Assorted 5K Foot Races, 1997
Laramie, WY
August-November, 1997
I'm just the latest in a long lineage of weekend warriors who feel they've found salvation in cross-training. My first love in exercise and competition has always been and will always be cycling. A couple of years ago I started doing a circuit training/weight lifting class through UW, and found significant strength and conditioning gains. For instance, hike-a-bike sections are now a strength for me instead of a liability. Now, I've taken up running -- something I swore I'd never do. I only started because of a couple of duathlons I wanted to participate in and found that I loved it. It's a great workout in a relatively short amount of time and I've trimmed off almost 10 pounds adding it to my exercise regimen. I've even bought a few issues of "Runner's World", and fantasize about running a marathon. So far, I've only run a handful of 5 K's, and had a lot of fun doing so.
Ivinson Memorial Hospital 5K Run
My first stand-alone 5K (I'd done two duathlons that had 5K runs sandwiched around a bike ride). A flat course which was largely out and back. Not being terribly experienced in matters of the foot, I took off much too fast. I was quite impressed with myself for the first mile of the race, a bit concerned during the second mile, and nauseated the third mile. My goal had been to break 23 minutes and I managed that, staggering across the line in 21:39. Pretty fun for my first outing.
Cowboy 5K
A staple of the running scene in Laramie for years, I intended to make this effort more intelligent than my last. I had picked out a silver-haired gentleman from the previous race who had steamed past me at the midway point of the previous race. I lined up immediately behind him and stayed on his tail the entire way. Unfortunately, the organizers had us funnel though a narrow gate just 100 yards after the start on a soccer field. This bottleneck was a real pain and cost some time. The UW wrestling team was running, so there were an inordinate number of rather large young men galloping alongside. I stayed with my man and he really picked it up during the last mile and we passed a large number of people. I really had to concentrate to stay close. I know I ran as fast as I could on that day and crossed the line at 20:23. I did not imagine that I would have gone that fast, and now I have my mind set on breaking the 20 minute barrier.
Albany County Library 5K
A cold windy race with a bit of a hill -- I wasn't sure that I should do it, but I was certainly glad I did afterwards. There were none of the local running hotshots to be found at this race. Many of them had traveled to Lander to run in a race that was to benefit Amy Wroe Bechtel, a former UW running star who disappeared a few months back. There were only about 60 people on the line when the gun sounded and after a half mile, I knew I would finish no worse than sixth overall. I picked off one guy on the hill at about 1.5 miles, and got the next guy at about 2.5 miles on a sandy dirt road. I kept an even distance on the runners in positions 2 and 3 for the last couple miles of the race -- if I had only known I would have stayed with them at the beginning. I suspect they would have beat me anyway, but it would have been fun. I crossed the line at 21:40, quite a bit slower than I had done a few weeks earlier, but I hadn't trained as much, there was a wind, a hill, and my pacing guy wasn't around. I ended up winning the 30-40 year old division -- two of the guys in front were under 30 and one of the guys was over 40. I'll take it anyway I can get it.
Another race held to benefit the effort to recover Amy Wroe Bechtel. It was organized largely by her sister and there was an excellent turnout, particularly considering the subfreezing temperatures, the 20 mph wind, and the exposed location. After standing around and freezing our tails off, we started off through the prairie on washed out dirt roads. I run on those trails for my training and enjoy the varied terrain. After warming up, I felt like I was running okay and ended up finishing 10th overall. My time was around 24:30, but Iım pretty sure it was a bit over 5K, and considering the conditions it felt good.
Turkey Trot 5K
Another cold, blustery day for a run (but then, that's not unusual in Laramie, is it?). My pacer was running this day and I toed the line next to him. I stayed on his tail for the first half of the race and then lost it and struggled home in about 21:30. Over the first mile we had been running with a high school girl and her shoe came untied. She eventually stopped to tie it and I naively thought that I wouldn't see her again. About a half mile from the finish, she came pounding around me and as much as I wanted too, I couldn't stay with her. After she was done, she went back on the course and ran in with her dad, then went back out and ran in with her mom! I hope my daughter does that for me in 10 years.
I was going to do the Jingle Bell Jaunt, but it snowed 18 inches 5 days earlier and it hadn't melted off. Furthermore, I went telemarking at Steamboat in that 15 inches just a few days earlier and my thighs hurt so bad I could hardly walk, let alone run...
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