Four Races on the Fourth of July Weekend

Haven’t written in a while, which means:  I’ve been busy.

I got away last Wednesday and Thursday to run in the 50th anniversary West Texas Running Club Firecracker 10K in Brownfield, Texas, just southwest of Lubbock.

It was a race in my 87th different Texas county.  Just 167 to go, ha!

It is also the second year that I haven’t announced a race on the Fourth of July after doing so for seven years at the then-Baytown Bud Heat Wave.

Last year, I ran in Saint Jo, just west of Muenster, and the night before, I ran a race in Frisco.

I ran OK on Thursday.  Just under 1:05 on a course that was a little hilly in the first and last half mile on the out-and-back course.

Also, at the 3.1-mile turnaround, there was a downhill followed by an uphill to the turnaround.

The biggest challenge of the morning was a 20-minute late start.

One of the presumed West Texas Running Club members said that they didn’t have – for a while – the lock to their club trailer and that set a delay in motion.

I can live with that.  Very plausible.  That stuff happens.  I knew when the kids fun run, which was a mile with a half mile out and back course, was pushing at and a little over 8:00 a.m. that the main events – a 3-miler and a 10K – weren’t going to start on-time.

However, the club went through a prolonged set of announcements, including the history of the race, the starting of the club, course records, etc., as well as a costume contest.

Really, and totally, inexcusable.

If you’re going to open up your race to outside members and run the race on public roads, get the race started as quickly as possible – as long as course control is in place.

I guess what could I expect for a $15 non-members entry fee.

They had a nice T-shirt for sale – commemorating that it was the 50th anniversary race.  You’re thinking:  Who buys a T-shirt?  Well, if the price is right … it wasn’t.

I thought I had seen on their Facebook page that they were $15.  I carried a $20 bill from my car, but when I asked, it was $25!  (It was definitely $25 there too when I went back and double-checked.)

Brownfield sits at 3,310 feet above sea level and in the first two miles I could certainly feel it.

As well as it warming up after being delayed 20 minutes at the start.

Here’s how it went down:

Mile 1 - 9:58.95
1-1.5 - 5:24.81
1.5-2 - 5:09.78 (10:34.59)
2-3.1 - 11:18.47 (10:16 pace); Uphill at the end.
3.1-4.2 - 11:30.01 (10:27 pace); Downhill out of the turnaround.
4.2-4.7 - 5:27.49
4.7-5.2 - 5:35.75 (11:03.24)
5.2-5.7 - 5:18.50
5.7-6.2 - 5:13.79 (10:32.29)

Total = 1:04:57.55

I flew back Thursday afternoon, then made the decision on Friday to go to deCordova, Texas, which is just east of Granbury in Hood County.

I was able to use hotel points to stay at the Hampton Inn in Cleburne, where it was going to be a short half hour to the race site.

One of the reasons why I even knew about the race - officially the deCordova Dash 5K - is because one of my favorite timers, Race Day Event Services out of Hamilton, regularly sends a weekly e-mail with its upcoming races.

The race was run in deCordova Bend Estates, and they were celebrating their 50th anniversary with a 5K.  I don’t know if they’ve run this in the past.  I didn’t even think to ask.

The Estates are gated and after pulling up on race morning and letting the guard know that I was there for the race, I thought to myself, given the roads I was driving over, that it was going to be a hilly race.

I parked and it overlooked the start and a lake in the center of the Estates.

I had a good long visit with H.B. Wise of Movin’ Pictures before the race and chatted with Kate Denning of Race Day Event Services.

She does a really good job announcing.  Great voice.  Incredible, natural enthusiasm.  Skilled communicator.  And I told her that she could very well do just that if she ever wanted to.

There were some opening ceremonies and we got started on-time.

Straight shot out with the lake to our left and then we took a right – straight up a hill for about the next four minutes.

It finally leveled out, but it put me into oxygen debt in a hurry.

It wasn’t completely hilly as we ran the cart path between holes 10 to 18 of the Estates’ golf course, but it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park either.

We had a big 100-foot long uphill right before we made it back out to the road and shortly we got the opening hill back and left-hand turn to the finish, but then you were spent.

According to one runner’s Garmin, the course was approximately 2.98 miles, and here is how it played out:

Mile 1 - 10:07.93
Mile 2 - 10:13.99
Last .98 - 9:41.14 (per runner's Garmin)

Total = 30:03.06 (10:05 per)

On a race like this, I took some solace that it was a finish in another county.  Glad that I have multiple goals.

I had originally thought about going to the Texas Air Hogs game, an independent minor league baseball team in Grand Prairie that plays in the American Association.  However, I wanted to run the Run For Wellness 5K along the White Oak Bayou Sunday morning – and I didn’t want to be dragging coming in after midnight on Saturday night.

So I took in three museums on the way home.  (Almost made it four as I stayed in Cleburne a bit too long in the morning, but the door to the Railroad Museum was inadvertently locked.)

I saw the Cell Block Museum in Hillsboro, the History of West Museum in West and the Temple Railroad & Heritage Museum.

The next morning, I was up and out of the house by 6:30 a.m. to head to downtown Houston.

I visited with series founder Kelly Juerden-Ramey for a little bit before the race.

If you’ve never done a free Run For Wellness 5K, you should.  And if you can donate when you register or make a contribution, the Houston Wellness Project would appreciate.  While the races on the first and fourth Sunday mornings of each month (except December) are free, there are some associated expenses for timing and permitting at one of the locations.

There were a little over 100 runners for the race and the course is an out-and-back on the White Oak Bayou trail.

The humidity was overbearing; therefore, I didn’t try to overdo it.

I was 14:45.31 on the way out for 1.55 miles, but I could just feel that a sub-30 with the return wasn’t going to be in the cards.

In February, I went 27:58.38.  April, 28:50.61.  And last month, 30:08.67.

By November, I’ll be running 40-minute 5Ks if I keep this up.

Regardless, I could feel it on the return, which I covered in 15:41.44 for a total time of 30:26.75.

For the second straight month, I did the Run For Wellness-The Woodlands Running Club double.

Volte Endurance Training founder Bill Dwyer, in his former role as the club president of TWRC, started a once-a-month Sunday Night 5K at Barbara Bush Elementary in The Woodlands.

Its been going on since 2009!

Until a new road was built which allowed cars to cross the original course twice, it used the same course as the long-standing Run The Woodlands 5K.

This month’s race was held at 7 p.m. to help deal with the heat a little bit.

There was a good group of about 20 runners, mostly regulars who attend month-after-month.

Missing probably his first-race ever was Bill.  (Actually, there was one time he couldn’t hold it.  So this was the first time the race was held, but he was not able to be there.)

Volte coach Layton Gill and one of our excellent female runners in the community, Mayra Caamano, led the race in place of Bill.

It is always a quandry for me right up until race time as to if I’m going to race it or run it.

Invariably the choice is to race it as much as I can.

And I run the original course as somebody who’s been doing Run The Woodlands 5K since 2003 (when I started to run).  Plus the mile markers are still painted on the ground for the old course.

I thought I ran pretty controlled, given the weather conditions, but I posted a time of 30:48.81.

Sure, it was under 10 minutes per mile, but my goal in the summertime is to break 30 minutes.  Here is how each mile looked like:

Mile 1 - 9:35.71
Mile 2 - 10:05.92
Mile 3 - 10:12.84
Last .1 - 54.34

Total = 30:48.81

Faith Craig asked me after the race, “Isn’t this like the fourth race you’ve done this weekend?”

I confirmed that it was indeed true and that – I had nothing better to do.

Then again, it's not a bad hobby either.