I left my house at 5:30 pm and moved toward town for my 6:15 pm Downtown Mile heat. When I left my door, it was 65 degrees with a 56-degree dew point, cooling and clearing after a light drizzle had passed.
I started my day with a 5km event in Richmond with my daughter and grandson.
My warmup was 3-minute segments during my trip to the race venue. During the first four segments, I ran for 30 paces and walked the remainder. I ran the entire 3 minutes in the fifth segment. I then repeated the 30-pace routine until reaching the finish line. From my house across the Chatham Bridge to the start line took 20 minutes. By walking across the Chatham Bridge, I didn’t have to find a place to park.
The women’s heat started at 6 pm, and I continued running and walking until I reached the start line around 6:10.
The Downtown Mile, held in July 1994, was the first race managed by the Fredericksburg Area Running Club. Chris Campbell was the original director. For the first two years, the evening race started on Pitt Street and ran the entire length of Sophia Street to the City Dock.
From 1994 to 2024, the race was held 30 times in person, with a virtual race in 2020. It has been held on Saturday evenings in July or May and a few times on Sunday mornings. From 2010 to 2012, the race was called the Wild Mile and was held in Celebrate Virginia South around Halloween.
Over the years, FARC, the Kiwanis, and the Mental Health Association managed the race. Since 2013, it has been an evening race in July on the current George and Hanover Streets course.
In 2019, FARC postponed the race to September due to extreme heat and an 82-degree dew point. Race directors liked the cooler night and decided to schedule the race in September permanently.
I hung at the back of the start pack chatting.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, my new blue FARC singlet, and my Saucony Triumph 21 shoes. For once, the blue stripe on my shorts matched my top.
My goal was to break 10 minutes, running with an even effort.
Starting in 2022, all males older than 14 were combined into one heat. I lined up at the back. I started well when the gun went off, but I got left in the dust, running smoothly with nobody behind me.
I completed the first quarter mile in 2:15. This quarter drops 20 feet to the course’s low point. For reference, Hanover Street crossing Kenmore Avenue was the location of a bridge crossing the Mill Race. Union troops gained access to the fields below Sunken Road across this bridge; in the early 1900s, the Mill Race canal was filled in, creating Kenmore Avenue with large pipes feeding the power plant, now Brocks.
The second quarter goes up 25 feet to Sunken Well on Littlepage Street, with a split of 2:31. During this climb, I passed five people who had started walking. Surprisingly, four minutes into my run, my legs were not hurting after this morning’s event.
Turning around, the third quarter returns to the old Mill Race and back up Federal Hill. On that climb, my legs started stressing, and I had to slow down with an increased cadence. My third quarter time is 2:31.
The course elevation flattened in the last quarter, and I only have 2 minutes of pain left.
After turning onto the home stretch, I can see the finish display clock but can’t tell if the first number is an eight or a nine. The seconds were close enough to the next minute that I knew it would flip before I finished. Reaching the finish of the minute, the following number is still a single digit. If I run hard, I meet my goal.
The uneven pavement crossing George Street made it difficult, which slowed me down a bit. However, I pushed to the end with a 2:10 final quarter mile.
My finish time was 9:27, 70 seconds slower than 2023. This was my 21st Downtown Mile finish. I was 106th overall, 74th male, and twelfth of twelve in the 60—to 69-year-old age group.
I broke my one-mile Garmin PR that I set this morning.
My calculated maximum heart rate is 152. Somehow, my heart rate maxed at 176.
They gave a blank medal and neck ribbon finisher award. Pens were available to color the award, as we preferred.
I walked and jogged a little to cool down, hung out during the awards, and finally walked home.