Tag: Masters running

Hood to Coast Relay: A Mission of Survival and Camaraderie

I might need to admit that I never really went out my way to do the Hood to Coast Relay, even though it has been a big deal and on the radar for more than 40 years. The Mother of All Relays. Something about staying up all night and running relay legs on highways, city streets and backroads for some 20 hours (give or take, depending on the competitiveness of your team) or up to 30 hours did not seem all that appealing. Not to mention the need to cut back some to prepare and then recover for a week or more from the effort did not seem to fit into my training schedule for late summer races.

Going back to the late 1980s I had been asked a few times to run Hood to Coast, or similar events like the Klondike Relay in the Yukon (was asked just this year!). However, I always had work or travel commitments.

Most recently, in 2023, the Boulder Road Runners (BRR) 50s+ team wanted to put together a team to go for the “Supermasters” record, which had been set by the renowned Bowerman Track Club some 20 years prior. I declined because I would be returning from a two week trip to Europe just before that, for our son’s wedding, and would be too broke and behind at work to make a five day trip to the West Coast. I have to admit there was a bit of FOMO before, during, and after as the guys from Boulder went out and did what they set out to do. They ran the course record averaging an astonishing 6:17 per mile. It would have been great to be part of that epic weekend.

2025

That was then.

Tamara and I just moved to the Midwest this summer and I am switching team alliances for the USATF races, but as still a member of BRR and having been friends with these guys for years, and without hesitation I said yes when they asked this spring. It seemed like a fun thing to do, I’m retired and not working anymore, and my early fall season was fairly open. So why not as a last hurrah with the club, albeit the younger age group. I would be 8 years older than the next oldest on the team.

Age is just a number, right?

Although I readily agreed for the opportunity to run that does not mean that there was no trepidation! I thought about it a lot all summer and was a little nervous. Could I handle the expected paces on three legs and how would I hold up in the middle of the night?

Originally, and for the entire summer they had me down for two fairly easy and one kind of challenging legs covering 3.9, 4.1 and, and 7 miles. However, things went south over the final week or so as two runners pulled up with injuries. There were some back up runners, but there was some shuffling and last minute additions.

The goal this year was to break the record again, our leaders Chris and Flavio felt that there were enough glitches in 2023–including injuries and substitutions, getting lost, pacing in the heat, and getting the vans through traffic at the exchange zones–that the 2025 crew could surpass the the record by a decent margin (5 or 10 minutes) if everything worked well.

Travel and Setup

More than half of our team had been on the 2023 team, and several of them had done the race on other teams in prior years. Their knowledge and experience were invaluable, and we seemed pretty dialed in with the logistics.

We all met in Portland on Thursday and got a tour of the Nike Headquarters in Beaverton. You don’t get more Oregon than that! The highlight was seeing the futuristic Nike campus and famous buildings (some of which have had to be renamed in recent years due to controversies surround some former athletes/coaches, i.e., Alberto Salazar and Joe Paterno). Nevertheless, the tour was fascinating, and the highlights for me were venturing into the atrium of the Lebron James research and development building (no photos allowed), the Seb Coe display including his gold medals from the 1980 and 1984 Olympics and his training logs, and the Michael Johnson track (speaking of controversy! I do hope that he pulls Grand Slam Track back together, or at least keeps out of jail for millions of dollars of non-payment).

Futuristic Nike Campus

Sebastian Coe’s Olympic medals and memorabilia

Lane 1 Michael Johnson Track

One of the more interesting things on the tour was a display in the Lebron James building that had some Nike memos from the past. I could not take a picture but they had a simple single sheet outline, typewritten and probably from the early or mid-early 1970s, that described the Nike credo in those early days. I wish I could remember more, but it had about a dozen sentences in outline form. Here are ones that I remember:

Be bold

Your work does not stop with the clock and you are not finished until the job is done!

Work with your peers

Be willing to take chances

You may offend people along the way (but that’s okay, and expected)

Keep connected to the sport

I thought that these really exemplified the super-competitive, take no prisoners of the Nike brand, i.e., no limits.

Lane 1 Michael Johnson Track

After the tour we stopped at the Nike store and with a special discount most of bought some shoes.

We had dinner at the house of a relative of one of our runners, which made good for some team bonding and introduction of newer runners. We went over the final logistics. Most people would run on the legs that they were scheduled to do, but some had additions and switches, and I had a complete overhaul of relay legs. Instead, I would be in a different van (Van 1) and would run legs of 4.1, 6, and 5.7 miles. So a little further than the original plan and at completely different times: approximately 11:30 AM 7:30 PM on Friday, an at 1:30 AM on Saturday. I actually liked the change in timing, knowing that I expected be done by 2:30 or so in the morning instead of 7:30 or 8 AM.

