Today was the first race to finish inside the Fred Nats Stadium. The stadium was built in 2020 for the Washington National Single-A farm team who moved from Prince William County. Soon after the stadium was completed, COVID shut down the world for two weeks and canceled the 2020 minor league season. The Washington Nationals used the stadium in 2020 as the offsite training facility.
Arsenal Events approached the owners of the stadium as a race finish venue. There was plenty of parking, facilities, and nearby roads to configure a 5 km course without disrupting city traffic.
In February, I helped Arsenal with the 5km course measurement that includes a route on the warning track behind home plate and a dash out into right field with a live finish video on the scoreboard.
Still prepping for a couple of spring marathons, I did an 18 mile run on Thursday, which did not go well. I was 30 seconds per mile slower than last week’s 18-mile run. With a short 4 mile run on Friday, I hoped my legs recovered to run a reasonable time.
The race had an 8:45 am start time which allowed me to sleep until 6 am. I was out of the house by 7:20 to get a quick exit parking spot.
I arrived at 7:30 am and parked close to the start line near the lot exit. I roamed inside the stadium to view the finish route.
I started my 32-minute warmup at 8 am, which was four repeats of 2-minute walks and 6-minute runs on the course roads. I ran about 3 miles to get a feel of the hills and the wind.
The weather was excellent, with temperatures in the high 50s, clouds, and 5 to 10 mph southerly winds. I wore shorts over compression shorts, my new red FARC singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Endorphin Speed 2 shoes. To reduce my hand’s sensitivity to cold, I wore a pair of Mizuno Breath Thermo Gloves.
The race has a double theme with a mix of baseball and Saint Patrick’s Day, thus the name Grand Slamrock. While changing into my singlet, I could see the sea of green congregating behind the start line. About 3 minutes before the gun, I mixed into the crowd about 50 feet behind the start line.
The Lucky Road Leprechaun fired the starter’s pistol on time, and we were off. After the initial downhill, we turned uphill into the wind on Carl Silver Parkway. Even after my Thursday long run, I was feeling well.
After turning onto Gordon Shelton Boulevard, we were out of the breeze and heading downhill. I went through the first mile in 9:02. Though not stressed, I felt I was running faster.
Reaching the slave museum memorial garden, we turned around and went under the rainbow arch. I didn’t stop to raid the pot of gold. But watch goes down eventually goes back up. Up we went. I struggled some and kept tight to the tangents. My second mile was a 9:23, and stressed, I felt I was running slower.
The final mile started flatter, and then we had a slight tailwind as we returned to the stadium. After rounding the traffic circle, there was a tricky little uphill as we crossed the start line.
Sadly, I could not take advantage of the downhill on the road behind the stadium as I no longer have spring in my legs. Once at the bottom of the hill, the road flattened, and we went through the external access gate onto the field by the left foul pole. Mile 3 was right after the entrance, and my time was 9:22.
The field has two different textured turfs. I don’t know how they do it, but you can feel the difference between the brown warning track and the green playing field. We headed toward home and made a turn down the first baseline.
The final stretch went out into right field. New turf technology is tremendous, and my final kick was an easy push on the surface.
My finish time of 28:42 was a minute slower than my last fall 5 km. I’m going to have to work or rest a little harder. I finished 126th overall, 77th male, and 10th in the 60 to 69-year-old males.
After finishing, I didn’t have time to do a cooldown. I had to get to the UMW track to officiate the High Jump, which started at 10 am. They knew I would be pushing the 10 am start. I wished they could have started an hour later.
Now I’m wondering if a trip to 6 Bears and a Goat for the free race beer is worth the trip, or should I stay home to watch the UVA lacrosse and UR basketball games. I may have to go for the latter. #GoHoos
Did you know Brenda’s adopted grandson was the overall winner?
I didn’t know that. Hope he comes back and runs more Grand Prix races.