Snowman Shuffle 4 Miler Race Report

Goal: Win the master division, both in this race and more importantly, the overall in the Polar Bear Grand Prix.

This was the third race in the series, and by far the longest - also my first ever 4-mile race. Given the drizzle, the hills at the end, my lack of experience in 4-mile races, and less than perfect shape, I didn't really know what to expect. I was leading the master division coming into this race, and I googled the second place to see how the guy looked like, so that I would know who I had to beat. (His name is Marc.) I recognized him at the start, and walked up to him, telling him about our standing in the race. I thought it is just fair he also knows who he is racing against.

Again, we ran the race with Esther: she was also running to win her age group. We arrived to the park about 45 minutes early. I had time for a good warmup, and a bathroom break, but I didn't feel very good. I was hoping I would feel better during the race.

The race started with a downhill of about a 1/2 mile long, then flat until mile 2.7. In the last 1.3 mile there are two decent hills: the first peaks at around mile 3.0, flat until 3.2, down to 3.7, and then up for the rest. My plan was to go out strong and they try to hang onto my position: go out at sub-6 pace for the downhill, then slow down a bit, but try to reach 2.7 with an average pace around or just over 6:00/mile. Conserve energy on the first hill in case I need to race the last hill - unless Marc would try to pass me on the first hill.

At exactly 9 am, we were off. I was pushing hard the downhill, so much so that I was doing a 5:30-ish pace. My race position got established very early at my usual 10th place. I was breathing hard, and I knew I couldn't sustain this effort, but it was all according to plans.

Mile 1: 5:36

Crazy first mile but with net elevation loss of 71 ft (22 meters). The second mile was basically the symmetric tail and of an out-and-back portion of the course, so after about a 1/2 mile, I was able to see the runners coming from the other direction. Most importantly I realized that Marc was not far behind: maybe 100 meters. That meant I could come down to the line, so I can't blow up before the end. I slowed a bit to conserve energy. Unfortunately I missed Esther as she was running out. I did meet another friend though, who shouted out some encouragements at me.

Mile 2: 6:16

Mile pace was swinging a bit and I'm not exactly sure why. I know I had to run around a group of dogwalkers who cut in front of me as I approached, and there were a few turns where I slowed down a bit either due to slippery roads or traffic. I averaged around 6:30 pace here, which is a bit pathetic. Maybe I also tried to run slower deliberately, knowing the hills were coming.

Then we started to climb, and pace pace dropped like a stone. A woman passed me uphill. I let her go, because I had zero chance following her: she was fast (beat me by 31 seconds and she gained that in a little over a mile).

Mile 3: 6:53

I pushed the downhill a bit, and I got a little surprise at mile 3.4: the rest of my family came out to cheer us along! It gave me a lot of motivation, and I pushed harder, even though the last hill started. I looked back and I saw nobody, so I didn't run too hard. But when I glanced back again 100 meters later, I saw a woman approaching quite close to me. Even though she was clearly not a danger to my master division position, I wasn't about to let her pass me. I pushed hard up the hill, to the finish line.

Mile 4: 6:40

Total time: 25:24, 9/295, 1st in master division.

I slowed a bit more than I should have, and I did struggle at the end, but I've never been good on hills, right? (Well, I did have some success on hilly races, but some bad disappointments, too.) Job is done, master division has been won both in the race and in the Grand Prix. Esther came in at 42nd place in 30:16, which is a great time for her.

The timing company messed up again. Not my time or place this time, but they awarded 3rd place overall trophy in the PBGP to a 9 year old boy, who was beaten by dozens of people. It was quite obvious fr everyone that he could not have been 3rd place, and he was embarrassed and reluctant to take the trophy. What a mess-up! I used to have high opinion about River City Races, who organized this race, but out of the last four races I ran with them, they messed up the results badly at least three times! (I was involved twice: see reports on White Mills 5K and the Reindeer Romp 4K.) And these are the people who are now running the triple crown! Those are high profile races. If they continue the way are operating now, there will be scandal!

Note that I'm not actually sure that I deserved the master win either, because a 53-year old man beat me in all three races by a good margin. My luck is that they cut off the master division at age 49: over that it is "grandmaster". That doesn't seem logical to me. In fact if a master or a grandmaster wins in overall, they should always be awarded the "better" trophy. Anyway, at least these peculiarities seem to be in the rules (though they were never got published).

It makes me want to organize my own races, so that at least they would be run well!

I take a rest today, and then almost surely start to prepare for the KY Derby marathon. I have 11 weeks. Can I run 3 hours? (It does have a few hills.)