23. The four of us, with Steve leading most of the first mile, went through in 6:48. "Damn," said Don and immediately took over the pacing of our group. After only a minute or two I took over the pacing and quickly opened up a gap on Don and Steve with George coming along with me, but gradually falling back.

I could see Sheri and Mark the whole way. They were running with a short woman with a long braid. This group went through two miles in 13:23, dropping off to a 7:00/mile pace. I went through the two mile mark at 13:34 (6:46 second mile). Everyone seemed to consider this mile too long and my third mile split will add some evidence to this thought. I could see Sheri falling back to third place in her group and I started to worry about her. She had been sick lately, but what I didn't realize is that she was having an Achilles problem. At about 2.3 miles, I could see Sheri take over the lead of her group and with Mark they started opening a gap on the Miss Braid. Also at this point I realized that I was closer now than I was at the end of the first mile. "I might be able to catch them," I thought.

I slowly closed on them and caught and passed Braid on a small hill. Mark and Sheri had no idea I was coming for them. On the final straight away leading to the track finish, I caught Mark who had fallen off Sheri's pace. He was beaten and resigned to finishing behind Sheri. When I passed I tried to go by with authority. The message to him was "You don't want anything to do with this pace. Just coast in and you'll be fine." Of course his competitive nature wouldn't allow that and he immediately got right behind me. I knew he had a savage kick and was concerned about the finish, but for now I needed to run down Sheri.

On the final hill into the track I closed to within a few seconds of Sheri. Once we hit the track we had only 250 meters to go. I immediately went to the inside and closed the gap on Sheri. I wanted to make sure Mark stayed behind me at least into the curve. Passing on the curve would be difficult for him and if he tried it I could force him even wider by passing Sheri at the same time. Halfway through the curve with 100 meters to go, I got nervous waiting for Mark's kick. I wanted to start my final kick while Mark was still behind me. I bolted and sprinted around Sheri. Arms and legs flailing, my head bouncing up and down so much that the track blurred before me. I was running scared and absolutely all out. I didn't look back but drove for the tape.

I was able to hold off Mark, barely, and we all finished within a few seconds of each other. I finished in 20:08 and ran the third mile in about 5:56. That final split indicates the second mile must have been mismarked, but there is no question that I ran negative splits. I averaged exactly 6:30/mile.

Sheri finished as the second woman to Laura Bruce (19:11). I was 4th in my age group (30-39) and around 10th place overall, I think. Don came back to take Steve and George and run 20:5?. Don got 2nd in his age group (40-49), I think. Steve must have been first in his age group (50-59) and passed George in the final 200 meters. George finished in 21:08.

Mark was disappointed by his time and clearly had a bad race. So did Sheri and her Achilles is still bothering her. Hopefully that will not nag her for long as we start BB training immediately.