27^th Annual 75^th Diamond Brigade Run 5K and 10K

Date: May 20, 2006, 8:00 AM start time.

Place: Ft. Sill, Oklahoma

My distance: 10K

Clothing: 2006 Boston Marathon Singlet and shorts, white 26.2 cap, Thorlios socks, Asics 2010’s.

More about Ft. Sill

Race Website

Official 10K Results

Running this 10K was not a planned event; last Saturday Kevin and I discussed the possibility of participating in this race; no firm plans were made. I told Kevin to give me a call: if he decided to attend I would chum along.

Boston was just over a month ago and my legs are still recovering; it seems like my recovery time takes longer as each year goes by, or maybe by the time early summer arrives I have trained so much that mentally and physically I am ready for a rest, or maybe it’s the heat; who knows. I just know that I usually back off this time of year until late August when I get serious again. Even so, I always enter this season with grandiose plans to “speed up” by attending shorter distance races.

I saw Kevin at the park on Thursday afternoon; we ran a bit together and decided to go to Ft. Sill. We will meet in Lone Grove at 5:30 AM with an arrival planned for about 7:00 AM.

The alarm sounded early at 4:30 AM Saturday morning; boy I could really sleep in today.

After dropping my car off at Kevin’s house we were off to the races.

The air was cool outside but the afternoon weather prediction was for an unseasonable high of about 95 degrees, with clear skies. It would turn out to be a beautiful day but it would get hot during the race so hydration would be critical. I took a couple bottles of Gatorade along for the ride.

We discussed our race plans amongst other subjects. Kevin had just finished the OKC Memorial Marathon a couple of weeks ago and had hopes of breaking 45 minutes for a PR and myself, well I was not ready for a race so I would just take it mile at a time.

We arrived at the base a few minutes before 7:00 AM; the Military Police checked our identification, and we were quickly on the base.

Ft Sill has won awards for the beauty of this old base that dates back to the late 1800’s. Geronimo is buried here and I understand that the museum is quite nice. A lot of history went by as we headed toward the parking area.

As we left the car and headed over to the registration tent we saw and heard the sounds of new recruits pounding out the cadences of their morning ritual; I was told that some of them are in their final week of basic training.

I looked around and realized that many of them may soon be facing some of the most difficult days of their lives. It really makes you stop and think and appreciate what you have.

The race costs 12 bucks, shirts are an additional 10; I skipped the shirt since I have more that I need. After registering and a potty break, Kevin and I ran an easy ½ mile or so to warm up.

By far most of the participants for the 5K and 10K race were in the military, there were few civilians attending. It appears that there were about 100 participants.

Soon everyone lined up for the race awaiting the count down and the sound of the canon. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, everyone literally “jumped the gun”. The canon didn’t go off, so we had to pull back across the line.

No count down since the canon went off seconds later. We were off.

The field seemed fast but I was not sure since I have not run anything under an 8 minute pace for quite some time. Kevin and I ran together for about 1.5K, until the 5K turn off, where he surged ahead. This was also the location of the first water stop which was unattended and served water only. I skipped it as did most of the runners.

The military runners were easily identifiable since most of them were wearing gray cotton “T” shirts.

There were no mile markers and since I never trained with “K” markers I decided to run on “feel” only. Training teaches our muscles to remember a certain pace and I know this is true but even so it still amazes me how well out muscles respond on race day.

The course was challenging since it was not flat and even had some sections of gravel. So the mantra for the day (since I am unfamiliar with the terrain) was to watch my footing and concentrate on my cadence.

About 3K into the race most runners had found their rhythm, me included. I was struggling with a 3/3 breathing pattern, shifted to a 2/2 and wow, did that feel better and it seemed like I was running faster in that mode.

I picked out runners that were ahead of me and tried to pass them one at a time; as I approached each runner I thanked them for serving in the military. As I recall I passed about three or four runners on the way to the 8K mark.

The final stretch is along a tree lined street which appeared to be officer housing ( I made this conclusion because these are nice two story homes and I saw someone loading their car, another runner commented that it was Col. So-in-so, who was transferred to the Pentagon). At this stage in the race I was starting to feel the heat. I began to close in on another runner who I am sure I would pass when suddenly a family ran out of the house took his picture and cheered him on. Well, that was all he needed to pick up the pace. Almost at that same moment I heard a couple of runners behind me; they passed me as if I am standing still. Where did they come from? The last two guys I passed seemed to be wasted. I was thinking, boy, they have way too much energy left for this stage of the race.

As the last few blocks approached, I kicked it in, thinking I might finish in less than 48 minutes. The finish line crowd was loud; my final time was 48:06, pace 7:44 and 4^th out of 5  in my age group, 29th out of 56 male overall. A 48:06 would usually have gotten me an award in a small race like this one, but not today. There were 17 Female finishers.

I was pleased that I was able to run closer to my tempo pace of 7:25-7:30 without a lot of distress which gives me confidence that I haven’t lost it yet.

Kevin finished under 45 minutes with a PR and second in the male, 35-39 age group.

The “feed” was OK, water, lemonade, apples and oranges but nothing to write home about. Along the course there were 3 “Water” stops of which the final two were attended: no Gatorade was available.

The trophies for the Top 5 men and women were really nice as were the ribbons for the age group awards.

All in all it was a fun event that I would probably attend again.

And, it was nice to get out and attend a 10K race rather than my normal weekend training routine and I was pleasantly surprised to have run a 7:44 pace so soon after Boston. Who knows, maybe I will do a couple more before my Marathon training begins in July.