We stayed a sleazy hotel in east Portland, not far from downtown. There were a lot of jokes about hookers and coke. We got our gear together and settled in by 10 PM. I slept okay, not great, maybe 6.5 hours.

After a quick breakfast run at a funky coffee shop a few blocks away, we loaded our gear and selves into the vans at 7:30 sharp and headed to Mt. Hood, which was about 1:45 away.

As we got onto the highway we started noticing other team vans all loaded up with runners and graffiti. It’s kind of a tradition to pain up your van with team identification and some smart and saucy comments. We found ourselves driving for a half our alongside the 12 Olivias, and noticed that they appeared to be a team of 20 or 30-something women. We kidded our driver Glenn (one of the most talented runners in the club but unable to run due to injury) as he tried to keep up with the Olivias. Eventually they did speed off, leaving us old guys in the dust.

Van graffiti

“Talk is Cheap Fellas” said the announcer to Boulder Roadrunners as they started their successful record quest in 2023. Here is Van 1 in 2025.

Van 2 before they marked it up.

The Actual 12 Olivias; 12 women whose real name is Olivia, recruited for the relay by an Olivia on Instagram

We had nearly and hour and a half to mill around the ski lodge and parking area at Mount Hood, gawking at the volcanic heap, rising nearly 6,000 feet higher than our elevation of 5,800 feet, the views of the nearby valleys and other peaks (Mt. Jefferson to the south), and of course other vans and runners as they prepped for the staggard start, with a dozen teams going off every 10 or 15 minutes through the morning and early afternoon. We took pictures and got ourselves ready for 196 miles of road.

Our intrepid Supermasters Team, from left to right: Rick, Me, Todd, Garry, Frank, Brian, Eric, Flavio, Chris, Kevin (kneeling), Glen, Mike (kneeling), Tony

Was this crazy or what!? There was a lot of energy in the air.

It was also warm. About that. The heat was the story of this year’s relay. After a relatively mild week, Portland and the surrounding areas expected highs in the 100s on Friday afternoon. I was grateful that I was in Van 1 and most of us would escape the worst of the heat, although it would still be a challenge and ultimately it would define our race.

196 Miles of Sweat, Not a Whole Lot of Glory, But a Lot of Fun

Van 1 Legs 1 to 6

After our team picture we left our first runner Tony at the start line and the rest us from Van 1 loaded up and headed down the course. The first leg drops more than 2000 feet over 6.2 miles, by the time we got to the exchange at 11:00 AM it was already approaching 80 degrees.

Tony, the youngest and a newcomer to the team, sped through ahead of schedule and handed the wrist slap baton to Mike, a veteran of the record-breaking campaign. Mike kept close to pace. I would be up next!

Mike taking the wrist baton from Tony at the End of Leg 1

By the time I got the baton, we were already below 3000 feet and the temperatures were in the 80s. Fortunately the first mile and a half were on a deeply shaded forest access road. With minimal warm up and some bumps in the pavement I took the first mile rather easy (6:30) before settling into +/-6:00 pace. Dropping 150 feet/mile this was a tempo/threshold effort. I felt great through about 15 minutes, but onto the busy 4-lane Highway 26, there was no more shade and I could feel my core temperature rising. I figured only a mile and a half to go.

However, as I approached 4 miles there was no exchange zone! The organizers had switched the location of the start and the leg ended up being 4.5 miles. My heart rate climbed into the 150s, which is hard tempo effort although I was trying not to push too hard. We were still near goal pace, after my leg and Garry’s. Twenty miles into the race, we had dropped 4,700 feet. After those legs course would involve rolling terrain and a lot of uphill for the next 176 miles. Things got tough for Frank and Flavio on Legs 5 and 6 with temperatures climbing into the 90s with little shade, and some arduous climbs.

A lighter moment, one of the gang hamming it up for his newest fans, while team leader cajoles him to get to the exchange zone–You don’t want to miss the start!

The scoop was that we could be as far back as 10 minutes by half way (end of Leg 12) and still be in contention for the record. That worked for them in 2023, but on that day they had a later start (less time in the high heat) and it was 10-15 degrees cooler in Portland. Nevertheless at the end of Leg 6, at Sandy High School on the east side of Portland, we had a 4 minute deficit. Remarkable considering the increasing heat.

Respite and a Shower

After that exchange Van 2 took over for Stage 2. They had the toughest lift. Running in 100-103 degree temperatures through the afternoon.

We piled into Van 1 and made our way back some 40 minutes to the motel near downtown. After a shower and quick meal it was time for an afternoon siesta, and we nodded off for about an hour. We then loaded up the van for the evening-night session. It was blistering hot just to walk across the parking lot and I could not imagine what our teammates in Van 2 were going through at this time.

