Tag: SC Road Races

Race #107 – Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon – Myrtle Beach, SC – 10/24/10

Posted on by Richard Hefner

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of the inaugural running of the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon. If the website and all of the promotion were any indication of this half marathon event, it would be great for sure, but you really can’t tell from just a website what you’re getting yourself into. Since the New York City Marathon is just two weeks away for me, this was a taper week that called for a long run of 12 miles, so it fit nicely into my plans. Linda was interested in it as well, and trained to run this as her second half marathon. We decided to wait and see how the weather forecast was shaping up before we committed ourselves, and by about Tuesday it was looking like it might be a beautiful beach weekend, so we went ahead and registered a couple of days before the pre-registration cutoff in order to save $20 each on the registration fee. There was no race-day registration and the last day you could register for this Sunday half was Saturday at the expo. The full registration fee of $100 on Saturday is definitely steep for a half marathon, but I have to say this ended up being one of the very best racing experiences we’ve ever had and was well worth it.
We weren’t around for Saturday’s 5k and high heel race but from the photos they looked like a lot of fun. All of the 5k finishers received a finisher’s medal that would rival almost any marathon medal you’ll see. The surboard-shaped finisher medals for the half marathon though were spectacular, by far the best I’ve seen anywhere. In addition to the great finisher medals, the age group awards were also outstanding — thick, beveled glass etched with the surfboard logo and complete race information. Making it even better, the race went 5 deep with awards for all age groups. If that weren’t enough, each group of winners had their pictures taken with Bart Yasso, who handed out the awards. With 76 runners in my age group, I was happy to come away with 3rd place (1:38:26).
The race course began by Medieval Times and the pre-race ceremonies included knights on horses and some pretty impressive sword fights featuring the Medieval Times performers. The course was nice and flat with the exception of a trip up a fairly long bridge in the second mile. The final three miles of the course were straight down Ocean Boulevard to the 2nd Avenue Pier, then back up the brand new Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, ending at the site where The Pavilion once stood. This was followed by entertainment and the awards ceremony just a block north at Plyler Park. It was sunny and beautiful with temperatures in the mid 70s at the end of the race.
With the perfect weather, great race organization, and beautiful course, Linda and I both agreed this was overall our favorite race since we’ve been running. We’ll be back!
Race Rating:
10 – 1-10 Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
10 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
10 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
5 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
8 – 1-10 T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
4 – 4/6 Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
5 – 0/5 Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
9 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
2 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average) (Point-to-Point — Long wait for shuttle)
10 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 – 0-10 Age Groups (10 if 5-year groups; 0 if 10-year groups)
0 – 0/5 Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
7 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
0-10 Other
TOTAL – 103
My Stats:
Time: 1:38:26
Pace: 7:30
Age Group: 3 of 76 (3.4%)
Gender: 80 of 1001 (8%)
Overall: 93 of 2,698 (3.9%)

