The Bronx 10 Miler
Well, as you know, getting the 70+ men off and running has not been easy, since we are all such rugged individualists! Two weeks ago we only had one 70+ male entered, Bob Haig. Then we recruited Alex Wilkinson, and I threw my shoes into the ring. So we had three real-life, registered, 70+ runners for the Bronx. I had sent a note earlier to Bob and Alex, to arrange a meet in corral G, (for geezer). We didn’t hear back from Bob, and did not see him at the start, so Alex and I toed the start with our fingers crossed. Alex started strong and went off to chase the 9 minute pacer (see his note below); I chose to keep my stately pace and save energy for my massive kick. At around mile two, I heard a voice at my shoulder: “You must be Dave” It was Bob! He was cruising along steadily even though he knew his Achilles would rather have stayed in Troy and watched ESPN. His arrival gave me new confidence in our ability to grab more team club points, but it cost me in the end. Racing a ten miler after only a week recovery from the Nationals in Buffalo was definitely not a good idea. I finished, but barely. Thanks to Kevin McGuire, I was able to make it to breakfast safely.
Alex ran for team gold in his first outing for the club. Not a bad start for a rookie! Welcome, Alex! Here’s what he had to say:
Mainly what I learned by trying to chase the 1hr30min pacer is that a better target for me would be a bit lower, so I settled back a bit. In the 2nd half, the uphills were a struggle but I still managed to best my time last year and finish with a modest kick. Hope you were able to finish without pain or injury! Really enjoyed running with you earlier this week and, for a while, today.
We also did not know that George Hirsch was going to wake up spry on Sunday morning and come out to enjoy the great weather. George turned out to be our secret back-up, and all of a sudden, we had a team plus one!
Both Alex and Bob are registered for the Staten Island Half, and I will tweak my training for the next two weeks and make it three for the Island. If anyone else wants to take a ferry boat ride with us, there are plenty of seats available!
The Staten Island Half
Here’s the race report from Alex; it is short, but sweet. Glad he is healthy and strong enough to try and improve his finishing kick! Looks like he will lead the 70+ men contingent in the Ted. He is registered…I will follow suit shortly. I am glad the team lost no ground to the competition by passing on the SI Half; I was not ready for that distance from all the other racing I have been doing lately. Now I can prepare for the 15K with some confidence. All that said, we are still looking for some more mobile 70+ guys who can go the distance. I am (confidently) hoping that Bob Haig will be healthy for the Ted, but I also want to poll the group to see if we have any 69 year-old, birthday boys celebrating before December 8. We can use all the support we can muster.
Best,
Dave