Stage 3 (Legs 13 to 18): The Heat is Still On

The sun was getting lower but the temps were still slow to drop, showing 102 on our dashboard and 101 on the weather app. We got to the busy exchange at the end of Leg 12 at about 6 PM and no one ventured out of the van as the AC blew full blast. We dropped off Tony for his leg and headed out on the course, deciding to find a shaded parking area where we could monitor his progress and to provide him with some ice and cold water.

By the time he got the baton we were 20 minutes behind the schedule and any realistic chance at the record was gone, even if the temperature suddenly dropped to 60 degrees. Tony was already feeling it, about 2 miles into his leg and we stopped again. Same for Mike on his long 8 mile leg. He was in and out of shade but the temperature was still well into the 90s. Mike looked great at 2 and 4 miles, but the heat wore on him.

I was next. We were leaving the Portland suburbs and heading north on Highway 30 parallel to the Columbia River. It was past 8 and the sun was behind the hills but it was still 92 degrees. Maybe not blistering hot, but there was no escaping it. My leg started with a half mile climb over a bridge and I used that as my warm up, knowing that I’d be giving up more than a minute just to get started. Onto the highway, I did my best to find a proper rhythm and effort. My leg was 6 miles, I was slated to run 6:00 pace, but knew that was out of my reach (even fresh and at 50 or 60 degrees), so my goal was 6:30 per mile. The first mile was right at 7:00. I wasn’t going to be able to run 6:20 for the rest of the way to make that back. I ended up running 6:30-45 for the remaining 5 miles of the leg. The first half went okay. And it was a relief to see the van at 3 miles, where they handed me a water bottle with cold water. I carried my handheld for fluid on this leg, so just dumped the 16 ounces of water on my head and shoulders. I felt great for another half mile, and then it got tough!

Feeling good at the moment, just after splashing cold water on my head. Things got real over the next mile. Real and indeed difficult the 90 degree heat.

I hung on as best I could, I had to go to the bathroom but also had to hold on to the pace. I concentrated on running steady and looked forward to some relief!

I found Garry at the exchange and told my catcher, Mike that I needed a bathroom! Now! I wouldn’t be able to make it to the next stop. There were no porta potties in sight so I grabbed some wipes from the van and headed to the woods on the other side of the exchange area.

Later read that at the Hood to Coast everyone has a poop story. I was glad to have escaped disaster.

Back into the van as dusk is turning to night. By the time Garry’s 4 mile leg is done it was almost dark. And by the time we got to the exchange it was. Temperatures were still in the mid-high 80s at that time.

We turned due west off of Highway 30 and sent Frank into the dark but still hot night. The next 7 hours would be a blur of glow vests, headlights and headlamps. The exchanges were still crowded and we figured that this would be peak time. It was a challenge to find parking and then to exit in time to get on the road before the next leg.

Frank, the fastest and arguably toughest runner on our team, was exhausted after his leg. I sent Flavio off into the darkness for his leg. When he finished we’d be done with round 2 for Van 1 before Van 2 would then take over for the next 5 or so hours. We loaded Flavio into the van after is leg and headed west to exchange 24. It was a long drive, more than an hour, through quiet back roads and much of it was away from the race course. At times i seemed like we were just randomly driving through the forest.

Respite but No Sleep for the Weary

The temperature dropped quickly and before long it was in the 70s and 60s! Relief from the heat at last, although the humidity increased.

I tried to sleep some. And would nod off for a few minutes at a time. Mostly, though it was some quiet talk and music–sometimes loud, I think we were listening to a classic rock station. At one point The Ramones’ I Wanna Be Sedated was blaring, but someone said it was too loud so we switched to some quiet country music.

Finally we arrived to the exchange and settled in for a few hours of rest. At first there were only a few vans in the field, but it filled up and soon got noisy even though it was 11 PM. Some people kept their flood lights on. We tried to sleep in the van, and maybe I got 1o or 20 minutes of snooze before it got noisy outside as more and more vans came in and departed. We rousted ourselves up and got ready for our final push, legs 25 to 30.

Stage 5 Into the Darkness We Drift

I would be doing leg 26, 5.7 miles starting after 2 AM. We were now more than 45 minutes behind, but still pushing. I had never run at 2 in the morning and haven’t run much in the dark for more than a decade. I put on my light vest and headlamp, made my way to the exchange, and did a minute or two of light jogging in the adjacent parking lot.

They called my bib number and I darted across the road to take the baton from Mike.

Game on! Running in the dark with a thin headlamp. The course started downhill for about the first half mile but it took a while to find my stride, so I did not really get an advantage on that stretch. The temperature was cool, which was refreshing after the evening’s 40 minutes of approaching heat stroke. However, found that I had difficulty running faster than about 6:50/mile. This was 20 seconds slower than I had anticipated and my teammates would want more than that. I wanted to stay on my feet, visibility and the possibility of tripping were limiting factors. When cars passed I’d get 10-15 seconds of extra illumination and could surge.