Race #101 – Midnight Flight 10k – Anderson, SC – 09/03/10

Posted on by Richard Hefner

If race #101 is any indication of future race results, it could be a long journey for the next 100 races. It wasn’t all bad for me at this year’s Midnight Flight 10k in Anderson. I did manage to finish in 2nd place in my age group this year, which is higher than my 3rd place finish last year. However, I was also 4 minutes slower in this year’s race, finishing in 47:07 as opposed to last year’s 43:12. Ouch.
The time and temperature sign near the starting line said it was 84 degrees at the 11 p.m. start of the race, but I’m not sure that was correct since those things seem to be wrong a good portion of the time. I’m still wearing a big brace on my right knee and a smaller one on my left knee. I’m not sure if that could be slowing me down but it’s definitely not making me any faster. I could probably think of a half dozen more excuses but I have a feeling that I’ve just slowed down quite a bit due to a combination of factors and probably either need to shake up my training routine or get used to being slower. I’m not ready to concede defeat just yet so I’ll probably try to shake things up in my training and see if I can get back to what was normal a few months ago.
Regarding the race itself, the Midnight Flight 10k is the first race of the new season of the Running Journal Grand Prix, which is a series of ten races held throughout the Southeast U.S. , sponsored by Running Journal Magazine. The top eight runners in each 5-year age group as well as Masters (40-49), Grand Masters (50-59), Senior Grand Masters (60-69), and Veterans (70+) earn points. Last year I was the Grand Masters Champion for the season, earning points in seven races. This year there’s no way I’ll repeat that performance since I’m not running quite as well and I also won’t be able to run as many of the races, but win or lose, all of the races are a lot of fun and several are local so I’ll run as many as possible.
Here’s a list of the races on this year’s schedule:
Although the Midnight Flight 10k is the smallest of the Running Journal Grand Prix races with only about 400 runners, it’s still a great race with a lot of community support. The 5k race, which begins an hour earlier at 10 p.m. actually had more than 1,000 finishers and is part of the Palmetto Grand Prix and the Run & See Georgia Grand Prix. There are also several hundred runners in the 1-mile race that begins at 9:15 so there are a total of around 2,000 runners involved as well as a lot of spectators.
Almost everything about the Midnight Flight is great (food, entertainment, volunteers, etc.) except for one notable exception: the age group awards. This year, just like last year, the age group awards were hand towels. They were imprinted with the Midnight Flight logo, which was nice; nevertheless, hand towels for awards, especially in one of South Carolina’s premier road races, are disappointing. I’m sure there is a local trophy shop that could use the business, and I hope in the future they’ll consider giving trophies instead.
Race Rating:
8 – 1-10 Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
2 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
8 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
8 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
7 – 1-10 T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
6 – 4/6 Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
5 – 0/5 Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
7 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
6 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
9 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 – 0-10 Age Groups (10 if 5-year groups; 0 if 10-year groups)
5 – 0/5 Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
5 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
0-10 Other
TOTAL – 100
My Stats:
Time: 47:07
Pace: 7:35
Age Group: 2 of 8
Overall: 70 of 371

Race #82 – Come See Me Festival 5k – Rock Hill, SC – 04/17/10

Posted on by Richard Hefner

Gone fishing? To be honest, I’ve never been much of a fisherman. To be a little more precise, I’ve never owned a fishing pole and I’ve never caught a fish, so when I announced after this past Saturday’s race that I’ve “Gone Fishing” and wouldn’t be doing any more commentaries on the races I’ve run, I should have known it wouldn’t last. I’m sure most of the readers of this blog would rise up with a resounding “Who cares?”, and rightly so. One less blog to keep up with would simplify life for most people, including me. But it’s my blog, and the compulsive side of me just won’t let well enough alone, so when I looked at that big empty spot where I should have been running my mouth, I knew the only proper thing would be to cut the fishing trip short and fill in the blanks, lest I actually caught a fish and wouldn’t know what to do with it.

I mentioned in my swan song that I had already covered just about everything imaginable in the first twenty races I ran. Here I am at race #82 and, no doubt, I’ve started repeating myself. Then again, maybe somebody’s just getting here and hasn’t heard it all before or they want to know what happened in this particular race.

Whether it’s a 5k or a marathon or anything in between, each race is somewhat of a different experience in its own way. Yes, there are certain common elements:

“If I had moved my feet faster I would have finished sooner.”
“There was this guy about 20 feet ahead who I couldn’t quite catch up with.”
“I’d slow down going uphill, but then I would speed up going downhill.”
“I ate a banana after the race.”
“I’m bummed that the age group awards were _________________ instead of trophies. (Fill in the blank — it’s different but disappointing in almost every race.)

Early in the week Bill Weimer had asked on Facebook if anybody was running the Come-See-Me 5k in Rock Hill, and I hadn’t heard about it. There were several races around and I hadn’t really decided on anything in particular. Dianne Allen, who knows the local races just about better than anybody, said it’s a race that she really enjoys so we decided to head out for Rock Hill on Saturday morning. Turns out it was a good decision. It was an enjoyable race with about 400 runners, good food afterwards, and I got first place in my age group (always a plus).

