Riverside 5000

We went to a wedding just north of Tulsa this weekend and decided to find a run the morning of the wedding. A search came up with the Riverside 5000 - a flat fast 5k in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The run came at the end of a short week of running; I just got in two 10k runs on Tues/Wed, had a migraine after work Thursday so I didn't get to run. Friday was mostly driving and a two-hour delay at the hotel. I was VERY ready to run Saturday morning.

We got to the run around 7:20 and they were just about to start the "elite" division - guys who could easily run under 18:00 5k and women who were probably under 19:30 or so. There was prize money for this race, and they let the women leave 2 minutes earlier than the guys. Interesting.

We got our packets, did some warmup jogging and headed to the start. There were a few hundred people there, and a lot of high-school age kids. This race was two loops on Riverside. So you go straight ahead, come back toward the finish, turn around again and go out, turn once more and finish up. Good parts to this - it was pretty flat and there were three water stops... bad part - three hairpin loops and it was in the 80s.

Started out pretty fast and did the first mile in 5:46. Slowed down for the second a little bit and it went by in 5:56 or so. I was feeling great and passing people here and there. I got to see Erica three times during the race, which was a first. The third mile was tough - just pushing it as much as I could. Skipped the water stop at mile 3.0 and sprinted to the finish, passing one guy in the process but not quite getting by another. Was shooting for under 18:00 but ended up with 18:16 - still a PR! I was 7th overall and 1st in my age group.

After Erica finished we hopped in the car and went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It got to 104 degrees that day! Crazy!



Riverside 5000 Open * 5 km * August 14, 2010
River Parks, Tulsa, Okla.
295 finishers * Cloudy, low 80's, slight wind
USATF certified course, USATF sanctioned event
Administered by Glen's Racing Service
MALE OPEN RESULTS
DIV/TOT IS AGE DIVISION PLACE/NUMBER IN DIVISION: PACE IS MIN PER km
Place Div/Tot Div Name City St Age Time Pace
===== ======== ===== ===================== =============== == === ======= =====
1 1/41 M1619 Erik Alnes Tulsa OK 17 17:32 3:31
2 1/47 M1315 Michael Duke Tulsa OK 15 17:47 3:34
3 2/41 M1619 Kevin Diaz Tulsa OK 16 17:52 3:35
4 3/41 M1619 Josiah Soap Jenks OK 19 18:02 3:37
5 4/41 M1619 Quentin Fowler Jenks OK 16 18:13 3:39
6 1/2 M2024 Dan Matthews Tulsa OK 22 18:16 3:40
7 1/6 M2529 Nicholas Hanson Blair NE 28 18:16 3:40
8 5/41 M1619 Levi Garrett Tulsa OK 16 18:19 3:40
9 6/41 M1619 Brad Arnold Tulsa OK 17 18:19 3:40
10 2/47 M1315 Brandon Ellis Sapulpa OK 15 18:28 3:42

Lake Wehrspann 10k - 8.1.10

This was my first 10k of the year, and I was not training for it specifically at all.  I did no interval training, speedwork, mile repeats, etc.  I have just been running, and mostly on trails.  That being said, I was just out to break 40 minutes again.  That would suffice.

We got to the lake about 30 minutes before the start, had time to hit the bathroom, put on our numbers and timing chips, etc…   All the normal things you do before a race.  We jogged back to the car, put our t-shirts in the trunk and headed to the start.  We’d never done this race before, or even been to Lake Wehrspann.  Apparently it was the 23^rd year they had done the 10k though.  We lined up at the start and got race instructions – we were told that there would be three water stops and the course would be completely on hilly concrete pathways.

The course was very scenic and you could see the lake virtually the whole time.  I was around 5^th place, behind 3 males and 1 female, until the 5k point.  I felt warmed up by then and went for it.  I held the pace around 6:25 or so, and found the energy for a 6:00 sixth mile.  Caught up to the leader/pacer around 6.1 miles, passed and won – not the best time but it was under 40 minutes (39:45 – barely!)  Of course, I didn't know for sure that I won until I got the award, because the ribbon was not held up.  Oh well.

 Next race - the Riverside 5000 in OKLAHOMA!

Stampede For Steps 5k

Erica was the race director for this event and she did a great job.  She spent the last couple of months calling local business and asking for sponsorship – ended up getting support from Woodhouse, American Broadband, No Frills, Scheels, Fernando’s Mexican Food, Great Harvest Bread Company and RoadID.  I helped as much as I could, promoting the event, marking the course and finding a timing system to use.   We had close to thirty runners, with 7-8 signing up the day of the race. 

She even designed the shirt – and it looks AWESOME!

She called everybody to the start, gave some background about the Hall Steps Foundation and a little direction about the 5 kilometer course and we were off!  The course started off with a long downhill and was flat for a couple of blocks.  Then there was a sharp right turn and we went up a steep hill, then right back down.  I hung out in third for a while and moved into second at the first big hill.  From there it was flat for another block or two then there was a long gradual hill, with a steep hill at the top.  The water station was nested in a corner, right before another downhill segment.  That was pretty much how the whole course went, up and down hills.  Here is from an earlier time when I ran it:

SFS 5k route

There was around 400 feet of elevation change, which is a lot for a road 5k!  I never did catch up with the leader (Mr Craig Christians) and ended up second in 19:22. 

(bib #1 - very exciting)

The kids’ run was a lot of fun to watch, and I ran it with my nephew.  It was his first race, at 2 years old!  He even got a finisher ribbon to show off.  Here we are lining up at the start:

at the finish:

and receiving his ribbon:

We ended up raising a few hundred dollars for the Hall Steps Foundation, and nobody was injured or rushed to the hospital!