That’s pretty much how went on that dark and lonely leg. I passed a couple dozen runners along the way, and the effect was surreal. You would see road right ahead of you and the light vests bobbing in the distance and not much in between. It seemed like we were bioluminescent creatures at sea. There were a few stretches where I could see no one ahead and there were no cars. It was eerie in places.

One runner passed me at after half way on the leg. I did my best to keep up and maintained a 60-80 m distance until the final mile or so. We had a steady climb for about a mile and then a nice half mile descent to finish the leg. I made up some time there. I shouted my bib number to the officials who were about 100 m from the exchange, but the receivers did not get the memo! I crossed the line, somewhat exhausted but there was no Garry!

I stood there dumbly, not sure what to do. Then I heard them shout, here he is. He was still in the staging area across the road, as they had not announced that my bib number was coming in. Ackk! Garry took the baton and sped off into the dark night.

I was done. Although I did not approach my goal pace, and we were now 50 minutes behind schedule, I was happy to have completed my third leg of the Hood to Coast relay. We quickly piled back into the van and I took some fluid and an energy bar. At the next stop I was able to switch into some dry clothes and relax a bit. I fell asleep somewhere in there, maybe for 5 or maybe it was 20 minutes. The last two legs of our final van segment were sort of blurry. We were getting pretty punchy and made a lot jokes and comments that were funny to us at the moment, but now I can barely remember what we were laughing about.

The exchanges were overcrowded with vans and with some luck and swift maneuvering we made our way through the parking areas without much delay. I was only half awake during final legs through the forest on the dark pavement. By 5 AM Van 1 was done and Van 2 took over.

We drove about 45 minutes to Seaside and found a cafe that would open at 6. We waited for a few minutes and along with occupants of several other vans, piled out and got in line for the breakfast rush. Some caffeine and protein (eggs and vegetables for me) were perfect. I was tired but not crushed.

To the Beach

We made our way to the beach and a couple of us jumped into the surf. I only went waist deep because the water was cold, but the chilling salty surf felt good on my calves and thighs.

Garry and I get our feet wet early on Saturday morning.

Flavio, or team leader, carried us in for the last leg and we greeted him at the finish line for the final jog and photo. Then as a group we went back to the beach for some more surf time before embarking on a 2 day binge of rest, rehab, and a lot of eating.

Supermasters team champions and top 2 percent overall.

Aftermath

After the relay had two days to enjoy the Oregon Coast. That two naps on Saturday afternoon, another trip to the finish area to collect our team awards, big meals, a beach run, and coastal hike.

All day beach part for the Hood to Coast.

View from our beach house.

When I was there I wanted to soak it in and figured this might be a one time thing for me. I’m not getting any younger! However, the BRR calls in 2025 or 2026 I am pretty sure I would say yes! That was an amazing experience.

Masters 8K Cross Country Championship

Last weekend I traveled for the USATF masters 8K cross country championships in Lubbock, TX. I find racing in December or January to be difficult. I’m usually sort of burned out in December from the previous 8 or 9 months of training and racing and January is too early to have enough base behind you to feel that competitive. And forget about feeling sharp.

Our team has not traveled much in recent years. In fact we went for almost a year and a half, from June 2023 to November 2024, without fielding a full team. Injuries, burnout, lack of interest, and maybe personality differences all played into this.

But to Lubbock we went, with an age group team of four runners. Travel this past weekend was dicey and many athletes and clubs were not able to make it. Only about half of the entrants actually lined up to race. Although the fields were small, there was good competition in both the open and masters races.

We made it. Men’s team ventured to Lubbock for the masters championships. Many teams were snowed out.

It was windy on race day, 45 degrees F with sustained winds averaging nearly 20 mph, with stronger gusts. The wind was out of the west, which meant we would have a cross wind most of the way, with some short stretches of tailwind and about a km total of direct headwind on the 2.5 loop course.

Wicked winds whipping from the west.

The route was two and a half loops on a mostly flat former golf course that has been converted into a college cross country course. There were a couple of small rollers each loop and couple short steep bunker-type hills. It was real cross country and the wind added an extra challenge.

Course layout for 8K masters championship race in Lubbock, TX.

As we lined up the officials yelled at us like we were in middle school, “no more run outs! Line up behind the boxes!” And then “What don’t you understand about behind the boxes!!!?” And we were off, I sprinted about 70 meters before settling in.

Crazy hair day! (photo by USATF)

I run by feel in xc and don’t look at my splits much, but ran hoping to run about 6:15 for the first mile and see what I had. On the first loop (just under 1 mile) I felt better than expected and ran with a third pack (with the leaders way out in front at 5:00 pace, and a second pack of about 5-6 runners only 10-15 seconds ahead of us). I did check my watch that one time and it had 6:12.