Just before the race Dianne introduced us to a friend of hers named Ed who works with her in Charlotte. After we talked to him a few minutes he mentioned he lived in Gastonia, which is where Linda and I live, of course, so I was excited to meet another runner from Gastonia (it’s not exactly a hotbed of running activity). Ed told us where he lived and we mentioned that we used to live in that same general area in a house that was demolished several years ago. Linda and I had lived there for the first three years of our marriage (1980-83) and our son David was born while we lived there. It was a place of special memories for us and one of only three houses we’ve lived in since we were married 31 years ago. We came to find out that after we moved out of the house, Ed and his family moved into that same house! Wow… talk about a small world! We then figured out that we both do a lot of our runs each week at Martha Rivers Park in Gastonia, and we’re planning on meeting up there and running together soon. Ed emailed me the next day and said that when he got home he told his wife about meeting us, and she actually remembered meeting us at the church both of our families attended at the same time back in 1985 — 25 years ago! Weird-O-Rama!

Anyhoo, I guess I really should talk a little bit about the race. It was pretty flat and pretty fast, as advertised, and scenic as well. Another of our Charlotte running friends who showed up was Steve Staley, President of the Charlotte Road Runners Club, veteran of over 1000 races, and lately my main competition since he just turned 55 a few months ago and entered the 55-59 age group. Last year at China Grove Steve beat me at the finish line while pushing a stroller, so he’s definitely a fast guy. Since he’s turned 55 I think he’s beat me a couple times and I’ve beat him a couple times, but it always makes it a little more interesting to have somebody pretty close to you in a race who you know is in the same age group. Makes things a little more exciting! The one Steve and I really have to look out for is Steve’s 10-year-old son, Drew, who of course isn’t in our age group but at 10 years old is just about to pass us both up, consistently running sub-22-minute 5k’s. He’s definitely somebody to keep an eye out for, no matter what your age group. It won’t be long — probably a year or two at the ripe old age of 11 or 12 (or maybe 13) — that Drew will be way ahead of us and challenging the overall fastest runners.


Race Rating:
4 – 1-10  Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
4 – 1-10  Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
8 – 1-10  Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
9 – 1-10  Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
4 – 1-10  T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
4 – 4/6   Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
0 – 0/5   Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
4 – 4/6   Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7   Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
8 – 1-10  Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
7 – 1-10  Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
7 – 1-10  Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 – 0-10  Age Groups (10 if 5-year groups; 0 if 10-year groups)
5 – 0/5   Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
5 – 1-10  Bathroom Facilities
0-10  Other
TOTAL – 83
My Stats:
Time:  21:04
Pace:  6:48
Age Group:  1 of 12
Overall:  23 of 355 (6.5%)

Race #72 – Alyce T. Guettler Hunger Run 5k – Rock Hill, SC – 02/06/10

Posted on by Richard Hefner

After all of the miserable winter weather we’ve been having it was great to get in a race this week. With all of the ice and snow north of Charlotte, it was nice that this one was south of the border in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The forecast was a little iffy and it was cloudy and kind of misty but the 38-degree temperature almost felt pleasant after the bone-chilling days we’ve been having lately.
This is a small race but a good one. It begins at Dinkins Student Center on the campus of Winthrop University and winds its way mostly through some scenic outlying areas of the campus. It’s fairly flat other than a pretty decent hill in the last mile, but the hill peaks just about at the 3-mile mark, allowing for a nice fast finish over the last 1/10 of a mile if you have a little gas left.
The T-shirts are pretty plain and the trophies are coffee mugs, so nothing exciting there, but this year’s food was really good — homemade brownies, a variety of cookies, sandwiches (pimiento cheese and egg salad), bagels, soft drinks, water, and maybe some other things I missed. Once again I blew my diet but I’ll try to make up for it with a long run tomorrow.
For me personally, it was a great race. It wasn’t a PR — I actually ran a minute faster at the Santa Scramble a few months ago — but it was the first time I felt comfortable all the way through a race. I finished in 20:52 (6:44 pace), which was 1st in my age group and 12th overall in the race. I hope it’s not a placebo effect or some other delusion, and only time will tell if that’s the case, but the heart rate monitoring that I began recently seems to be paying off. I’ve only been doing heart rate training a few weeks so I’m still feeling my way around and experimenting with what works for me (since we’re all different). My Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) is 176 according to the formula that works for most people. At least that’s the number I work with and it does seem to be right for me. I’ve found that I have a “cruising speed” that I reach at about 166 beats per minute. That’s about 94-95% of my MHR and that’s where I tried to keep it today. If I get much higher than that, say in the 169-170 range, I become exhausted quickly and have to slow down or walk, and that’s most likely what was happening when I used to take all of the walk breaks in races and wasn’t monitoring my heart rate. So now, instead of walking I just monitor my heart rate and if it starts going too high I slow down a little until I’m back to my normal comfortable speed. Alternatively, if I look at my monitor and I’ve dropped down to less than 165 I know I can give it a little boost and still be in a comfortable range. Supposedly, over time your heart becomes more efficient with this training and you run faster eventually with that same heart rate.  I’ll have to wait and see how it works out over time, of course, but it feels right for me at this point.
Race Rating
2 – 1-10  Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
2 – 1-10  Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
6 – 1-10  Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
8 – 1-10  Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
3 – 1-10  T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
4 – 4/6   Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
0 – 0/5   Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
4 – 4/6   Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7   Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
8 – 1-10  Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
9 – 1-10  Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 – 1-10  Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 – 0-10  Age Groups (10 if 5-year groups; 0 if 10-year groups)
5 – 0/5   Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
5 – 1-10  Bathroom Facilities
0-10  Other
TOTAL – 78

