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Thanks to everyone for showing up and thanks to Kasey for being the brains of the operation with quality camera work and cell phone usage.
My own race report (anyone else want to submit their own please feel free)
Upon throwing out bags of trash, 11 Grant (House + KVH + Kasey) welcomed in Pat, Lauren, Bober, Barker, Siobhan, Lynda, and Souksanh around 9:00. Dicking around til 10:00, talking about pooping mid marathon. COX also wanted us to eat female Luna bars. After finding this out, Kevin revealed he had eaten one of these bars first thing in the morning.
The team walked down and arrived to Kennedy Plaza's cluster f (J Rad edit).
Getting there 2 hours after the half started, the portapotties were already christened (over and over again). Warming up and stretching til 11:00 and Bober and I found the back of a truck with protein shakes. The weather was humid and around 80.
On the Union Station side of Kennedy Plaza, the race was broken down by mile pace; unfortunately, OUR race would be on the other side, where 1100+ squished in like cattle in to a box car. Meanwhile, some English guy was emceeing like a jackass ("Who here has run a 5k?" and whether we had Miley Cyrus on our iPods or WHY we needed music for a 5k) while our team was trying to figure out where to corral ourselves. The nerves of this team were pretty calm.
And then the gun went off.
Thanks to zero planning for the 5k by COX, we were walking for 20 seconds before crossing the starting line which started our B-tags.
The title for the first 1/2 mile should be entitled "Bob and Weave" (not to be confused with the St. Louis Rams' celebration from the Greatest Show on Turf days). The ones on this team that carry the Y chromosome swerved in and out of the first 100-200 runners (along with our rivals, the RISD red shirt walkers). Thanks, red shirts for walking in front of us. Apparently my head was ostrich-ing around, looking for an opening after every bob and/or weave. Sorry to the 8 people I shoved or possibly tripped in my quest to be a jackass.
Taking turns through narrow streets and seeing the color red repeatedly had me feeling like I was running with the bulls in Pamplona.
(2 bovine references? Unheard of)
my own race report starts here: Kevin and I swerved in and out of the race, using the sidewalks to pass (Pat passed us God knows where on the sidewalk, I didn't even see him). They had people with orange flags helping us negotiate the 18 turns. I think that we both ran positive splits instead of the recommended negative splits and the hilliest left turn left me gassed. The only thing that kept me going was not wanting to let down the team (and the girl running in front of me). I prayed that I would see the river and be able to finish strong knowing there's less than a mile left in the race. Following Kevin left me with nothing left in the tank for a finishing kick. The chute at the end was my demise; I think 3 or 4 people passed me as I couldn't find a second gear.
Henderson, in a move that is unlike most #1 teammates, cheered everyone on (even though I didn't hear it) while Kasey took candid finishing kick shots.
After a photo op of the team that threw down roughly a 1:06 for the top 3, we headed over to get a UFO Hefeweizen. Checked the finishing times posted, walked by the GI Joe convention, and that was all she wrote.
This race was head ache inducing (literally, not figuratively?)
Once the semi-let down of not PR'ing subsides (objectively, met my sub 24 goal), I think I'd like to hang my hat on the fact that I witnessed:
1) 18 people running on a team
2) a roundtable discussion about running at Caserta's with 7 friends
I can also take solace in the sores not attributed to injury but to laying it all out there at the race. After all,
"A lot of people run a race to see who's fastest. I run to see who has the most guts." --Steve Prefontaine
My main goal was to get someone in to running; if that goal was accomplished, I'm OK with my race time.
Even though everyone earned their time and I had nothing to do with it, I appreciate Sri thanking me for the kick start ( and the college style breakfast)
Best Caserta's Conversation:
What's an ultramarathon
anything over 26.2 miles
so if we run .05 miles over, it's an ultra
bober: yea, 26.25 miles.
henderson: yea, 26.25 miles.
other notables:
C Barks and Sri point at a mom with a stroller passing them
David v Goliath: a little kid gunning for Kevin O'Brien
best runner's time? Sean Boisvert 0:00
someone actually wore the Vibram Five Fingers to the race
TCRC tattoos on the soles of our feet or TCRC shirts? Interesting...
-Sri, Nikki, and Knapp run faster, injuries disappear; weird
-anyone else's soles feel like they were gonna melt
-the ghost of running future: Bober's ominous 10 year running life span speech; looks like I got less than 9 years left then.
-Running is the only time participants pay and people who watch pay zero dollars
What rules do I preach that I broke in the race?
-shoulders loose (upper back/ shoulders are sore)
-don't blow out of the gate (positive splits)
-don't zig zag through the first half mile (zigged and zagged a ton of people; should've rode the sidewalk like Pat)
-increase your speed for the final push (zero energy)
well said
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