St. Rita's Roman Catholic Church was founded in my quaint little town of Webster, NY all the way back in 1950. The church and school run classes for grades kindergarten up to sixth sit on an old, beautiful 23 acre farm.
Growing up I went to a Catholic school and I often look back fondly on those years. The teachers, priests and nuns provided the basis for who I am today. One of my favorite memories about my old school was the annual summer festival that would happen every year towards the end of the school year. These festivals are a common thing among Roman Catholic churches. Through the years in Rochester there's been a dramatic decline in the number of Roman Catholic churches and schools and these festivals help to generate revenue for those that are left.
While I'm not a practicing Catholic anymore I do still enjoy a good church festival! St. Rita's is one of the more successful ones in the area drawing large crowds. They have rides, raffles, games and even give away a car every year towards the end of May. This year they decided to have an inaugural 5K and 10K road race. I didn't find this out until last minute. So with a little running around I managed to register in time to race the 10K. I couldn't pass up a chance to run my first inaugural race in 13 years on the roads I routinely trainvon. The church is less than five minutes from my house. So the roll out of bed factor and having it out my front door was inviting. It didn't hurt that there was an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast after the race for the racers. I have a sore spot for pancakes!
The morning of the race was beautiful with a 75 degree temperature and a humidity of 69%. I would've liked the humidity to be a bit lower. But beggars can't be choosers after the crushing winter we just had. Besides there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the chance of rain was non-existent. It was a good day to race!
After a good night's sleep I woke up and ate my standard wheat bagel with peanut butter and washed it all down with some Starbucks rocket fuel. I made it to the church well before the 7:30 AM start time. I usually don't know anyone at my races. But surprisingly another friend and fellow deputy who works for my department was there with his wife. It was good to see him. A little over a month before he dropped dead while working out with another friend at a local cross-fit gym. My friend isn't a frequent runner like me. But he is in really great shape. So this was a big shock for everybody. If it wasn't for the gym's defibrillator and another friend and fellow deputy's quick action, he wouldn't be standing there with me that morning. They both were running the 5K. I wished them luck, told him he was inspiring and headed off the start line. The races weren't heavily advertised. So I toed the line with only 23 other racers. It was the smallest race I've ever run!
I kicked on my racing mix on my iPod, turned on my Garmin watch and before I knew it, the race had started! I was still plagued with those nagging piriformis and IT band issues on my right side. But I was feeling decent and decided to try to hang with the lead pack for as long as I could. Right away this one guy just dropped the hammer and left all of us in the dust. It still amazes me how I can be clocking a sub 7:30 mile pace and other runners can just pull away from me like is was nothing. Very talented young man! The remaining pack consisted of two women and one other guy. I did pretty darn well the first three miles and picked off one of the women and the other guy. The turns were well marked and staffed with volunteers. I knew knew where I was going and most of the roads from training on them. But after about halfway the heat and humidity started taking their toll. There were some hills in there too. I just couldn't catch the one woman in front of me and as the race went on she just increased her lead on me. No worries though. I was feeling good and having a good time.
I came into the finish line totally spent clocking an average 8:09 mile pace finishing in 50:39. Remember how I never see anyone I know at my races? Well, another friend of mine who's a fellow racer came up to me at the finish line. She's a really good runner who's qualified and run Boston more than once and even has a 100 miler under her racing belt. She was the other woman that I couldn't catch! After some water I was able to catch my breath and the other friend and his wife came over after they finished the 5K. Introductions were made and all of us chatted about the race and life in general all while watching other racers come into the finish line. The morning passed by quickly and everyone else was eager to dive into the pancakes. But my stomach just wasn't up for it after the good effort I gave. So I said goodbye to my friends and headed off to my car.
As I was walking my race results came via email on my phone. I stopped dead in my tracks. For a minute there I thought the heat and humidity were making me see things. In the overall results column I was the third name down from the top? That couldn't be right? I didn't run a fast race (my third fastest 10K)? I walked back to the finish line where the timers were disassembling the equipment and pulled one of them aside. I explained that there must be some mistake because I was third from the top. The young guy just looked at my phone and irritatingly said, "Yeah, you took third." He was hot too and wanted nothing to do with this weird old guy complaining how he took third! Suddenly an average 10K that I registered for on a whim turned into not only my first inaugural race. But the first race where I placed in the top three! As I ambled around awestruck the race director came up to me and asked how I liked the race. Um, yeah dude. I LOVE YOUR RACE! I told him how it looked like I took third and he was apologetic that there weren't any room for medals in the budget. So he handed me a bunch of bananas instead. It was perfect! They were the best bunch of bananas I've ever had.
The rest of the day was spent on cloud nine! I texted my coach. I called everyone who would listen. It may have been a small 10K in a quaint little town. But for me it was yet another sign that I was triumphing over my back injury and getting back to being the person that I loved, a runner. A lot of people have helped along that journey and it was nice to show them I truly appreciated what they've done by running a good race!
So if you aren't busy next year towards the end of May, please check out the second annual St. Rita's 5K and 10K races! It was a great race in a beautiful town. You may even place. But don't count on it because I'll be running it again (and will also be on the organizing committee)!
So good to be back!
No comments:
Post a Comment