Race #68 – Cold Winter’s Day 5k – Columbia, SC – 12/26/09

Posted on by Richard Hefner

When you think of Columbia, South Carolina, cold is not usually the first thing that comes to mind, but it was pretty chilly Down South for the Cold Winter’s Day 5k. Our last race in Columbia was the Hot Summer’s Night 5k back on August 1st, and let’s just say the 50-degree difference between the two races was definitely noticeable. It was actually a nice day for running though, and this was the final race of the season for the Palmetto Grand Prix and the final race of the year for me as well. The “off season” for me and Linda is short though — our first race of 2010 is at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.
We were happy to meet up with some of the Charlotte runners who made it down — Tom and Lana Torkildsen and Bobby Aswell — and we were kind of surprised that more Charlotte runners didn’t show up since there were no Charlotte area races this weekend. I guess it’s that time of year when a lot of people are taking a little break.
This race was touted as “flat and fast” and I always like to hear that. It was pretty flat and pretty fast but there were a few minor uphill areas — nothing to get excited about though. The scenery was great, passing around a lake and through some pleasant neighborhoods on a circular course. Best of all was the finish, a tenth of a mile (maybe two-tenths) of nothing but a fairly steep downhill that took you to the finish line.
The after-race fare was excellent and included pizza, Dunkin Donuts, and fruit that included bananas as well as strawberries and pineapple. I completely wrecked my diet but it’s been a rough week in that department anyway. I’ll be getting back to business in the diet department now that Christmas is over, or suffer the consequences, which I really don’t want to do.
The T-shirts were great — long-sleeved tech shirts with the Strictly Running logo on the front and the words “See Ya!” on the back. I think Strictly Running probably uses these in a lot of races instead of getting race specific shirts, which is fine with me. I still have the same shirt (except short-sleeve cotton) from the Hot Summer’s Night race; it was one of my favorite shirts of the year and one of the few that I actually wear.
My Race Stats:
  • Time: 20:53
  • Pace: 6:44
  • Age Group: 3 of 15
  • Gender: 42 of 227
  • Overall: 50 of 439

Click Here for Race Results

Click Here for Official Race Photos

Race Rating

8 – 1-10  Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
4 – 1-10  Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
7 – 1-10  Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
8 – 1-10  Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
8 – 1-10  T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
6 – 4/6   Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
5 – 0/5   Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 – 4/6   Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7   Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
8 – 1-10  Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 – 1-10  Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
6 – 1-10  Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 – 0-10  Age Groups (10 if 5-year groups; 0 if 10-year groups)
0 – 0/5   Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
6 – 1-10  Bathroom Facilities
0-10  Other
TOTAL – 94

