Mary is First Place – John is Last Place

Mary got 1st place AG and yes, I was last place in my AG.
For more, read on.
On Saturday, Mary and I participated in the Heart of Winter 12K in Redwood Falls, MN. This race starts at Jackpot Junction Casino, circles around some service roads there, then travels west on a county road for 5 miles, goes through some streets in Redwood Falls, and ends up at the Community Center with the last 200 meters being on an indoor track.
Temperature was 5F with only a 6mph west wind to run into. It was a bit chilly, but tolerable.
There were only 38 runners in the 12K and 65 runners in the 6K event.
I recognized a few people, including my speedy neighbor Ashley and age group rival Jay from Windom. Both Ashley and Jay run pretty much the same speed as myself when racing. I figured at least there would be some company.
The gun went off and there were at least 12 people that shot out ahead of me. I settled into a 7:00/mile pace and stuck to my plan – run steady and don’t do anything stupid.
I saw that Jay had shot ahead, but Ashley was running real close to my pace. I visited with her a bit, and told her that she could draft me once we got out on the open road going into the wind.
After the 2 mile mark, she took me up on the offer.
After 6 miles, and heading into the streets of Redwood Falls, I had a decision to make. Do I kick it down and try to catch some people in front of me? Logical John won out and decided to hold a steady pace to the finish. The streets were quite slippery and at times there was quite a bit of street snush building up on the shoes. Ashley fell off my pace when the footing got bad.
Got to the final stretch on the indoor track and it felt good to stretch out the legs and get a few strides done in warmer temps.
I visited with some other runners, and then went by the door to cheer on Mary on when she arrived at the track. She finished nice and strong!
Awards presentation was next. Ashley won 2nd overall women’s and $100. Mary won her age group (1st out of 2). Upon checking the results, I was officially 3rd out of 3 in the men’s 40-49 age group. Jay beat me by a good 1:30…he’s really running well lately.
Web site says my time was 52:12.7, but my watch showed 51:47. I think one of the people with the stop watches at the finish line missed me as I was running in stealth mode. It doesn’t take away my last place finish, but pointing out that fact makes me feel better….
PF Chang’s RNR Arizona Marathon:
We are getting ready to leave for this one. Flights leave tomorrow morning.
I’m feeling very ready for the marathon and anxious to run in some warmer temps!!
John