A couple of weeks ago, the race director of the Tree of Life 10km asked me to measure their courses for USATF certification. With the amount I would charge, they decided to hold off until next year. While waiting for their decision, I had questions about the course constraints and the possibility that the course could not be accurately mapped. I considered running the race to review the possibilities.
I went to their registration page and found that only one person had entered the 10km race, and she was female. The price increase deadline was the Monday before the race. When I registered, there was still only one other runner. I was considering asking for an early start so they would not be waiting for me to finish.
By the Saturday before the race, three males and three females were registered. The 10km started at 8 am, the 5km at 8:10 am, and the mile at 9 am. With the number of runners and mile start time, I knew I would not be trying the volunteers’ patience by starting with the general field, even with my anticipated 80-minute finish time.
The first and last 3 km are on Chancellorsville Battlefield, and the middle 4 km are on paved subdivision roads. The battlefield portion was mostly on loose crushed stone with some rough gravel. Since this was through open fields, I was worried about potential landmarks when measuring.
I had run the Stafford Hospital 5km the day before, so I planned to complete the 10km alternating 4-minute run and 2-minute walk segments.
By 6:45 am, I started my journey to Spotsylvania. I had to pick up my race bib before 7:30 and wanted to do a 30-minute warmup, which I began at 7:20. At packet pickup, I found out there was water on the course at mile 1, the 5km turnaround, and 10km turnaround locations. It was a warm day and I could get water 5 times.
The Battle of Chancellorsville occurred between April 30 and May 6, 1863. The race start and finish venue was on the fields of the May 1, 1863 conflict.
My warmup was ten 3-minute segments, running for 20 seconds and walking the rest. I ran the entire 3 minutes of the sixth and ninth segments. My legs felt good and recovered from the previous day’s race. I returned in time to hear the 8-minute warning and changed into a singlet.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, my red FARC singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 21 shoes.
I arrived at the start line with a few minutes to spare. I saw two males and two females. Third place male was guaranteed.
The temperature was 72 degrees with a 59-degree dew point and partly cloudy skies. Winds were about 10 mph from the west.
I planned to run the first 6 minutes before going into my walk break routine. The gun went off and I started my watches, shuffling across the start line. One man and a woman take the lead, and then a young male, whom I didn’t see at the start, sprints past me and catches the front runners. The second female started to pull away, too. I was ahead of the fourth male and needed to stay there,
The first mile is on loose crushed stone, giving some with each step. I pulled away from the fourth male and started to walk after 6 minutes. During my 2-minute walk, I did not get passed. There are a few minor ups and downs. My first mile was 11:53,
In the second mile, there were a few larger but insignificant hills, and the surface changed from crushed stone to a typical jeep road. When I approached the water stop at the 2.5km mark, she had no water poured into cups. I asked for water and kept walking. She scrambled, poured, and chased me to hand me a cup. I warned her to pour about 25 cups of water for the 5km, which had already started.
Before reaching 3km, the trail crosses a road into a subdivision. We took a right on this road and then another right. On this downhill stretch, I saw the young man who ran past me at the start. My second mile was a 12:34.
Still going downhill, my watch alarm to start walking chimed. I took advantage of gravity and continued to run, knowing the next near parallel road would take us back uphill. At the bottom turn, I take my walk break. After 2 minutes, I was still going uphill but started running. I passed the teenager while running, ensuring he was OK.
After cresting the hill, the front runners came back at me. There was a down, up, and down to the turnaround. My third mile was an 11:40 and first 5km a 37:06. Through the hills, I made sure not to take any walk breaks on the way down,
Turning around, I’m about two-tenths of a mile in front of the third male and half a mile in front of the kid. The longest uphill on the course is before mile 4. The up was not too steep to run during the run segments. My fourth mile was 12:11.
In the fifth mile, we returned to the dirt trail. It was harder to run in this direction. My fifth mile was 12:48 and sixth 13:04. I finished a walk break just before reaching the six-mile mark. With less than a quarter mile, I ran to the finish. I took 1:55 for that last .21 miles. Within 50 meters of the finish line, I caught the back of either the 5km or mile races and passed the group on their left, giving a verbal warning to move them to their right.
My Garmin reported my finish time 76:09 as a new 10km PR. That is two Garmin PRs in two days. I got my Garmin to help with post-ablation recovery. My average heart rate was 130, and my maximum was 146. The course was probably measured with a Garmin as the mile markers were within feet of my Garmin alerts, and the final recorded distance was 6.21 miles.
I walked a little cooldown and put on a dry shirt. After the third male finished, they started the 10km award ceremony.
I finished fourth overall, second male, and first in the 60 to 69-year-old age group. The second male award was a $20 Dick’s gift certificate.
I’m happy I ran. The two-race weekend pushed me through the same effort as a long run. Up next is a 15km in a couple of weeks and a half-marathon in May.