Race #57 – iRecycle Half Marathon – Spartanburg SC – 10/10/09

Posted on by Richard Hefner

The iRecycle Half Marathon was my 4th half marathon in the past 28 days and probably won’t be going into my highlight reel. Of those four half marathons, this one was my slowest, with a finishing time of 1:42:10, a 7:48 per mile pace, which is about 30 seconds slower than last week’s HM. I definitely can’t blame it on the hills. There were a few hills in this race but actually less than in either of the three previous ones. Great course too, and scenic, winding around a local lake and through nice neighborhoods as well as a good portion of the Spartanburg greenway system.
It was an unusually warm day for the middle of October, with the overnight low temperature about 70 degrees and the humidity above 90% at race time. I heard a few other people mention that they were bothered by the humidity and their times were a little slower because of it, so maybe that could have been part of my problem as well.
Strictly Running was in charge of the race timing and they seem to always do a great job. I came home and took a 1-hour nap and when I woke up and checked my email they had already emailed me a link to the results as well as race photos.
All of the half marathon finishers received a nice custom designed medal, and the age group awards were unique and attractive trophies made from recycled plastic.
I do have one beef with this race: 10-year age groups. The great majority of races these days have 5-year age groups. Of course, race directors are free to have any age groups they deem appropriate, but if I would have known ahead of time that there were 10-year age groups I would have instead run the Bethel Half Marathon (which had the normal 5-year age groups). I realize that everyone is not affected by this and that some people are just running to be running, and that’s noble and all that, but for some of us being an age group competitor is an important part of the race, and if we’re one of the top 3 finishers in our 5-year age group (in my case 55-59), then we get a little miffed to find out after the race that the people putting on the race decided to cut corners by throwing us into the mix with people 5 years younger than us. Although it wasn’t my best race, I was still the fastest finisher over 55 in the race, so normally I would have had 1st place in my normal 55-59 age division. With the 10-year age group though, I ended up in 5th place of 25 runners in the 50-59 age group.
Race Rating:
7 – 1-10 Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
8 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
5 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
3 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
5 – 1-10 T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
6 – 4/6 Part of Race Series (Palmetto Grand Prix) (6=Yes and 4=No)
5 – 0/5 Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
8 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
8 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
3 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
3 – 3/7 Age Groups (7 if 5-year groups; 3 if 10-year groups)
5 – 0/5 Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
6 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
0 – 0-10 Other
TOTAL – 85

Race #50 – Midnight Flight 10k – Anderson SC – 09/04/09

Posted on by Richard Hefner

The big five-oh! It was my 50th race since I started running last Labor Day weekend and finishing 50 races was one of my main goals for the year.
The Midnight Flight 10k in Anderson, South Carolina, is the first race on the Running Journal Grand Prix schedule. It’s a biggy and was well worth the 110-mile trip down Interstate-85 in Friday afternoon Labor Day weekend traffic to get there. We arrived at the race site about 8:00 p.m. and the celebration was already in full swing. There was a blues band playing on the stage and plenty of free food as we waited for the races to begin. There was a 1-mile race at 9:00, a 5k at 10:00, and the grand finale, the 10k, at 11:00 p.m. That’s definitely late for running and actually past my bedtime but there was plenty of excitement to keep me awake until the race started.
I met up with Bob Nelson at the starting line a few minutes before the race. Bob was last year’s Running Journal Grand Prix champ in the 55-59 age group and also the RFYL Grand Prix champ and has proven time after time that he’s the fastest runner in my age group in the Charlotte area. Like all of the other fast runners I’ve met, Bob downplays all of his own running accomplishments and quietly prefers to just let his running speak for itself.
As the race began there was just a little touch of autumn in the air and it felt great cruising down a slight grade for most of the first mile. I knew this was an out-and-back course and I’d have to make up for my lack of uphill speed by going faster downhill. Just ahead of me maybe 3/4 of a mile into the race were Bob Nelson and two of the Charlotte area’s other fastest Bobs — Bob Heck and Bobby Aswell. I knew they were all pacing themselves, but since that doesn’t fit into my “fast-downhill-slow-uphill” style I apologetically blew past all three of them, knowing they’d catch me eventually but thinking it would still be a good move for me, which I think it was. They all caught me again and passed me somewhere around 3 or 4 miles. I wasn’t able to catch Bob Nelson again but was able to keep him on my radar for the rest of the race, with him finishing 50th overall and me finishing 51st about 20 seconds behind. Interestingly, right about the 5-mile point I decided to take a short walk break for about 20 seconds (it was either walk or die at that point). After about 10 seconds I heard footsteps behind me and heard somebody yell: “Don’t stop now! We’re almost finished!” as he passed me. He looked like he could be in my age group and I could see up ahead that he also passed Bob Nelson. After the race I saw him and talked to him a few minutes where the race results were being posted. He was Jerry Hutto from Aiken, South Carolina, and he finished 1st in the 55-59 age group, followed by Bob Nelson in second and me in third. I was actually elated to finish as high as third though and my time of 43:11 beat my old 10k PR by over 5 minutes!
It was my first 10k since March and I was amazed to end up with a 6:57 pace. Here are my mile splits…
Mile 1 — 6:24
Mile 2 — 6:47
Mile 3 — 7:06
Mile 4 — 6:57
Mile 5 — 6:58
Mile 6 — 7:36
I actually took two short 20-second walks in that last mile, which you can kind of see in the pace, but it did feel good at the time.
By the end of the 10k race the celebration surrounding the race had pretty much ended. The 5k race, which had well over 1,000 runners, had ended over an hour earlier and much of the crowd had gone home. The band was packing up to leave, and about all that was left was the 10k finishers who wanted to see if they placed in the official results, which were posted a little after midnight. There really wasn’t an awards ceremony. If you placed in the race you picked up your award and left with zero fanfare. The age group awards were actually hand towels emblazoned with the “Midnight Flight 09″ race logo. Again I thought a medal or trophy would have been preferable, but most of us (including me) were in it for the experience — and the Running Journal Grand Prix points!