Into the subsequent 2 mile loops I worried a bit that my early pace had been too hot. Our pack started breaking up by 1.5 miles and the second pack was still up by 5 or 6 seconds. Dan, my main age group competitor had just pulled ahead of that pack.

Decision time, hold steady and hang on, or surge to catch that pack.

I did the latter throwing in my fastest little stretch of the day, hitting sub 6 pace for a bit. I was a little gassed by the time I caught them, but that was just when we turned into the wind for a grinding 400 m stretch straight into it. We slowed way down, and I stutter-stepped a few times, biding my time and trying to catch my breath. We turned north and with a favorable cross-wind picked up the pace again.

I stayed with this group for the next two miles. Dan was only 15-20 seconds up in no-man’s land but I didn’t have the desire or grit to chase him down. On the windy stretch just after 4 miles, we slowed way down again as the wind tore at us. As we rounded turn over a bunker I took off an one of the runners from a different age group went with me. He went off in a sprint. I picked it up gradually over the last km and sprinted home. 15th place and 2nd in my age group. I got 2nd in age grading, and our team won by default because our rivals could not make the trip.

Age group winners, a bit squinty.

It was a good weekend and feeling so much better after feeling off for a few weeks was a pleasant surprise.

My next big race will be in late March, another 8K xc event (world masters) but I will do some xc ski races along the way (more casually than running) and probably a 5k-8K tune up road race in Feb or March. I’m not 100 percent certain, because I have done it two years in a row, but I think I’ll do the masters grand prix (best 5 races in the 8 race series) again.

Postscript: Controversy from Letsrun

You expect nothing but garbage and controversy on the website LetsRun.com and they rarely if ever disappoint. There is currently a thread on the site decrying the lack of participation at this championship. Indeed, it may have been the least attended ever. Only 156 runners (101 men, 55 women) in three divisions for each (Under 20, Open, and Masters) lined up and participated in the event. Last year there were 447 participating in Richmond, VA. Last year was a qualifying race for the World Cross Country Championships and World Junior Championships. So that was a big difference. Nevertheless, recall that half the field did not make the trip due to weather cancellations. So instead of the numbers down by 2/3, it’s closer to 1/3. That’s still a big hit, but factor in the remote location of Lubbock compared to Richmond, VA, and the fact that there is no championship qualification this year the difference is understandable.

Tell that to Letsrun! Those apes will moan, bitch, and caterwaul over anything and everything. Morons.

Masters Track and Field Championships

Short version, 2,500 mile road trip (minus side trips in California), nine days, two gold medals.

I think next time we’ll fly. A week ago Sunday we had a flat tire before even starting the trip, which cost us five hours and had to stay in a motel in Salt Lake City instead of camping in Nevada. And in the middle of the week our car battery died, thinking it was a starter or alternator we took the car into the shop. That cost $300. Driving all those miles in 100 degree temps wasn’t pleasant either.

Road Trip

I do appreciate the scenery, however, so here’s a few thousand words in pictures.

Utah canyon country.

Rainbow over Provo, Utah.

Egan Range, eastern Nevada.

Mt Wheeler National Park, Nevada.

Campsite sunrise near Truckee, California.

The Agony of Setting up the 4 X 800 Relay

Ahh the relay. For the past year almost, our team has talked about putting together an age group team that could challenge for the American club record of 11:22. That only requires a 2:50 per leg and on paper we had the runners to do it. Months ago we sent out signals, and I was appointed the de facto coordinator. I don’t think I did a great job at that for this event. However, our “team” ages 60-69 is more a confederation of runners without a lot of cohesion. And less so post 2020-21 pandemic. Just say that there are some personal and political differences in this team, and some aren’t afraid to verbally smash you in the mouth if you happen to disagree.

Not to mention, injuries and health. It’s hard to get four guys in our age group healthy enough to line up, and a track race is all the more risky.

I spent months encouraging an cajoling potential relay members and typically got mixed responses. Two of us were committed, one seemed to be ready if we had a team, a couple were injured or not interested, and one had been battling off and on injuries over the past year and had the attitude that if we are not going to set a record then the travel is not worth it. I even offered space at my brother-in-law’s place in Sacramento as a incentive. In the weeks leading up to the championships we seemed to have settled into a quartet of four capable runners who on paper could pull it off.

Creating a mental form chart, I figured I could run under 2:35 on a good day, Dan capable of matching that, maybe faster maybe a bit slower. Jack was hoping for 2:40-2:45 or so, and Bob sub 3. Adding those up our best case indicated maybe 10:50 for the four of us. Reasonable expectation without a blow up by one of us certainly put us comfortably in a sub 11:20 (for example, a more conservative estimate would put us at about 2:35, 2:40, 2:50, 3:00 for a 11:05, still well under the record).

