Race Day

On Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2009, our family went out to the Black Mountain Valentine's Day 5K. I, Ed, ran the 5K with a couple of guys from our neighborhood. Andrew, the 8 year old, ran the 1 mile fun run. Amy and Lauren went to cheer us on.

Ed Barnes gets a kiss from his daughter, Lauren, before the start of the 10th annual Black Mountain Valentine's Day 5K Saturday afternoon. (2/14/09 Erin Brethauer
from the Asheville Citizen-Times

Let me start by giving a brief description of the setting: Black Mountain is a small town about 15 miles east of Asheville. It is a nice community, and many of the residents enjoy outdoor activities. For a small town run like this, you expect somewhere between 100-200 participants. These folks will come in all shapes and sizes, all fitness levels, and with many different goals and objectives. The times ranged between 15:30 and 50:32 for the 3.1 miles. The route went through a residential area, down a green way trail, on another portion of the green way trail system by the Swannanoa River then back on the original trail back to the finish area.

People participate in events like this for all kinds of reasons. Some are in really good shape and are trying to win a prize. Some, and this includes me, want to test ourselves and see where we are fitness and time wise. Some have decided to do something about their fitness/weight and this event has been a goal for a while and they are determined to finish. I have a lot of respect for those people. They are normally still out of shape, yet they are trying hard and seeing results. My only complaint is often they either start out too fast and lose steam quickly or they position themselves too close to the front and get in the way at the start.

These races usually work the same way. One group starts fast and leaves everyone else behind. This race was no different. The rest of us just plod along trying to push ourselves. I don't race very often so pacing can be difficult. You know a race usually brings some "race day magic" as my friend and running partner Greg Hughes says. This means the race will help you run a bit faster than usual. You don't have the same boredom of day after day, running the same routes with the same people. You have new challenges. Several times yesterday I focused on someone off in the distance and kept working to reel them in. Every time it worked.

The last two people I focused on I passed in the last tenth of a mile. We turned towards the finish line and had a short distance to go. I passed these two men and held them off at the line. When I checked the race results I was so proud to see the last two guys I passed were 55 and 77 years old. This has a way of humbling you.





While I am proud of my results, my son really impressed me. When he told me he wanted to do the fun run, I made him go outside with me and run. He completed 1.2 miles that day and went very slowly doing it. However he did do it, so I signed him up. A couple of times prior to the race he either did a half mile or a full mile on the treadmill, so I knew he could do it. What I was concerned about was pacing. Adults have trouble with this issue and I figured the kids would as well.

Andrew at the start

At the start, several kids took off, sprinting off down the trail. I had coached Andrew to start off slowly, be patient and be ready to speed up at the end. I ran with him, and kept encouraging him. We ran down the half mile, passing a few kids along the way, and also being passed by a few. As we passed the turn around, I began preparing him for the big hill. The one hill on the course is tough for me, I can only imagine what it is like for an 8 year old. He shortened his stride, pumped his arms, gritted his teeth and climbed it like a champ. Then all those kids that passed him before were walking. He slowed a tad, caught his breath and continued churning away. I asked him if he thought he could catch one boy ahead of him. He answered with a small burst of speed and lengthened his stride. Once that kid was passed, Andrew set his sights on a girl that passed him at the start. She was walking as well, and down she went. At that point we could see the finish line.

Andrew finished strong. He was a bit tired, but extremely proud. His time was 10:05. My 8 year old did a 10 minute mile, and never stopped running. I am biased, but I think this is pretty awesome. He has expressed interest in continuing with running and doing some more fun runs. The medal he got may have something to do with that, yet in this time when more and more people are struggling with fitness, I don't care what his reasons are.

We may have more of these types of experiences in the future. Lauren now says she wants to do a fun run as well. So, we may have a couple of fitness hounds on our hands. Maybe they will keep up this enthusiasm and that can only help them in the future.

Let's hope they don't struggle with their weight the way I struggle with mine!

Andrew after his first mile fun run and Chet after his first 5k.