Race Rating:
8 – 1-10 Website (Informaton, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
2 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
1 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
10 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
7 – 1-10 T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
6 – 4/6 Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
5 – 0/5 Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
7 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
7 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
7 – 3/7 Age Groups (7 if 5-year groups; 3 if 10-year groups)
5 – 0/5 Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
7 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
0 – 0-10 Other
TOTAL – 95

Race #46 – Hot Summer’s Night 5k – Columbia SC – 08/01/09

Posted on by Richard Hefner

It was slim pickin’s in the Charlotte area for races this weekend so we slid down Interstate 77 to the Hot Summer’s Night 5k in Columbia, South Carolina. I’m not sure of the official temperature at the 7 p.m. race time, but it was probably somewhere between 85 and 90 degrees, so it was probably too hot to be running, but I was happy we did it, at least after it was over. It was our first race in the Columbia area, and it was one of the Palmetto Grand Prix races. The race management by Strictly Running seemed excellent and included computers with fairly large and readable screens with the results just after you finished the race and an announcer who encouraged you across the finish line.
The course was pretty much flat, with just a few small inclines, but with the way I felt in the heat I decided to take a 20-second walk break in both the 2nd and 3rd mile and definitely felt better for it. I had been maybe 20 or 30 yards in back of two guys who appeared to be about my age and I figured I’d lose them if I walked, but whaddya know, I caught both of them after the two walk breaks and managed to pass them in the last tenth of a mile or so. Chalk another one up for the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run method! I finished 2nd in the Male 55-59 division with a time of 22:51.
The food was a little spread out — water and sports drinks at the finish line, more than enough pizza for everybody about 20 or 30 yards away, then across the field by the Hand Middle School (where the race registration was held) there was more fruit (including some great watermelon, apples, oranges, bananas) and lots of cookies.
We registered at the race and were too late to get one of the official race shirts but instead they gave us a Strictly Running shirt that says “See Ya” in big letters on the back. It’s white and cotton, but it’s a good one that will actually get worn.
It appeared that most (maybe all) of the Palmetto Grand Prix races have a professional photographer on hand at their races so I was happy to leave my camera in the car. The photos are pending as I write this but I’ll include a link to where they’ll be found when they’re available.
Race Rating
8 – 1-10 Website (Informaton, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
7 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
7 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
9 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
7 – 1-10 T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
6 – 4/6 Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
5 – 0/5 Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
7 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
7 – 3/7 Age Groups (7 if 5-year groups; 3 if 10-year groups)
5 – 0/5 Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
4 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
0 – 0-10 Other
TOTAL – 95