today was the 2012 point bock run, which is one of my favorite runs. there is always a great atmosphere around it and i end up seeing lots of friends in the race. i ran the race today not really expecting much since i’ve only been running about 30-40 miles a month for the past 4 months. not enough miles to really improve from my personal best from last year of 40:36 (8:08 per mile). i was just hoping to keep a pace of 9:45 per mile (around 48:45 for the 5 mile course). i figured i couldn’t do much better than that considering how little running i have done.
i was pretty pleased when i crossed the finish line at 46:34 (9:17 per mile). my overall time and the fact that my last mile was at an 8:43 per mile pace encourages me to think that with the proper practice i might get close to my half marathon personal best (1:58:40 – 9:04 per mile) by the time of the oshkosh half marathon on april 22.
as you can see from the above time stats i am a slow runner. i realize that i am not one of the speed demons and i don’t try to pretend like i am. i try to start in a position in the pack that is appropriate for my speed level. that is why it drives me nuts how many people who walk the race decide that they should be in the front of the pack for the starting gun. i’m sure they have very valid reasons in their minds for why they should start at the front of the pack. for example, they might think…
- they are distantly related to steve prefontaine and thereby will go from a walker to an extremely fast runner at some time during the race.
- they have a really fast friend who they believe absolutely needs their encouragement for the 50 feet that this walker is able to keep up with his/her friend.
- they are convinced that if they start at the front of the pack they will end up drafting on the back of the pack and be pulled along to a faster time.
- perhaps they had beans for supper the night before and want to share the beans’ effect with all the other runners as a practical joke and therefore need to start in the front of the pack.
or perhaps they have less noble reasons like not caring. i really don’t begrudge them being slow. after all i am slow. and i’m definitely not talking about people who are doing the galloway run/walk system. i completely understand the run/walk system and i don’t blame them at all when i see them walking (mainly because they will probably pass me later). i’m talking about the people who walk the entire race. why would any such walker start the race in the 6:00 per mile pace group? i can’t imagine a good reason (though there may be one and if so please forgive me and explain it to me). all i know is that they clogged up the beginning of the bock run and slowed down my first 2 miles.
here are my mile breaks:
- mile 1 – 9:42
- mile 2 – 9:29
- mile 3 – 9:20
- mile 4 – 9:07
- mile 5 – 8:43
notice how every mile was faster? i tend to think this is because of all the time i ended up being stuck behind walkers in the first two miles. this happened more times than i care to remember.
please don’t think that i am down on people walking races. i am not. i think it is great for people to walk races. just start at a reasonable part of the pack. i figured i would run around 9:45 per mile so i started at the 10:00 per mile pace group. when i went faster it didn’t cause anyone any trouble. people, just pick an appropriate spot in the pack people. come on!
SIDE NOTE – i think my tv is going to begin thinking that we are british because of all the bbc tv series pam has been watching recently. eat least it is fun to watch the guys fight in these british dramas. every argument seems to end with someone saying sternly “i say good day to you sir.” if it continues that say even louder “i said good day sir!” i think i will start doing this.
I was also at the Point Bock Run. It was my first year and I also get very frustrated with people that start before the 10 mile pace cards that are not runners. You should only be up there if you know you can run the 5 miles. I am a slower runner as well and I lined up with the 10 min card and got stuck SO many times the first mile. People weren’t very nice about letting people pass either. Other than that, I loved this race 🙂
sarah the bock is a wonderful race. unfortunately you’ll find a few “out of place” walkers/runners at every race. i think it is a bit of a bigger problem at the bock just because of the number of people involved and the size of the road we are running on. still it always is one of my favorite races of the year.