I thought my races for July were over, but clearly I have zero self control when it comes to signing up for more.
As you might be able to tell from the last half of the race name, it was for a mile.
Singular.
The first half of the name is taken from the Guardians of Traffic - four two sided carvings / statues that flank the Hope - Memorial Bridge (or the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge) at its beginning and end.
Each Guardian holds a different conveyance of ground transportation. The former Cleveland Indians were renamed after the Guardians. As you might notice from the above image, if you head east on the bridge, it takes you to their stadium.
That said, streetlight placement on the bridge ruins SO many image opportunities when trying to photograph said Guardians. ......but I've gotten off track.
I am by no means a sprinter. Like, at all.
While I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a an endurance "athlete" either, I could stand to be identified as a distance runner. "Runner", maybe. But an only-mile run is nothing more than a sprint.
I don't know why I signed up. Honestly. .....though it was a decent shirt.
Blobby did his research before registering. Of all the over 60 folks who ran the last three years (results on races are out there if you know where to look), easily would have me taking #1 in my age category. Even if I ran a normal pace.
There are no age category awards in the Guardian Mile, just bragging rights.
What Blobby didn't do was take into account last year's 55-59 year old guys who are now in the 60 year old bracket this year. Drats.
There were multiple runs: middle schoolers; high schoolers; community run (me!); elites and strollers. There were about 330 in my group alone. Probs the same for the high school kids - who were all track and cross country folk.
It was a beautiful evening.
My goal was to not be embarrassed. That's it.
It was a mile. It took 710 longer to find a parking space than it would be for me to run this thing.................hopefully. But my inter-mantra was: "I can do anything for a mile".
The bridge was my nemesis at my first half marathon. It is uphill for the first half, and theoretically downhill the second half. But that "downhill" isn't as steep as the up, and you never gain the momentum you think should be coming your way. It broke me mentally in 2023. I expected it at the marathon this year, and on Saturday.
Still, I ran my heart out. And my lungs. I could - knowing I wasn't going any farther.
The winner overall? 03:57.
My fucking half-mile time was 04:11.
The winner was buffing his nails or something before I even got to the halfway point.
They organizers had timers every quarter of a mile - just in case you didn't feel enough pressure. The headwind I wasn't expecting either. I had to remove my hat part way through, or lose it to the breeze.
In distance racing, my fastest known mile has been 08:57. This time, it was 08:16. Respectable for me, but nothing earth shattering.
Je did not come in 1st. Or 2nd or 3rd. I did come in 4th. ....in my age group. Some guy finished in just over six minutes. .....and I don't think he had a supped up motorized wheelchair or anything.
Me? I would end up with coughing fits for 30 minutes on and off. Stupid asthma.
Insult to injury? No medal.
I saw the images of the medals, but what they didn't say: for racers 12 and under. Well.............fuck.
Yes, I'm totally petty. I'm about 91% sure I wouldn't have signed up knowing I wasn't getting a medal. Though like I said, the t-shirt is one of the better ones I've ever gotten.
710 and Shep were waiting for me at the finish line. The latter was VERY excited to see dad #2. ...and I him. It was a fun evening out for them. And me. Oddly, I still had fun.
....but I'm not making a standard of running anything less than a 10k. And my next one is in six days. And (hopefully) my only race in August.
Song by: Queen
3 comments:
Sorry No medal.
I never did anything that short. It was rare for me to run sub 8 minute miles, I remember one split at 7:11- an easy one to remember, it was in an industrial park, a friend of mine was an industrial chemist in the building we ran past (before the leak.)
Oh, I'm sure you'll only have one race in August. We all believe you.
Where's the picture of this wonderful shirt??
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