Help The Homeless 5K

On Saturday November 12, 2011, I ran in the Help the Homeless Run and Walk 5K at Fair Park in Dallas, TX. Honoring Dallas Homeless Veterans, the proceeds of this event benefitted The Bridge, and Back on My Feet. The Program Director for Back on My Feet, Lea Velez, led the stretching before race aided by a large number of homeless runners and walkers from the organization and their Run-On! training partners. Race registration started at 2:00 PM, at the race started at 3:30 PM which is later than usual for these types of races. As it turns out, there was an Alzheimer's walk at the same location in the morning. There was a huge amount of sponsor support for this event, including: Orix Foundation, Walmart, Baylor, Fannie Mae, Marianne and Roger Staubach, Run-On!, 103.7 Lite FM, My Fit Foods, Cliff Bars, Poweraide, Community Coffee, and more. The fun walk started at 4:30 PM, and there was live music from a band called Emerald City afterwords. I arrived early, and took my 1 mile slow warm up jog, then took a picture with 103.7 radio and talked to the Run-On! crew. I lined up on the first row along side a few homeless runners to start the race. I took off fast, and after about half a mile I was running at a 7:07 pace. I told myself to  slow down, there was still a long way to go. We started inside of Fair Park, then went on the street outside park, eventually running back into park to the finish line. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch at 25:07. I later checked the posted race results and it showed that I had finished in 23:31. That seemed way too fast. I asked other runners and they said their times were fast too. I spoke to the Run-On! race timer and he found and corrected the times, and listed them on the websites final results. I knew I didn't run that fast. I only want the results that I earn from my Run-On! training and my own effort. Everyone seemed to have a great time at the race. There was dancing, music, food, and all that good stuff. There were only 157 chip timed finishers but many hundred more ran and walked without the chip. It cost $5.00 more if you wanted to have chip timed, and many opted to run without it.  I finished 1st place in this, my last race in the 55-59 age division and 17th out of 157. My final time 25:06 at 8:06 / mile pace.  Place   Bib #    Men       Overall    Chip Time     Pace 1/4     364     15/71    17/157     25:06        8:06 / M I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com

The DRC Half Marathon

On sunday, November 6, 2011 I ran in my second half marathon race, the DRC Half at Norbuck Park in White Rock Lake, Dallas, TX. The event benefitted the Tal Morrison Scholarship Fund, and there were many sponsors, including: DRC, Run-On!, New Balance, ESP, Cliff Bar, Muscle Milk, Powerade, and many more. The first 3,500 registered runners received a long sleeve technical shirt; yellow for the men and pink for the women. I volunteered at the Dallas Run-On! store for the first morning of packet pickup, and noticed that there were more runners that registered without getting the shirt. They gave away cash prizes for the top half marathon finishers, totaling $5,000.00. DISD (Dallas Independent School District) had a shuttle service for runners that used DART (Dallas public transportation). At 7:30 AM there was a early marathon start for those that planned on finishing the race in over 3 hours and 15 minutes. The half officially started at at 8:00 and the 5K started at 8:20. There was a large food tent and the Beer Garden opened at 10:00. Looking around, I was proud to see that there was a large turnout of Run-On! runners and volunteers at the event.  Since there was no parking at Norbuck Park, I arrived early and parked across the street at Flagpole Hill. I volunteered to take some pictures for DRC, and wanted to do a good job. I took some pics before I ran my half then had to go back to my truck to get the camera again after the race (since I didn't want to run with it). Usually I like to start at the front, close to the starting line, but for this race everyone was told to line up according to pace group. I got behind the 1:50 / mile pace group which I knew was too fast for me, but I didn't want to start too far behind in such a large crowd of runners. The humidity was high, and there were tons of hills which slowed down most of the runners around me. Thanks to Run-On! Training Coordinator Jennifer Kimble, I had a good plan on how to run this race course. The first 3.5 miles were mostly flat, then there were many hills. I trained with my Run-On! coaches and 10:30 pace members to take these hills a bit more effectively. I was running at a comfortable pace, but every time I came to a hill, my pace started to slow down. The final 3 miles of the race was back to the White Rock Lake trail and then back to the finish line at Norbuck Park. It was mostly flat course but I had exhausted a lot of energy making it over those hills. At about 2 miles left, many runners started to pass me up. In a shorter race, I like to save some energy for the last mile or so but my legs just didn't want to run any faster. I just tried to keep the pace I had, and finish the race. I wanted to finish under 2 hours. Back at Norbuck Park I passed the 13 mile marker, and gave what I had left. When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 2:00:04. I was a little disappointed that I had missed my goal by 4 seconds. Theresa, who I train with at Run-On!, said that since I started further back, behind the pace group, I should have finished under 2 hours. Later, I checked the results and found that I had finished in 1:59:30. Looks like I just made it. This was by far my most challenging race so far. I would like to thank USMD Prostate Cancer Center and everyone who has encouraged me at my Run-On! training. My next half is the Dallas White Rock Half on December 4, 2011. I received my DRC 35 Anniversary Commemorative medal for finishing this half. Place     Bib #       Overall      Chip Time    Pace                25/82     1633      880/2716      1:59:30     9:10 / m I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com