We had a handoff practice a little over a week before the race and all seemed well. Shots were fired on the weekend, however, as one of our guys complained of a bad foot. He’d said he would run, but it would be some risk. We really needed a back up, but had none. Nevertheless, Tamara and left town on Sunday thinking we’d all be good.

I was looking forward to racing the relay on Thursday.

On Monday morning we had just driven into Nevada and I got a text. One of our guys was out. No explanation. Just that he wouldn’t make the trip. Cold feet or injured? I spent the morning texting, to see if we could pull together a make up team. It was so frustrating. I just don’t like the attitude that either you must set a record or forget about, especially at such a late hour. That is just poor etiquette.

I told our teammate with the bad foot to stay home and heal up. Wasn’t worth it for him to travel that far and risk further injury for a make up team.

Fortunately, we had other teammates in the 60-64 category and rest of us came together and made a team of our own teammates, with four guys in the 60-69 range, with a couple in their 70s as back ups. We wouldn’t get a record but we could score points and medal in the event.

By the time we arrived in Sacramento on Monday evening the on again off again relay was back on, although not the age group line up that we had spent months trying to put together. Come on guys, it should not be this difficult!

Brutally Hot Sacramento

The temperatures rose into the 100s each day that we were in Sacramento, which made for some challenging race conditions. The mornings were actually reasonable, 60-70s until about 9 or 10 AM most days. But the afternoons and evenings were brutal.

We arrived on Monday evening so I had two full days to rest from the long drive and to get in a couple final runs. On Tuesday I did a light workout on the track, 4X 1000 at 10K goal pace, followed by a couple of quick 200s to prime for Thursday’s relay, which would be held at about 3:30 or 4 PM on one of the hottest days of the year.

Relay Race Day

I got us signed up in the morning, and our main competition were two teams from the same club in California. I didn’t expect much because our replacements were doubling that day, and had other races in subsequent days and they said they wouldn’t be going all out. I figured that maybe we’d get a gentleman’s Silver Medal.

Other than actually figuring out who would run and our order, the biggest question was what time we’d go. We actually expected to race after 4 or 5 PM, because there would be some men’s and women’s heats before ours. I got to the venue just before 3 and my teammates were already heading toward the staging area! There would only be two heats, each with about a dozen teams.

We lined up at 3:30, and I would go first. Although this was just a make-up team and we were running for points I decided to go all out because, (A) I had some pent up energy from the team falling apart earlier in the week, and (B) for some redemption from the previous week’s disastrous 2:44. I felt I could run under 2:35 and the question was by how much.

It was 102 degrees at race time with a light wind on the homestretch.

At the gun I cut in a little too quickly and slowly into the curve, and found myself at second to last place. In the backstretch I moved into 5th place and the pace felt easy. One guy from SoCal was a few meters up and I tucked in behind him, planning to pass him after a lap. But he slowed more on the home stretch so I passed him at about 350 meters, crossing the lap in 79. It felt a lot easier than the 77 second first lap at altitude earlier in the month!

At the gun.

From there I just wound it up, picking up my pace as I took the second lap.

Saving my final kick for the last 80 or 90 meters. I did feel some tightness with about 20 meters to go, but handed it off to Bob with a nifty negative split of 79-74. I am more than happy with a 2:33!

15 meters to go!

Bob kept it rolling with a 2:55 and the other Bob (who had already run some sprint prelims on Thursday and had the finals on Friday) cruised in a 3:00, and Adam took the final leg in 3:14, holding off a late charge from SoCal, and ensuring a surprise age group win for us in 11:41!

On the screen.

The relay was a big success! The aftermath less so.

After we crossed the line, I milled around the finish area for a few minutes and enjoyed the moment with my teammates and competitors. Soon after Adam had finished however, I started coughing and gagging. It wouldn’t stop. This went on for about 10 minutes and I realized I wasn’t going to make it back to the car, let alone back to the house to get my inhaler, which I had left behind. I usually bring it, but forgot on Thursday. So some officials pointed me toward the medical tent at the end of the straightaway and I asked for some assistance.

It was a little embarrassing to have the EMTs drive in, take my pulse and O2 readings, check my breathing. But it was a relief to get a mist of albuterol and oxygen to calm the attack. This took about 20 or 30 minutes and I missed the celebration with my teammates.

My chest and throat were tight for the rest of the evening and overnight but I was otherwise okay. I ordered a new inhaler as soon as I got home this week.

Saturday the 10000 Meters

The 10K is more in my wheelhouse as a race distance, but I have only run two of these ever on the track (both in 1991, when I ran a 32:11). You don’t have hills and turns on the track, and the going is more smooth but it’s more mental than on the roads or in cross country.

