This
weekend I ran in the Seahawks 12k (as you probably have guessed, I opted
for the 5k event) and oh what an event it was. Let me start off by
providing a little scope and perspective. Last year, the 2013 event had
1,998 5k finishers and 2,090 12k finishers for a total of 4,088 timed
runners. This year’s 2014 event had 4,017 5k finishers and 4,044 12k
finishers for a total of 8,061 timed runners. I am also pretty sure
there were a number of individuals who didn’t wear their timing chips,
and even more who ran as bandits. Basically, Seattle ran a race this
weekend.
The 12k event was set to start at 9:00 a.m. and the 5k was set to follow
at 9:20 a.m. Between the highway backup and parking a half mile away
from the start area, it was 8:45 by the time I picked up my racing bib.
Realizing I had about half the time I would like to warm up and prepare
myself, I ran over to the gear check station to check my first bag. As I
was walking toward the station, Suzanne (a woman I met waiting in the
start line at the Mercer Island 5k) ran up to me. We briefly reminisced
about the pain and glory of the Mercer Island 5k (she managed to grab 3rd place
in the women’s division) and we bonded over the mutual delight experience of
getting beaten by 14 year old runners in that race. Before
leaving, she imparted a word of advice to cut my warm-up shorter than
usual and grab a spot at the front of the start line. Words I should
have heeded more carefully.
The
12k started on time at 9:00 a.m., but had to be divided into three
waves of about 1,500 runners. The first wave took a fair amount of time
to clear and I figured it would take at least another 10 minutes before
the 5k runners could start to line up and when I looked over at the
start line at 9:10, I saw a huge crowd still there and figured the last
wave of the 12k still had to get under way. Nope. That was the 5k line.
I tried to get to the front but the volunteers directed me to the back
of the line. I knew I had to be over half way back and I tried to see if
I could somehow squeeze my way closer to the front. Nope. I looked
around and realized I was surrounded by people with
dogs, baby strollers and a dude with a giant 12th Man flag. Nice! Well at
this point I was thinking to myself that I pretty much had two choices. I
could forget about time and just go with the flow of the people around
me and join in on this middle pack “Seahawks Spirit Parade”… or I could
attempt some sort of improvisational Matrix-meets-Fast-and-Furious
dodging and weaving experience that would forever go down in the history
books of Carl’s racing legacy. For all time. My decision came down to
what Canadian rapper Drake so eloquently describes as: YOLO?...
 |
| Note the flag guy. |
 |
| The race clock shows I started almost 28 minutes after the start of the 12k at 9:00 a.m. |
So
there I was, starting off at the front of wave three behind about 2,500
people. I had about 100 meters of open start space until I reached
the back of wave two. And I met the wall. Zig-Zag, swerve, sidestep, speed up
and slow down. I counted three times in the first mile that I actually
had to stop for a couple seconds because the entire road was blocked by a
line of people. I honestly don’t even remember looking at my watch or
the scenery once in the first mile. I didn't think of pacing or plan my
strategy for the second mile. I just focused on staying alive. After what seemed
like eternity, my watch beeped signaling I had just cleared the first
mile. When I looking down at my watch it read a 6:02 pace. What?! Not
only had I kept a faster pace than I thought possible with all the
shenanigans in the first mile, but it was at the pace I WISH I could hit
at other races. I have mentioned in previous race recap blog posts that
I have a recurring problem of going out too fast at races. Well ladies
and gentlemen, after a year of searching and experimenting I have
finally found the solution. Have your football team win the Superbowl
and then seek out the guy holding the most ridiculously impractical flag
standing next to the other runner with that multi-seat baby stroller!
Lesson noted.
 | |
| Found it! |
Even
though my first mile split was where I wanted it to be, the fact that I
was never able to get my mind in the zone and plan how I wanted to
attack the next mile took its toll in mile two. At about the the halfway
mark, I reached the "eye of the storm" and found a 400 meter stretch of
open space that had developed between the first and second waves. I
used that opportunity to increase my pace to bring my second mile split
in at 6:11.
Mile
three was a down-and-back along a narrow two lane road. There were
orange cones placed every 8-10 feet along the center median to help make
sure runners stayed on their side of the lane (to the left of the
cones) each way. At this point I had caught up with the majority of the
first wave and the road was crowded in both lanes. The only open route
was practically on top of the center line with the cones. When I was
about halfway to the turnaround point I had a runner on my left and
another right behind me. In other words, I had to either move straight
ahead or to the right into oncoming runners. To my joy
disbelief, some lovely
oncoming individual decides she wants to "high five" the runner directly
to my left across the orange cones. If you have been able to set up the
mental image of this scenario correctly, you have probably realized
this meant the equivalent to she was about to clothesline the s*** out
of me. Awesome. Well she must have noticed my look of horror because she
changed her mind at the last second. Second degree manslaughter charges
avoided.
 |
| 12th Man! |
Post-Race thoughts/reminders:
1) Pretty happy to finally solve the problem of starting the race too fast.
2) PLEASE be careful when you high-five another runner...
3) Finally, most important of all: Good luck to all you running the Boston Marathon on Monday! Have an amazing race! Boston Strong!
3) Finally, most important of all: Good luck to all you running the Boston Marathon on Monday! Have an amazing race! Boston Strong!