Double Trouble 5K and 10K

My race on Saturday, October 22 was the Lake Grapevine Runners and Walkers (LGRAW) Double Trouble 5K and 10K near Oak Grove Park in Grapevine, TX.  The 5K started at 8:00 AM and then after a short rest, the 10K started at about 8:50.  They gave out a great technical T-Shirt with registration. Before the 5K race, I was able to meet Charles Clines. He did a report with pictures and results for his running website (www.clinesrunningcorner.com).  I check his site every weekend for all of the area race results. Thank you Charles.  Kenny Stice, an 18 year old cross country runner at Plano High School, and Laura Nelson, 46, of Grapevine won the RRCA Texas State 10K male and female titles.   I started on the 1st row in 5K.  I planned on running this race a little easier than a normal 5K since I was running the 10K right after.  The temperature was about 70 degrees, and there were many hills on the course.   My mile 1 time was 8:07, and my mile 2 time was 16:43 (8:35 / mile pace).  At this point, I slowed down some, but on the 3rd mile, my competitive spirit kicked in, and I started running faster.  My time was 24:41 (7:58 / mile pace).   I finished the 5K race in the time of 25:59:5, third place out of 7 in my age division, and 33 out of 78 men, and 47 out of 162 overall finishers.  Place   Bib #    Men     Overall    Chip Time     Pace 3/7     276     33/78     47/162     25:59:5      8:23   I rested a little before the 10K start, and then lined up about half way back at the starting line.  We ran some of the same course as the 5K, then got on the Grapevine trail.  These were hilly courses, not ideal for me to run fast.  I just planed on doing my best and to not run too hard.   My 1 mile time was 8:30, and my 2 mile time was 17:21 (8:51 / mile pace).  I started to slow down again, and my 3 mile time was 26:0 (8:58 / mile pace).  I was about halfway there to the finish line.   My mile 4 time was 35:23 (9:03 / mile pace), and my mile 5 time was 44:25 (9:02 / mile pace).  On the last mile, I gave everything that I had left; I even passed a few runners.  My mile 6 time was 52:47 (8:21 / mile pace), and I finished the state championship 10K race in the time of 55:15:3.  My last 10K was on January 15, 2011, the Snowman Shuffle, so it's been a while.  I finished in 4th place out of 9 in my age division, just out of the award group. I finished 32 out of 69 men and 43 out of 145 overall, and I had a new personal best 10K time.  Kenny Gardner of Plano won both the 5K and 10K in the 55-59 age division. Place   Bib #    Men     Overall    Chip Time   Pace 4/9     276     32/69    43/145       55:15:3    8:55 I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com