I felt fine for the warm up but was concerned about the heat. It was already in the upper 70s when we lined up at about 8:40 (79 degrees according to Garmin) and it had to be 5 degrees warmer on the track, with the radiant heat from the previous day.

My plan was to run about 3:50-55 per km/6:10 per mile to finish under 38:30 and if I was having a good day under 38. Seemed fair enough based on recent workouts and races, and because I usually perform a little better at 10K than 5K. That was probably a little over-optimistic. My pacing was supposed to be over 6:10 for the first 1600, maybe as slow as 6:20s, and in hindsight I should have stuck with that.

Two guys in their 60s went out quickly in about 90 for their first lap and I held back some and was about 96. An age group rival was right on my heels, almost clipping them. That made me uncomfortable, and run a second or so per lap faster than I would have.

The two 60-64 guys already had a gap in the first kilometer.

I ended up running a string of 91s and 92s, and for 2 kilometers, my California shadow was right there. If I slowed he’d slow. So rather than stepping aside into lane 2 and letting him pass I just kept going. I think in a normal temperature (say 50s or low 60s instead of 80 or more) I would have been fine with the pace. Finally, after five laps he fell off the pace. The leader was running steady 90-91s, and had built about a 20 second lead, and second was less than 10 seconds up. I also tried to maintain my effort but started to worked to reel them in. I crossed 3200 in about 12:20, so effectively right on pace, although I was running by feel then and not focused on times and splits.

The sprayed us each lap at the beginning of the back stretch the cooling water felt nice but it was a brief respite from the heat because the water would mostly dry off by the time you rounded the track again.

Although the two leaders were not in my age group, I treated it like a race that I wanted to win outright. I caught the second runner at 5K. He fell back about 10 or 15 meters and it seemed like I was gaining on first. And so it went. The 1600 splits in the middle of the race were both at about 6:15.

There was a water table on the backstretch but it was in lane 4 and you had to veer out and slow down a little to get your drink. I went for my second drink at about 7000 meters and my competitor seized the moment and scooted past–quickly. By the time we came around for the next lap (I went to the table again to grab a cup to throw some water on my head and shoulders) he already had put on 15 meters.

With less than 3K to go, I had my own race wrapped up as I was coming up to lap the second and third place runners from my division–that was good, but they were not coming back as quickly as I would like, which meant that I was slowing up. The 5th 1600 would be the slowest of my day, I only ran about 6:27. Although I fell back some against the younger competitors, I lapped my age group rivals on the 21st lap–I had it in the bag and all I had to do was hold on.

Sweating it out over the final laps in Sacramento.

I maintained for a few more laps and then picked it up over the final two, crossing the line in a very hot 39:16, nearly 30 seconds slower than the younger runners. But I had lapped the rest of the field. So perhaps not as fast as I’d like, but I’ll take the win, but I am with winning my age division by more than two minutes.

Age group winners! Javier caught the leader Scott with just a couple meters to go to win the 60-64 age group and I came out ahead in the 65-69 category.

An Update I Did Not Want to Write

Just the other week I described my fall and comeback from 2016. And was actually going to follow up with some detail of the masters dream seasons of 2018 and 2019. However, here I am drifting among the flotsam and jetsam of 2019, which ended abruptly the other week in Tulsa, OK.

Tulsa was the springboard that launched this journey onto the national masters circuit. So this is a story of bookends.

2017 Breakout

Although I had done the USATF Club Cross Country championships a few times, Tulsa 2017 was my first USATF masters road race championship. Still running as an independent for Boulder Track Club, I traveled with my new mates on the Boulder Road Runners 60+ team. We had a blast, despite some issues with jerseys.

Funny in hindsight. A cardinal rule on the USATF masters circuit is that team members must have the same singlet/jersey. No exceptions.

The team had just switched its uniforms but one of the guys didn’t get his in time, so we spent the afternoon chasing down appropriate race attire so the team could remain eligible. After much debate and some running around the city, the team ended up wearing red Route 66 Marathon singlets, with BRR penned on the front and back. Everyone held their breath as the officious USATF official, who had scolded us all the afternoon before, checked the makeshift uniforms, and gave them the okay.

In the race I was still in the 55-59 age group, but only a few months shy of 60–not where you want to be in a championship race. Plus the field was intimidatingly deep. On a cold blustery morning I started evenly and wound my way through the pack and locked into an age group 3rd place by about 5K, with one guy just ahead, and one only a few seconds back. Even though my legs went numb from the cold and wind, I held on for 55:29 finish, and age grade of 89.5% to finish 3rd in the overall age grading and 3rd in the age group. These were my first podium finishes at the national masters level. Despite one bad injury on the BRR team, they dominated to win the team race and clinched their claim on the 2017 national title. BRR claims USATF age group title at 2017 team champs on a chilly morning

Riding the Wave in 2018 and 2019

That event set me up well for the breakout years of 2018 and 2019, where I went on to win a string of consecutive USATF age group national titles on the roads and some world masters championship medals.

