Too Hot to Handle 2010

On Sunday July 18, 2010 I ran in the Too Hot To Handle 2010 at Norbuck Park in White Rock Lake. There was a 5k and a 15k; needless to say, I signed up for the 5k. The event benefits the Protective Animal League (PAL), so I was happy to help support this wonderful cause. Last year, this race was voted by readers of Competitor magazine to have the "best swag" (swag = free stuff). They gave registered runners a sleeveless technical T-Shirt (attached is a picture of me wearing this shirt and posing with Dr.Fulgham from Presbyterian Hospital) and race hat as well as a bunch of other cool stuff. They had lots of great sponsors at the event and it was fun checking them all out. I arrived about 5:30 (yeah, in the morning) before the scheduled 7:30 race so that I could find a close parking place, and meet with Glen Zamora of Cure magazine who is working on an article about me for the September issue of the magazine. Glen took a few pictures while I got a massage, and he got a nice picture of me with the guy that started Dadfest, Lewis George. Glen then took a few pictures of me with Jerry Glover (of Jerry Glover photography) who always takes wonderful race pictures himself. Glen was nice enough to send me a couple of the pictures that he took, which I've attached to this email. Before the race, I did some stretching and warm up running to loosen up. I started out about 5 or 6 rows back from the front of the race, and then had to wait there since the race was delayed about 20 minutes. Everyone was standing around and sweating in the heat waiting for the 5k to begin. Finally we started the race, and I was off. Not far after the start of the race, there was a steep hill to climb which slowed me down quit a bit. When I got back to flat ground there was a trail next to the street and everyone began to run on the trail. I stayed on the street so that it would be easier to maneuver. This was the hottest day of the year so far, so I wasn't able to run as fast as usual. The heat and humidity really drained my energy. There was a water stop at the 1 mile marker. Since there was a turn around in the race, the same water stop also marked the 2 mile marker. After I got to the turn around, I came up to the 2 mile marker and the water stop, which was on the same side as the trail. I never stop for water since I drink enough before each race, so I was running through this area. At this point I was running on the trail, and suddenly without warning a lady came running across the trail from the street to the right of me, cutting a straight line to the water stop. We collided, and I fell down. I hurt my hand a bit, but it wasn't anything serious. After making sure that the lady was okay, I got back up and started running again. I tried to run a little faster to make up for the delay, but I didn't have a lot of energy in the tank. I ran the best I could and tried to make up a little time while we went down the steep hill from the beginning of the race. At this point, I knew that there was probably less than half mile to go. I passed the 3 mile marker and saw the finish line ahead of me. I ran as hard as I could, but this ended up being my slowest time since the first couple of months that I started running, back in October of 2009. My final time was 29:27:60. I finished 286 out of 1117 overall in the 5k race, which is still faster than 831 runners so I guess I should be happy about that. The heat really seems to have gotten to everyone. Now I know why they call this race "Too Hot To Handle". My final line male 55-59: Place Bib Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time 10/16 69 58 286/1117 29:27:60 29:29:00 The final results can be seen here. Here is the link to the photos taken by Jerry Glover (bib # 69).