Chris sharing a pre-race moment with his coach (and wife), Marisa
The Bert Nash Dash and Bash was a really fun time, with a 5K, a 10K, and a bunch of great bands playing afterward. I had been looking forward to running the 10K for some time. It was going to be a great way to pop a local race and support a good local case at the same time. The race was scheduled for a start time of 4 p.m. on Saturday. I found it kind of odd that a race would be scheduled with such a late starting time. I also found it odd that at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning, I was out on a 12 mile run with my buddy, Eric, rather than resting up for the race later in the day. Here's what transpired.... I remember it like it was yesterday....
While I had been planning to run the BND&B (sorry, I'm tired of typing that out), Eric is signed up to do the KC Marathon (or half marathon) next weekend. He called me on Friday with the request that I do a last long training run with him. He also offered to pick up half of my entry tab on the BND&B if I'd blow it off (the race that is). Since I like longer distance running, and prefer morning runs to those later in the day, I didn't take too much convincing. I still picked up my race packet, just in case I decided to do both runs. But I was pretty sure I was just going to train in the a.m. and then hang out later at the race.
Here's an aside: While picking up my packet at Gary Gribble's, I bought a new pair of Mizuno's. My older pair has about 700 mi on them, and were starting to look a bit long in the tooth. I really love the Inspire model, and was happy to buy another. I took them out on the training run yesterday morning, and they felt great - no issues.
New Mizunos are on the right (My camera sux. The trim is orange, not pink)
Anyway, so we did a beautiful run on a beautiful day. And once it was done and I had showered and napped (and watched a lot of tennis on the tube), I drove downtown to see the race. I purposely left my running shoes and bib number at home, knowing that If I brought them I'd surely want to run.
Chris Ford was ready to run. At the start of the 10K, he lined up in the first row. Not too long after the start, he came rolling back through the finish chute in 5th place (first in his age division - 30-34yo). The day had gotten hot, and he had pushed it by knocking out the first mile in 6min 10sec. He held it together, though, and made it through the brutally hilly course in a good time.
Chris rocking his medal
After he stopped sweating like a... well, a guy who'd just run a hard race in the heat (sorry no good metaphors came to mind), Chris hung out with Marisa and his best friend - a glass of Free State beer (see pic below). We listened to some bands and then split for home.
All in all, it was a good week for me. I had a good race last Sunday, and a good long run the following Saturday. I ran about 40 miles this past week (sadly, 12 of them on a hotel treadmill in cold, rainy Allentown, PA). I read a book by Dean Karnazes that was pretty interesting. And I got to see a friend ascend (metaphorically) the podium at a great new race.
This coming week will be more running in more exotic places - if you can imagine a place more exotic that Allentown, PA.
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