The big day finally came. My first appearance in the Cornhusker State Games. Registration for the event was between 5-7 so I took off from the house at 5:30 hoping to beat the rush. Yes that was easily accomplished as there was no one there in line. I got back to the car after getting my chip and number and realized that they didn't include clips for the numbers to put onto your shirt. I'm sure they had extras but I had to blow some time and I also wanted to pick up my watch that I forgot the first time so I ran back home. I got the clips but in the process I forgot the watch again until I was halfway back (can't tell I was nervous or anything). I was still plenty early because the race wasn't until 8 and the fun run was at 7 so I just sat in the car and listened to the Royals game.
I finally got out at 7:30 and made my way over. Not much going on right outside of Haymarket Park. Well there were a lot of people but they were all just standing around staring at each other. I walked around a little bit and found a place to stretch out. 10 minutes to go....then 5 minutes to go...and then people starting lining up being the start line. My goal this year has been to finish in the top third of each race. I knew this one would be more competitive though and it was the longest one that I've ran so I wasn't sure how to pace myself. I took a spot towards the back of the group because I knew I didn't want to get run over and started at a nice pace. There were a lot of volunteers out clapping and offering their support so that was nice of them. The day was kind of overcast with some mist. I felt really good especially early on. I kept thinking that maybe my pace was too slow. As we looped around I finally got to see where we went under the overpass. They hadn't made that too clear in the packet but all you did was just stay on the road. That made sense. I made it around Haymarket Park the first time and fell into a decent rhythm. As we looped around again the 1 mile marker finally came out and they shouted out the time. I can't remember what they said but I was thinking it wasn't too bad, not great, but not bad. I tried to keep a slower pace yet because I wanted to make sure that I would be able to finish without stopping. I figured as long as I could make it to the 2 mile checkoff then I would pick it up. I spotted a guy that was either my age or older quite a ways in front of me so I made it a goal at some point to pass him. Some of the guys that ended up winning it passed me pretty early on or so it seemed. The winner ran it in like 16:09. I found it kind of funny that the guys that won all didn't wear shirts. Maybe that is the secret. :-)
I hit the 2-mile mark and then I took off the gloves and picked up the pace. I had my headphones on and kept replaying "Party like a rockstar" to keep me motivated. I kept passing people and it felt good. I could see that guy in front of me and I was closing the gap. As I made my way down Line Drive he was getting closer but I wasn't sure if I could do it. But I pushed on. The next obstacle would be to go up the pedestrian bridge that runs to the Haymarket. But right before that is when I was able to pass him. That felt good and gave me a lot of energy to push up the hill. I was passing people left and right now as I was at a pretty good sprint going up the hill. Finally I made it to the top and the 3 mile marker so just .1 to go and all downhill but I couldn't see the finish line for sure. I just knew that I couldn't make it much longer. As I hit the bottom of the bridge, there it was right in front of me and I crossed the line in 27 minutes and something. Yea!
As you can see by the results below I finished 5 out of 9 in my age division. I could have earned a medal if I would have placed in the top 3 but I would have had to have run it 2 minutes faster (maybe next year). The average time as 26:59 so I was a little below average and there were 235 people entered so I didn't finished in the top 3rd, which would have been 78th.
Race No. Name Age S Over. Div. Male Time Pace
1186 Brian Reetz 38 M 134 5/9 83/116 27:42 8:55
UPDATE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I got a blister. That is weird because I haven't gotten one in the time since I started running. It's near the big toe and it doesn't feel too good.
UPDATE 2: They also offered water on the course. I've always seen people run by and grab the water, take a sip and throw the cup to the ground and I've always wanted to do that so I did it on the final lap.
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