Today, I did a race called A Stroll in Central Park. No, not that Central Park. This race was in Cumming, GA, which is
northeast of Atlanta. This was a
fixed-time race. You had either 6 or 12
hours to run as far as you could. I did
the 6-hour race.
The course was a 1.03 mile paved loop through Forsyth County’s
Central Park. There was a single
well-stocked aid station that we passed every lap. Volunteers counted how many laps each runner
completed. In this type of race, whoever
runs the farthest wins. I’ve done many
races with similar formats. I like the
flexibility. You can manage your time
any way you want. You can run, walk,
take breaks, or stop.
I flew to Atlanta Friday afternoon and stayed at a hotel in
Alpharetta. There were hotels closer to
the race venue, but I didn’t want to have a long drive to get back to the
airport Sunday morning.
My race started at 7 AM and finished at 1 PM. Runners doing the 12-hour race continued
until 7 PM. Packet pickup started at
6:15. From Alpharetta, it was a 20
minute drive. I got up early, so I could
be there shortly after packet pickup started.
It was 33 degrees when I got to the park, but it was a sunny
day, and the temperature was forecast to climb rapidly throughout the morning. I was expecting a 20 degree temperature
change, which made it difficult to decide what to wear. I wore layers. My base layer, for the late hours, was a
T-shirt and shorts. At the start of the
race, I also wore wind pants, two jackets, a warm knit hat, gloves and
Gore-Tech mittens. I kept a bag near the
start/finish area, so I would have a place to put my extra layers as I
discarded them.
Six hours is short enough that I can run continuously, but
long enough that I had to be careful not to start too fast. I started running at a pace that felt
casual. It was like a training run, but
easier. Of course, the hard part would
be continuing for six hours.
I didn’t set any mileage goals before the race. My plan was to wait until the second half of
the race before deciding what type of goal would be realistic. I’ve had some good results in fixed-time
races, but I didn’t feel like I was fully recovered from my effort at Little Rock last weekend. I had to wait to see
how the race unfolded.
Central Park is a multi-use athletic facility with tennis
courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds and a playground. We ran on a paved path that wound its way
through the facility.
By the time we started running, families were arriving for
baseball games. One part of the loop
went right past the batting cages, and you could hear the constant dings of
aluminum bats making contact with baseballs.
As baseball games started, you would occasionally hear a hit, followed
by lots of cheering. Later a soccer game
started on a football field.
There were also small fields for peewee practice.
At the end of each lap, I made sure my lap counter saw
me. I resisted the temptation to look at
my watch for as long as possible. If I
knew my pace, I might be tempted to run too fast. It was better to pay attention to how I felt. I want the pace to feel casual for the first
three hours.
Food and beverages were available every lap, but I didn’t
need to eat or drink that often. I drank
when I felt thirsty and ate small snack about once an hour. At first, I was drinking every third lap. Later, I started drinking every second lap.
After eight laps, I started to notice perspiration under my
jackets. To take off one of my jackets,
I needed to take off the mittens. I
stuffed them in a pocket. I waited to
see how my hands felt before removing my outer jacket. They got cold, so I kept the jacket on.
As I finished my 13th lap, I finally looked at my
watch. My time for 13.39 miles was
1:58. That put me on pace for 40
miles. Although I still felt good, I
expected to slow down later in the race.
I also knew I would have some downtime.
I would need to stop a few times to remove extra layers. I would also eventually need a bathroom stop.
The first stop came immediately. I unzipped my bag to put away one of my
jackets. While I was there, I also
traded my knit hat for a regular running hat.
I was still wearing a Tyvek jacket and wind pants. They would have to stay on until it got
warmer.
There were two buildings near the course that had permanent
bathrooms. After two more laps, I ran
into one of the buildings to make a bathroom stop.
Each time I stopped, my legs were a little bit stiff as I
started running again. Early in the
loop, there’s a section that’s slightly downhill. That section helped me get back into my
rhythm.
I didn’t look at my watch again until I finished my 19th
lap. My time for 19.57 miles was 2:59. I was now on pace for 39 miles, but I still
expected to slow down in the second half.
Also, I would eventually need to take off my wind pants. That would be a longer stop. With the race half over and 40 miles out of
reach, I set a deliberately vague goal of upper 30s.
After a couple more laps, I felt warm again, so I took off
my Tyvek jacket. I kept the wind pants,
even though my legs felt warm. There was
a cold wind on one side of the loop, so I took an incremental approach to
shedding layers.
When I was confident that I would be warm enough, I stopped
to remove my wind pants. Even with the
flares unzipped, I could barely get them off over my shoes. As I started running again, one shoe felt
loose. I made another bathroom stop and
retied my shoes while I was indoors, away from the wind. When I started running again, my legs were
stiff. The downhill section helped, but
I could tell that I was slowing down.
During my 24th lap, I spotted a small shoe on the path. It’s not unusual to see an old glove or hat,
but this was a pretty pink baby shoe that looked new. It’s not the sort of thing someone would
leave behind. I looked up and saw a
woman running with a stroller about 50 yards ahead of me. It could have fallen out of the
stroller. I picked up the shoe and tried
to catch up to her.
It was tough to catch up, because she was beginning the
downhill section. Then I heard a
plop. Something else fell out of the
stroller. It was a children’s book. As I got there, I picked that up too. When the path leveled off, I was able to
catch her. The book and shoe were both
hers.
My 26th lap put me past the marathon mark. I forgot to check my watch, but it was more
than four hours. I was starting to feel
slow and sluggish. My next intermediate
goal was 31 laps, which put me past the 50K mark. I was starting to pay attention to my
splits. I had slowed down
substantially. I now estimated that I would
have time to complete 35 or 36 laps.
I was starting to notice discomfort in my big toe whenever I
resumed running after stopping to eat or drink.
It didn’t matter if I only stopped for a few seconds. It hurt each time I pushed off with my left
foot. The pain usually went away after
about 30 seconds of running, but it was disconcerting.
As I began my 32nd lap, my toe hurt much more than
before. Then I briefly noticed a twinge
in my right hamstring. (That’s the good
one.) I tentatively decided to finish
that lap and then stop. In a fixed-time
race, you can stop whenever you want. I
was past 50K, and having issues, so it seemed like a good time to stop.
After finishing that lap, I took a few minutes to eat some
snacks. One of my favorite aid station
snacks was whole pitted dates. With time
to think it over, I decided to continue.
Even with a mixture of running and walking, I could easily finish two
more laps. I grabbed a few dates and
started walking as I ate them. Then I
eased carefully into running with a slow gait.
I didn’t have as much pain in my toe that time.
When I finished that lap, I started another without stopping
at the aid station. A few minutes into
the lap, I caught up to my friend Marsha, who was walking. Realizing that I could finish one more lap
whether I ran or walked, I walked with Marsha for the rest of the lap.
I finished the race with 34 laps. That’s convenient, because it put me over 35
miles. I hit my “upper 30s” goal, but just barely.
In addition to the usual food, there was now pizza at the
aid station. For those of us doing the
6-hour race, it was a post-race treat.
There was also a 12-hour run. For
the 12-hour runners, it was a mid-race treat.
I didn’t win any awards, but all participants received
plaques. I was kind of impressed that
they had our names on them.
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