Over the years, I’ve measured three 5km courses on the Stafford Airport grounds. In 2022, I measured a course for Ebenezer Church that used the runway, taxiway, and apron. They have managed the Go for Bo 5km from the building off Embrey Mill Road for many years. In 2022, with increased traffic around the church, they moved their race to the airport with an evening start.
When I did the measurement, the airport was extending the runway. We laid out a course that used the entire length of the available runway. The course starts on the apron, turns northwest on the taxiway, turns around before the first mile, and returns to connector Charlie, which accesses the runway. The course continues northwest on the runway, turns around before the second mile, runs the entire runway to connector Delta, then a short run on the taxiway to mile 3 and the rest of the route on the apron.
To the naked eye, the course looks pancake flat. However, when riding my bike, the runway is downhill, going northwest to southeast.
This year was my first opportunity to run this race. While working with Race Timing Unlimited, we always had a conflicting race to time. Last year, I was at a UVA football game.
This year, the race was included in the Stafford Race Series for the first time. Though I had already run the Deuce Braswell 5km Run Against Teen Violence in the morning, I needed to complete this second race to keep my Race Series streak going.
With a morning readiness score of 100%, I ran the Braswell 5km without concern of a second race. Whatever was going to happen would happen.
Before leaving home at 5 pm for a 6:30 pm race start, I reviewed the registered runner list looking for males 60 and older. There was one person I knew I could not outrun, even though he had also completed the Braswell 5km. Some of the other eight runners were familiar.
After parking, I walked to the finish line and porta pots. I stopped in with the timers and asked about the configuration of award age groups. Finding out there was a Male 60 to 69-year-old group, I was determined to run the best I could. Without this grouping, I would be a slacker.
At 5:45, I ran a 32-minute warmup on the exterior road north of the runway. That was four repeats of 2-minute walks and 6-minute runs. Going northwest, the uphill was noticeable. Returning to my car, I changed into a singlet and got to the porta-pot line by 6:25. The line was quick, and I was at the start line as the last mile runner was finishing.
Race weather was 77 degrees, with a 44-degree dew point and sunset at 7:18.
I wore shorts over compress shorts, my old red FARC singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 20 shoes. I wore sunglasses for the first time in many years with the low humidity and low sun.
I lined up about 10 meters behind the start line.
After the gun went off, it took many seconds for my legs to go from warmup jog to race stride. They were complaining about the lack of rest after the morning race. The first turn on the course is a right on the taxiway. The lead bike did not take a direct line to the corner apex. The runners in front of me followed the looping bike rider. I ran a straight line. Without anyone near me, my stride opened up.
The taxiway is wide, and we quickly spread out. Within the first half-mile, the kids that went out too fast were walking. As runners passed, I looked for gray hair and familiar faces. The turnaround on the taxiway is before the first-mile marker. After turning, I could feel the downhill and went through mile 1 in 9:09, which was not bad for a second race.
Because of the early out and back, I could see runners ahead and behind me. Except for Terry McLaughlin, I didn’t see any old people in front of me. Heading downhill, I saw a few old runners that were close.
We continued downhill to connector Charlie and a water table. After a quick drink, the course goes uphill on the wide runway. A few men pass me before the turnaround. After turning, the downhill was visually apparent, and running became effortless. I think they misplaced the 2-mile mark. It should have been 100 meters from the turnaround (I checked the map post-race). My second mile was 9:53, and my third mile was 8:33.
I don’t think I was running that fast in the third mile. Nobody passed me, and I did not pass another runner. My breathing was not labored. At the runway’s end, we quickly turned onto the Delta connector and the taxiway. The slight uphill is not noticeable. Before turning onto the apron and the three-mile mark, I pass a runner and then push to the finish. The last .10686 miles is the same time as this morning’s race.
I finished in 28:27, a 9:09 per mile pace, for 46th overall, 32ndth male, and second male 60 to 69.
I ran a 16-minute cooldown on the perimeter road and returned for the award ceremony. They let us pick from some hard-carved animals for age group awards. I liked the hippo.
Another 16-mile day in the books.