Dallas Running Club Half Marathon and 5K

I ran in the Dallas Running Club Half Marathon and 5K on November 7, 2010 at Norbuck Park in White Rock Lake. This is probably the biggest DRC event during the year. Just to show you how big it is, the DRC used 21 school busses to transport runners from the White Rock and Mockingbird DART rail stations to the race site. The event benefited the Tal Morrison Scholarship fund (TMSF) which provides annual scholarships to seniors in Dallas public high schools who participate in their schools cross country team. There were a ton of sponsors at this race, including Briefing (a division of Dallas Morning News) Sewell Subaru, Muscle Milk, Run-On!, Gordon Biersch Brewing, Cliff Bar, Koala Health and Wellness, New Balance, Community Coffee, Jason's Deli, and many more. Each runner was given a voucher for some post-race food, but I can't remember who sponsored it.

I arrived before 6:00 AM at the race site parking. I was very thankful Linda Wills, the Race Director, who saved me a parking spot since I was volunteering as well as running in the 5k race. I sat in my car for a while to stay warm; it was below 40 degrees that morning. Later, I went to the volunteer tent, received a free technical shirt, and started taking pictures of volunteers and runners picking up their bib #. I also took some pictures of sponsor setting up with all of their give-away items which they gave out to runners before and after the races.

The half marathon, which is a 13.1 mile race, started at 8:00AM, so I went over to watch the start but left my camera because the 5k started at 8:20. The music was rocking and Gregg Hall, president of the DRC, started both races. Most of the runners signed up for the half marathon, one of the longest running half marathons in the country. In total, there were 2,937 runners in the half marathon, and 325 in the 5K. Most of the people participating in the half marathon will be at the December 5th Metro PCS Dallas White Rock Marathon, and use this race as a warm up for the marathon. The winner of the half marathon was Kiprotich Kirvi of Kenya who finished in a time of 1 hour 4 minutes, 38 seconds. He won $800.00 in prize money for first place.

After the half started, I tried to warm up like I usually do. Unfortunately no one was allowed to pass the starting line, so I tried to run back in between the crowd which was starting to line up for 5k. I started this race a little colder than usual, and not completely loose. I lined up on the first row to start the race. Gregg Hall started us up one last time saying that "we are the Dallas Running Club and today we run". I am going to miss him at the start of next year's DRC races since a new DRC president, Peggy Munroe, will be taking over. Peggy has been the treasury for several years and has done a great job, as all members of DRC volunteer board do a great job.

I raced with the same strategy I had last week. I wanted to start fast and keep it up all the way to the finish line. I took off as fast as I could. After a straight away there came a left turn up hill. I slowed down to a trot and many runners passed me by. When I finally got back to even pavement I picked up my pace again. There was a person at each mile marker telling everyone their time. When I came to the 1 mile marker, my time was 8:55. That was faster than normal, even though I had to stop to re-tie one of my shoes. I was happy with the time.

I kept running as fast as I could came to the turn-around then made my way to the 2 mile marker, where my time was 17.50. Again, I was happy with my time. With 1.1 mile to go I gave it all I had, but my feet hurt at this point. Every month, the top 3 finishers of the DRC race of the month are printed in the Inside Texas Running newsletter. I've been in the DRC for about a year, but I've never been in the newsletter. With most of the faster runners in my age division running the half marathon, I knew that this was my chance to get into the top 3. With that in mind, I was motivated to keep me running with the heart of a champion. If you want something, you have to work hard for it. Just go for it.

I had already ran this course in another race, so I knew that as I came up to it that I was at the final turn. There was a huge crowd waiting to cheer everyone on, which helped inspire me in my final kick to the finish line. Before I crossed, I glanced at the finishing time and saw that it was at 27:35. I wasn't sure if I finished in the top 3, but now I had run my fastest race in months. I was very happy with my time.

I went to my car and iced my feet and drank my after race drinks. To my amazement I found my name on the list of finishers of the 5k and I had finished 3rd place in my age group. I was so very excited. At this point, it was time for me to handle my duties as a volunteer. My assignment was to give out DRC half medals for finishers of the half marathon. There were many of us doing this since many runners came finishing at the same time. I also had my camera and was taking pictures which you should be able to see on the DRC Flickr website soon (I just sent off the discs today).

You can see the final results on the DRC website here. My line in male 55 to 59: Place Bib # Men Overall Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace/mile 3/8 5266 48/122 73/325 27:35:00 27:35:00 8:53/m I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com