For my next race, I chose the 21st annual Susan G. Komen North Texas Race for the Cure on Saturday, June 11 2011 in Plano TX. There were many sponsors giving out free samples and other things including HP, Krogers, Alcatel Lucent, CBS 11/21, Tom Thumb, Ericsson, and Balyor and Texas Health Hospital just to name a few. They were expecting over 10,000 entries in this large expanding area. You can see some pictures from the event on the website here. I arrived early, parked, then went over to the sponsor tents and found out where the finish line . Then I started my slow warm up jog for about 1 mile. The venue was so large that I got lost a few times and could not find where I had parked. Eventually, I found it, and got my camera so I could take some pictures. The temperature at 4:30 AM when I woke up was 80 degrees, and about 85 degrees when race started. The 2011 Honorary Plano Chair / Basketball Hall of Famer and Texas Legends Coach Nancy Lieberman was the Master of Ceremonies at the event. I heard that Channel 11 carried the race live starting at 7:30 AM. I wish I had known ahead of time so I could record it. This was a Run-On! race with awards going to gun time, not chip time like most races. This is the main reason why I like to get to the front of the line; I never know which one is used for awards. The total gun time finishers, including some survivors, were 607. The rest of the runners ran in the casual 5K for fun with family and friends to honor this wonderful cause. I wish some of them would join me on June 18, 2011 for Dadfest and / or September 10 for the Dash for Dad race. They are prostate cancer races that promote early screenings for men. I'd like to thank the North Texas Prostate Coalition website for posting a picture of me with 2 soldiers by their black hawk helicopter, taken at the American Heroes race on Memorial day. Wolfram the founder called me a hero like the two soldiers, but really I am just doing my small part to bring awareness of prostate cancer and that early screening could add years to your life. There was a long straight away with two corals of runners. One for competitive 5K runners that started about 8:00 AM, and one for the casual 5K which started about 5 minutes later. They also had family 1 mile fun run / walk and a kids 50 yard dash. After the race was the Survivor Celebration and walk to the stage. It was inspiring to be there, as tears flowed from everyone's eyes. One lady was a 51 year survivor! Now that should give everyone hope to live each day and enjoy doing our best. The horn sounded, and I took off at a sprint for a good start, then settled in my pace. Many runners passed me up, but I just focused on my race pace. There were over 7 water stops at the race., but I just kept running, not wanting to slow down. I wanted to try to finish under 25:00 to honor all of the beautiful survivors. This race started at one location and finished at a different location with no turnaround. I made it to the 1 mile in 7:40. I tried to keep my pace under 8:00 / mile. My two mile time was 15:38 (a 7:58 / mile pace). This is when fatigue started. It was hot, but my Run-On! 301 training class have been working to keep my endurance up, even in this heat. I was a little surprised when I arrived at 3 mile in 23:46 (a 8:07 / mile pace). I was close to a personal record, but I misjudged the finish line again and had to run further than I thought. I ran out of energy as I crossed the finish line. I always like to finish strong and proud knowing that I gave all I had to give. My final chip time was 24:59 and gun time 25:00. I checked the results, and I finished 4th place. The 1st place winner was from Oklahoma City. After the race was over, I found out that he was moved up to the Senior Master, which moved me up to 3rd place, and an award. I finished third out of 12 in my group, and 120 out of 607 overall with a 8:03 / mile pace. Place Bib # Men Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace 3/12 1509 103/295 120/607 24:59:00 25:00:00 8:03 / mile I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com |
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