Over the years, I’ve run 139 different races and finished some of them multiple times. To some, this is not a large number of various events. Over the years, I’ve had some memorable races and have been able to rank my favorite races. If I couldn’t visualize the course and remember how I felt, I moved a race down my rankings.
Starting with number 10:
Race Name: Mental Health 5km
Race Location: Fredericksburg, VA
Number of Years Finished: 11
Years Finished: 1993 to 2001, 2011, 2012
Best Finish Time (Year): 19:56 (1996)
Course Description: This race was one of the original five Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix races. The Mental Health Association managed a race in Fredericksburg starting in the late seventies. The initial editions were 10km. By the time organizers included the race in the Grand Prix, and I started running local races in the nineties, they reduced the race distance to 5km.
Their course and dates varied over the years. The start and finish were near James Monroe High School, 2300 Fall Hill, and the old Moss Clinic locations.
The dates were in the late April to early June timeframe. At one time, the race was on Memorial Day, and the field grew to over 400 runners. Because of the race date, this was usually the first race with higher temperatures and humidity.
The course I remember best started and finished in front of the old James Monroe High on Washington Avenue. The course went to Mary Ball Street, Kenmore Avenue, Sylvania Street, Sunken Road, Madison Avenue, Littlepage Street, and Mortimer Street before joining Kenmore Avenue back to the finish. Except for the little hill up Sylvania Street, the course was flat.
What makes this race a special memory: This was my 5km PR race and the only time I broke 20 minutes. In 1996, while others were fading in hot race day weather, I was able to keep a consistent pace with all miles in the 6:25 minute per mile pace.
There are enough turns and diagonals on the course to reduces the distance to 5km, running the shortest possible route. A route that others were not running.
I remember running next to Bill Glover, turning from Mary Ball Street onto Washington Avenue to the finish. I was working on my turnover, feeling my quick tapping next to Bill’s slower, longer stride. Then I pulled away from him and passed a handful of runners to the finish.
Seeing the clock at the finish, I did not need to speed up to finish under 20. I just kept up the kick I had already started.
Being 39 at the time, I finished tenth in the 35 to 39-year-old age group and 41st overall, with a time that would rank in the top ten in the current Deuce Braswell 5km race.
This race was manually timed. I clicked my watch at 19:56 but had an official time of 19:55.