Rise and Shine 5K Race Report

My good friends, Joe Carey and Edwin Quarles, are going to wish that they finished this race this afternoon in Dallas with me -- and for different reasons.

As we saw before the start of the TIR, Mr. Carey boldly went were Mr. Quarles didn't and got his picture taken with Mrs. Texas. And, of course, only Mr. Carey is suave and debonaire enough to run with a bunch of beer wenches during the Bayou City Classic 10K.

At the finish line of today's Rise and Shine 5K were two Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in their traditional white outfits and two others in sort of a jazz routine outfit. While I didn't get my picture taken with them, I was close enough to notice what type of outfit it was. They did look kind of uneasy close to that many sweaty people that didn't have pads on though. :)

I'd like to say that the pursuit of the Cowgirls made me run even faster today, but it didn't.

However, as Mr. Dwyer indicated, other than the hot race yesterday afternoon, I ran pretty consistent all weekend - on a variety of courses. (I talked to Bill this afternoon on the drive back from Dallas what I need to do - other than weight - to improve a little bit.)

The official results state a gun time of 31:37.05 and a chip time of 30:53.90; however, they had two electric mats down. It is obvious that it took on the first mat as I started my time on the second mat and had 30:50.49. Therefore, that's official!

The course, which can be queried here at the USATF site, had two good hills on it (up Blackburn and Cedar Springs) that were near Reverchon Park - the start and finish location of the race.

It wasn't as hot as the race Saturday afternoon in Pilot Point therefore I don't think that was too much of a factor. I think I can run these a little bit faster than what I am, but I can't hold it the entire distance and therefore have to really back off at times. Little frustrating.

The mile splits look like this:

Mile 1 -- 9:36.40
Mile 2 -- 10:14.52 (included the uphill on Blackburn)
Mile 3 -- 10:07.67 (included the downhill on Maple)
Last .1 -- 51.90 (didn't include the downhill at all .. good sprint, if measured right)

Overall -- 30:50.49

It really was interesting this weekend to see - in a short period of time - how many races were put together and administered. I'll probably write something for the July issue of Runner Triathlete News about it. (June is going to be on Texas performances at the 112th annual Boston Marathon tomorrow.)

The best T-shirt of the four is the one that I can't wear! It is the Firemen's Fest T-Shirt from Pilot Point. They only had a large and it's a little tight. Waverly is the new recipient of it!

I was utterly surprised how nice the atmosphere was this afternoon in an area that is no more than two miles north of downtown Dallas. When we ran down Turtle Creek Blvd. east before turning right and going south on Blackburn (and up it too!), it didn't seem that there could have been that nice of a green space there. It was actually very refreshing.

Dallas has long been ahead of Houston in building more upscale housing close to its downtown area.

If I see Mike Lucas sometime tomorrow, I should win a prize at Luke's Locker for seeing each of the three Lucas brothers on consecutive days. I saw Andy out in Aledo and today Matt was in charge of the Luke's team helping to put on the event today. (Matt finished 6th overall - wearing headphones. He and Craig Calmes, of The Woodlands, were the first two finishers last year at the Heights Fun Run in June with headphones.)

Speaking of headphones, I saw a lot more of them today than I have at many races recently. I heard one young man (yes, at 41, I can say that now) say that he couldn't run without them.

There were also quite a few baby strollers. In the first half mile, I was behind a woman who tried to make a quick left with a double baby stroller to miss three young boys who were walking. Ugh! And we really only had one lane to work with.

The staging wasn't real good. I tried to move up as far as I could, but still got squeezed by a number of folks.

The bottom line is that the cause was a good one. People were out enjoying a great day at the Park and raising money for a needy charity. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. (I think I got a little bit more sun though!)

I think the plan is to go run the Oklahoma City Marathon next Sunday. Tomorrow is going to be an incredibly busy day for me, which will be capped off by the HARRA Board meeting at 6 p.m. They'll be incredibly surprised to see me there. I think I have to make a decision as to whether or not I want to go another year as editor of Footprints.

And I need to register the second TIR team too!