I Won a Whole Race! (Chain Reaction 5k Recap)

This past weekend was the Chain Reaction 5k. If you read My Preview, you know I had some concerns going in about the course. Welp, my concerns were justified. But I’ll get to that.

First off, let me say that I won the Whole.Stinkin.Race! Like, as in, nobody was in front of me. I was all alone at the finish.

Look at that plaque! I guess I should brush my teeth more. Badumpump.

Yup, that’s right…according to that plaque, I am an overall male. But you probably already knew that.

Anyway, here’s what had happened. My run bud Marsha was also running the race, so she picked me up on the way (not literally, she’s too tiny to hold me up).

Before the race. As you can see by my finger, I correctly predicted my finish. Marsha was one off.

This was a very small race. Around 50 people. I told you it was small.

When the gun sounded I settled in with the lead group – mostly teenagers. After the first lap, it was down to me and one of the teens. I didn’t want it to come down to a sprint at the finish where his youthful energy would work against me, so I made my move when we came to an uphill with 1/2 a mile to go. It worked, he fell behind and I was free to cruise on home!

My finish time: 13:54!!!!!!!!

Rockin a 4:28 per mile pace.

Amazing time, right? I bet you didn’t know I was that fast. Neither did I. But slow your roll, hombre. The course was about A MILE SHORT!!!

So yes, my concerns before the race over the course map were spot on. I spoke with the timing guy and he said the volunteers who marked the course missed a whole section that we were supposed to run.

We only ran 2/3 of this course.

That said, everyone ran the same distance. So in that aspect, it was a fair race.

It felt good, but strange to finish 1st Overall. I don’t think that’s happened since high school track.

Me in high school.

Anykitandkaboodle, at the awards ceremony, they called my name to come get the plaque.

Listening intently as the MC tells me how great I am.

And here’s some more good news…Marsha was also called up as the 1st Female Finisher!!!!! Very cool!!

1st Overall Female & Male plaques selfie.

And the best part, this race gives 100% of the proceeds to a charity that’s a very passionate cause for the race directors. You can read about it HERE.

Final picture of the plaques, I promise.

So all in all, it was a successful race. We had a good time and they raised some funds for charity. Booyah!

How bout you? Prefer small or big races? Ever won a race? Do you have a race strategy you deploy against teenagers?

-Scott

Dallas Half Marathon Recap (or…That Time I High Fived Meb)

This past weekend was the Dallas Marathon, Half, & Relay. This was a big one. A sold out event. Live TV coverage. Huge city. Running royalty like Meb, Deena Kastor, Ryan & Sara Hall.

I ran the half. I was hoping to PR, and maybe break 1:40, but it wasn’t in the cards. I still had a decent race and a great time!

Big state, little medal…It’s all good in da hood.

It all started the day before at the Expo. I had carpooled down with three female friends…Mistake!!! They treated it like a shopping outing, hahahaha! We were there for hours. At least it gave me plenty of time for red carpet photos.

White sunglasses.

Red sunglasses.

After that, it was time to rest up for the race! But like most pre-race nights, I didn’t get much sleep (kept thinking I’d miss the 4 am alarm). But luckily I made it up early to carpool down with another friend. I was glad we were there early to avoid the stress of running late. We chilled for a while before heading to the corrals.

On the way I bumped into Meb! The Meb! But I let him alone so he could focus on his race. I’d see him again later…

I also ran into a bunch of non-Olympians…

Some runner friends before the race.

When I got to corral A, I ran into a bunch of members of the WRRC who I trained with most of the summer/fall.

I thought we were supposed to wear our grey t-shirts that day.

Then it was time to race! After some fireworks and confetti, we were off!

The elites waiting at the starting line.

There was about a 15 mph wind, and it was in the 60’s and like 90% humidity. There was mist in the air and the streets were wet with slickness. The first 9 miles were generally a long steady incline.

Da course & elevation

Conditions weren’t great for a PR, but I gave it a go anyway:

5k ~ 25:08 ~ 8:06 per mile

10k ~ 49:15 ~ 7:46 per mile

Halfway and so far so good. But then the humidity and hills took its toll. I started to slow.

15k ~ 1:14:12 ~ 8:04 per mile.

Finish ~ 1:45:01 ~ 8:01 per mile.

Final Results ~ 501/8441 Overall & 75/510 Division

I was hoping to break the PR I set in October, but wasn’t happening. I was still happy because this was my 2nd fastest half to date!

On da course.

I haven’t always viewed this race in the best light. But I gotta say, the changes they made this year were great! Except for a few bail bond and pawn shops, the course was pretty scenic. I like how we went through many Dallas landmark neighborhoods.

And the energy was terrific! In particular the crowd support was AWESOME! And it was great to see so many friendly faces along the way, like my pal Tory who went all out with his cheer station…

Tory, the sign master.

There was definitely a lot of creativity by the spectators.

After the race with my pal David, and his malfunctioning umbrella.

It was also cool during and after the race, where I can’t even count how many racing friends I ran into…

My friend Sylvia..I’m pretty sure that was her first half!!!

Another cool thing was my local elite friends had a good showing too. Our friend Brent got 7th place overall in the marathon! And my buddy Logan came in first place overall in the half, with a time of 1:08:20!!!

Logan at the finish!

After the race, it was time to celebrate!

Group shot 1.

We had a rotating group of some really strong runners join us for some craft brews.

Group shot 2.

But I gotta say, the COOLEST thing that happened that day was Meb giving me a high five! He was running the first leg of the relay. After he passed the baton, he hung around to support the runners. When I saw him, I made a detour to hit that opportunity (literally)! So cool! And what’s even cooler, later on I got to meet him formally!!!!

Me & Meb. Like peas and carrots…or maybe tortoise and hare.

All in all it was quite a whirlwind. I’m still processing it all. I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed this race. I may have to sign up for next year already!!!

How bout you? Did anyone else race Dallas? Hang out with any Boston Marathon champs recently? Seen any creative race supporters lately?

-Scott