3rd annual Run, Walk or Crawl 5K Race Report

You're thinking to yourself, "I thought Jon was going to do the Zoo Run Run 10K at the Fort Worth Zoo." I was.

I was there, bright and early at 6 a.m. However, when I (and others) went to register for the timed 10K, they had more people register for it than they had chips for. People were being told that they could register and run it, but they wouldn't get a time for it.

While I enjoyed the 10K last year (which was the first year for it) and it is a tough course, it was the principle of the matter that they could have posted on their web site (before people showed up on Saturday) that they had - in effect - sold out for the race.

They lit a fuse, and after making a comment that I covered the sport, someone with the race said that they would take care of me. But I declined because the person that doesn't have any pull wouldn't have the same opportunity. Even the chip timing guys (from Run Time Racing Services) who I talked to said that they could take care of me (quietly, of course) but I just decided that I would find another event to run this morning - as there were 17 in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

My point is that as soon as the race knew that they had achieved that, they could have posted it on the web site. (This was at 6 a.m. They had another 45 minutes or so before the race started at 7 a.m. to endure that.)

Races should communicate what their limits are if they know that they may be reached.

Granted I was at a disadvantage because I wasn't planning for anything this weekend in particular. I did this all for fun (and then I get a little stress).

So I came back to the hotel (the Spring Hill Suites in Fort Worth) and started to see what else I could get to. The only other 10K in the Metroplex was in McKinney (Stonebridge Ranch) ... too far. I then figured out it was going to have to be another 5K.

There was a 5K that started at 9 a.m. at the University of Texas-Arlington; however, I wanted to do something a little bit more formal than what that was.

I found the aforementioned race in Aledo, which is about 15 miles west of where I am located at, and it benefitted the Aledo Children's AdvoCats, which is a "non-profit organization of women committed to raising charitable funds to help fulfill and aid unmet needs of children and their families in the Aledo area. Established in 2002, the AdvoCats have donated more than $307,000 to the community. 100% of money raised through fundraisers is used towards charitable efforts such as medical expenses, clothing, living expenses, wheelchairs, dental care, school supplies, counseling and more."

When I got there, I realized that I was glad that I went. I also figured that I could do something good still despite being a bit riled up.

I talked to folks with the race a little while when they saw that my check said "Spring, Texas" and they asked me what brought me to their event. So I told them! We talked about a number of things actually and she asked me if the chip timing was the issue (since it was the first year that this race had used it), and I said it really wasn't for me. (The issue - for me - was that they didn't clearly communicate.)

I then saw the folks from Luke's Locker, including Andy Lucas (who makes his home in Aledo with his wife, Jill, and their two kids) and former Springtown HS coach Terry Bradshaw (who has handled the public address announcing duties at Ten For Texas).

They had a kids' 1K that started at 8 a.m. and then the 5K started at 8:30 a.m. It was very clear that this was a community event, much like the Bridgefest 5K in Kingwood as one for their area.

The course was entirely on the grounds of Aledo High School - which is a beautiful campus with a wonderfully new football stadium (they were state champions in 1998) and the Aledo ISD. I had learned that for the first two years of the event the race had been held in town, but traffic issues and concerns facilitated a movement to the high school.

I'm pretty sure that the course was accurately measured and while it was primarily flat, there was a little bit of a rise in the road headed out towards FM 1187.

I figure that if I keep running 5Ks throughout the weekend, I'll eventually get my time under 30 minutes. The damage assessment is as follows:

Difference -- 7.85
Mile 1 -- 9:30.31
Mile 2 -- 10:07.97
Mile 3 -- 10:13.60 (29:51.88)
Last .1 -- 57.71 (30:49.59)

Overall -- 30:49.59

I had passed Andy's wife - running with the baby stroller - after the turnaround past mile 1, but fell behind her right before the mile 2 marker (and couldn't catch her before the finish).

I talked at length with Terry, Andrew from Run-Far, and Andy Lucas with Luke's. (Andy knew Niki Bellnoski and I made mention to him that I had recommended to her to put in for time off for the Texas Independence Relay. Maybe a little name dropping will help our cause now. I had mentioned to Andy that I lived near The Woodlands and was a TWRC and Seven Hills member.)

Andrew from Run-Far had said that they had delivered some chips for the Zoo Run to Run Time (translation: the companies work together and share chips), and that Run Time had told him that they had maxed out for the 10K (and those guys said that they communicated that to the race officials at the Zoo Run.)

It simply boils down to communication. It doesn't mean that I won't ever do the Zoo Run 10K again -- it's a good course, and perhaps on another day I would have handled things differently and still have done it. But if I'm paying $30 (for that race), there's a fair expectation to have my time recorded - even if I keep it on my watch - in exchange for that fee. I could have paid nothing and done two 4.1-mile loops in my neighborhood and timed it myself.

I think there is a transfer in the sport that "hey, we don't mind donating to a good cause if this is how you're going to raise money, but we expect a minimum amount of things in exchange for a little bit of that goodwill." I think it is a fair expectation.

Do I think that there will be published results in this evening's 5K in Pilot Point? No.

Why? It is a small town race.

Therefore, my expectations are completely different. And I had run the Zoo Run Run 10K last year. It was why I put it on the schedule once I could see that I could make it work.

Two down. Two to go.