We returned as a team in 2018 and dominated the day, and I won the individual title as well to close out the year with a sweep of USATF masters championship road races. I had added two more in 2019, on top of two runner-up spots in cross country, and came into Tulsa with 390 points on the grand prix. All I’d need was a 4th place finish to win the title.

August through late October had gone well, and even a bit dialed back on training and racing load compared 2018 because I had wanted to be more fresh this time. I was confident that I could still round the hilly circuit in under 56 minutes and break into the 90% age grade range to win that overall title (I had been 2nd twice).

Raced hard but winning felt easy in 2018.
2018 15K age group championship team.

Tulsa 2019

All was good the other week, and I had no issues in the training block, running between 59 and 69 miles over the 8 week period, I felt healthy and strong, planning on 6:00 minute pace for the race. I cut back on my long run on the Saturday before and did a final tune up on Tuesday, just a few reps of 2-3 minutes at goal pace and a couple pick ups. Jogged back, felt solid.

Wednesday I ended up running on the treadmill because an early snowstorm had a arrived. Plan was an easy hour give or take. 30 minutes in, my lower back and glute got a little tight, but I thought nothing of it but slowed down to 8:10 pace. At 40 minutes I noticed it wasn’t going way, and I slowed a bit more, an cut the workout short at 45 minutes. When I got home it definitely hurt. And I hopped into a hot bath and took some ibuprofen.

I reconsidered overnight, but decided to make a go of it. And while the results were a disaster, it’s a good thing that made the trip.

I did not run a step until Saturday morning but all I could to get ready. Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours, lidocaine patches as needed, hot baths–including right before the race (those seemed to help the most).

I warmed up with an easy mile and 2 minute surge approaching race pace. It felt tight. But I felt I could run at least 6 or 8 miles, enough to carry me in with a good lead for the stretch. My main competitor has been running 18:20 or 18:30 for 5K, which is my 15K pace, so I felt I could hold him off, and if not still run under 60 minutes and ahead of everyone else.

At 8:50 we were off! 100 master runners for the 2019 finale! I was not uncomfortable but surprised at the fast pace of some starters–some going out well under 6:00 pace even though you’d expect them to finish in the 65 minute range (closer to 7s). I hit 2 miles in 12:08, just a couple ticks off of last year’s pace and felt that I could sustain this effort, if not a low 6s pace, for the duration. However, just after that I heard rapid footsteps, and the women’s leader Fiona Baily was soon on my heels. We had a number of turns and some rolling hills and I just ran by feel. But that 3rd mile (which I missed) was a 6:24. She pulled way, wearing the most talked about shoe ever, the Next%s and I got to thinking that indeed there must be something to those. And in the 4th mile another guy passed me back, also wearing Next%s.

Those two pulled away and I was running alone, with splits of 6:03 (some downhill) and 6:24 (rolling), and that 5th mile I was starting to feel actual (rather than tightness) pain in my lower back and glutes. It was taking a lot of concentration just to keep going. I was slowing. On the long downhill toward the river the 2nd woman Melissa Gasek caught me, and she said she’d buy me a beer if I helped her catch her competitor Bailey, who was a block or so ahead. I picked up the effort, feeling like I was on sub 6 pace, but each stride was stabbing. And after a few minutes, just had to drop back. My 6th mile was a 6:40 on a stretch that I covered in 5:50 last year.

My race was in trouble. Somewhere around 6.7 to 7 miles, by then only running a 7:30s pace, the first competitor in my age group passed by. I stopped just before the long bridge that spans the Arkansas River, thinking of just dropping out. A pack with two more more age group competitors ran past, asking if I was okay.

Not.

So my was my own title going down the drain, but the team’s 2nd place was also in jeopardy. If I did not finish, we would lose our grand prix podium standing. So I decided to go the extra mile on the out and back portion over the bridge. And resumed running at 9 to 10 minute pace. At about 8 miles I had to walk for a half mile, but somehow I as able to resume a very slow jog to the finish.

68 minutes with final 5K of 29 minutes. That was brutal. But by finishing the race, we held onto 2nd place on the day and for the grand prix. I do feel the effort was worth it. Even though I lost the individual title that day, in a worst case runners scenario, by finishing the course I also held onto a 2nd place. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but had a great three year run leading up to this race. And it masters running, being at the top usually means you are going to crash down from time time. Limping in at the finish in 2019

I could barely walk for the next two days and it has taken two weeks and some realignment therapy to even start feeling normal again. Onto more rehab, cross training, and plotting for 2020. Don’t get mad. Get even!