Achieving the real goal - Beat the Heat 5k

I have been running for almost 5 years now. In the last 3 I have become more serious about it. Sure my goal was to run a marathon but I've always had another goal. It is not a well defined goal but the goal is to get as many people in my family and even friends involved in some sort of physical activity. Hopefully running of course. Well over the past months I finally started to make progress on this goal. It all started with my cousin Christi and her husband Brian deciding they wanted to run a 5k and get "in shape". They invited me to come to NC and run it with them. The "Beat the Heat 5K" in Winston Salem, NC. This sparked my dad and my wife to begin training for it as well. They both trained for the race. Fortunately the race also included a mile kids run which caused my oldest daughter to start training for that as well. My youngest daughter wanted to run in it too so it became a family affair.


I cannot express the joy it gave me to have all my family with me at a race and most of them running in it! I think they were all really proud of their accomplishment as well. I ran the kids race with my youngest daughter and she ran her guts out. She had to walk some of it but she would run with all her might and then get tired and walk. It's hard to teach a 5 year old to pace themself. My oldest daughter ran really well running the mile in a little over 9 minutes. They both recieved finishing ribbons and they were proud of their accomplishment.
It was a great time and I hope I can keep everyone motivated. Running is not for everyone. It is tough on the body. It can be boring, hot, and lonely. I just feel like a got a tiny bit closer to reaching my goal of getting everyone motivated.

Richwood Scenic Mountain Triathlon 2007

July8th 2007
"Beeeeeeep.... Beep" The sound almost didn't register in my brain. K2 had said "I'll blow my bike horn when I hit the top of the mountain just before the visitor center". That means he's here! He arrived a little earlier than I thought. "We must be doing pretty good I thought". In just a few seconds he appeared on his black mountain bike amongst a couple other road bikes. He slowed to a stop and I yanked the little black wrist band off his wrist slipped it on mine and took off running up the road "like I'd stolen something". I looked down at my GPS and it said I was doing about a 5:45 minute mile. "Whoa Mark" I thought. That is too fast... slow it down. I had been anticipating this 6.2 mile run for months...

(Team Cranberry Rock Pre-Race Jitters)

The Richwood Scenic Triathlon consists of a 0.5 mile swim in the picturesque Summit Lake, a 17.1 mile grueling bicycle ride, and an out-and-back 6.2 (10k) road race. The swim is across the lake and back at the large end of the lake. A rope lined with floating noodles is used to mark the course. Swimmers swim out to the end of the rope and then head back to the start.

(K1 Finishes the Swim!)

The bike ride includes about a 2.5 mile "drop" from summit lake down to the main road (39). The road is a twisty narrow two lane road with several road bike killing pot holes. After that riders turn onto the main road and are treated with almost 14 miles of uphill riding that is capped off with a 9% climb to the top of Kennison Mountain for a total climb of almost 1000 feet.

( A long and grueling uphill ride)

The final section is a slight drop down to the Cranberry Mountain Visitor Center. The run leaves the visitor center and heads for the Cranberry Glades. Most of the run is on pavement the rest is on gravel. From the visitor center, runners drop about 300 feet in 3.1 miles and then have to climb back out for the finish. This race is held near the Cranberry Wilderness, my favorite getaway on earth.

(Touring the Cranberry Glades)

We were competing in this event as a team. Our team name if you can believe it was "Cranberry Rock". Most of the folks were doing it solo. There were about 200 competitors in this event.
I've run in several races now and let me tell you... these triathletes are in shape! Not that runners aren't "in shape" but triathletes work the upper body as well so they have that lean muscular look all over. Hard core runners tend to just be skinny with muscular legs.

(Lining up for the swim start)

We had camped at Summit Lake for a couple days prior to the race. We fished for trout in the Cranberry River and I even fished for native trout in one of its tributaries the Dogway Fork. We had quite of fishing party as my dad and my friend Joe (see Great Greenbrier River Race blog entry in April). On the second day we took it easy and fished in Summit Lake from the boat went sight seeing around the area and went to the race registration dinner.

(K1 with his first two trout)

(One of the three falls of Hills Creek)

(Hills Creek)

My team consisted of two Kevins. Each "specialists" in there field of swimming and biking. At work I call them KT and KA but somehow on this trip we had to interact with my Dad and our race buddies Kenny and Manon and their abbreviations became K1 and K2 respectively. We had been committed to this race for a couple months and the our excitement about the race was ready to explode. We had all trained moderately for the event and were very confident about our abilities. Although we were hoping K1 would not drown in the 1/2 mile swim and K2 would not crash at the bottom of the Summit Lake hill when he had to make the sharp turn onto the main road. He goes downhill like a madman, trust me I've eaten his dust.

(Racing Friends: Manon and Kenny)

Back to the race... After the handoff, I got myself under control and headed down the Cranberry Glades road at a sub 7 minute pace. I began looking for 700 numbers. Our number was 732. Numbers starting with 7 were Male teams... our competition. I counted them as they would pass by going the other way. I saw one early into the race and then a second. About a 1/4 mile before the 3.1 mile turnaround I saw a third. I thought "Man we got 4th... I can't catch that guy no way!". I hit the turn around point at just over 22 minutes which was behind schedule for me. I was resolved we were getting 4th. I pushed along and tried to keep my pace strong. I was starting to climb hills. The air was dry and great but the heat of the sun was beating down hard. I sought the shade along the edges of the road.

(Ah Summit Lake....)

With about two miles to go, I looked out a head and.... there was the guy in the yellow shirt... the third place guy! He was in sight. I had made up some considerable ground on him. I thought "Hey, I can catch this guy". There were plenty of hills left. With about a mile to go there was one of the steeper climbs. I caught him and passed him smoothly. Now I thought "I got to stay ahead of this guy". I made it to the top of the hill before the finish, the same one K2 had blown the horn from. I looked back, he was back there about 200 yards. I relaxed. The finish was great. I cruised through the grass and under the banner.

It was over. We had done it. We got 3rd place in the male teams a medal to boot. Our time was around 2 hours and 6 minutes. The solo guy that won took about an hour and a half. The winning team came in around 1 hour and 40 minutes. We were beat by a team of women over 50 years old. We were 8th out of 14th teams. Now we are totally hooked...

I could write for hours about all this but let me just say this race was special to me because of the friends, the trout fishing, the food (K1 is a great cook), and the Cranberry Backcountry. Thank you Dad for all the memories from this place...

(8 miles from nowhere on Cranberry River: Dad and I camped in a tent and fished many times)