Thanks to all the volunteers who stepped up to make the 32nd Downtown Mile a success.
In early June, with less than 90 days from race day, the volunteer race director decided to step down and did not make a seamless transfer of knowledge. The person he designated as his replacement was unaware of his appointment, and the designee was to be out of town for several weeks.
At a Grand Prix committee emergency call, I volunteered to meet with CASA and the former RD to develop a project plan. To get the ball rolling, I met with Edie Evens from CASA, without the old RD. As I told the FARC board, I took on the responsibility to make sure the race happened, I would develop a plan, do the tasks I could, but I would not be the RD on race day.
With most of the FARC Board taking on parts of the responsibility, it wasn’t a management committee but rather a group of individuals with independent responsibilities without a leader in charge. I knew the entire plan, and Gerry Griffin learned the plan and who was doing each piece.
After meeting with Edie, I determined that a meeting with the old RD was not required, as not much had been accomplished. I determined a city special event application had not been submitted and we were only days away from the deadline.
Networking with other race directors, I’ve learned the phrase, “we’ll do whatever they let us do.” Rather than fight city hall for a change from past years, I stuck to the course and race schedules that we have been using since 2013.
One of my tasks was to recruit three cyclists to lead and follow each heat and coordinate the course marshals. With a great group of friends, I had those positions filled within days. I hoped to run the race without any race-day responsibilities besides helping with the awards ceremony.
Three weeks before the race, one of the cyclists, who was going to do the course marshal instruction, had to step aside. With only two, we would be OK. I decided to take over the course marshal coordinator role.
Six days before the race, a second cyclist had a family crisis that would have her in California on race day. We started recruiting replacements. I finally found one two days before the race. And via another channel, two more cyclists volunteered.
I need to stop burning the candle on both ends. I’m not 30 anymore, when I could recover from long hours and little sleep. Although I’ve managed races for many years, the responsibility has affected my sleep. I was not mentally stressed. I saw the stress effects in my daily monitoring. Starting on August 20, I had intermittent migraines, my blood pressure was 10 points higher, and my heart rate was above 100 when getting ready for a daily run. The night before the race, my Garmin recorded stress while sleeping, which usually indicates a period of AFIB.
It may have been due to my change in medication patterns. But now that the race is over, the headaches are reduced, my blood pressure is back to normal, and I’m in the 80s heading out the door. I know that being responsible for a physical task is not good for me. It’s time for young people to start taking on those tasks.
For the last couple of years, I’ve run a 5km with my daughter and grandsons in Richmond on the morning of the Downtown Mile. I was registered for the run again this year. Early in the week, my daughter informed me that she had COVID. So, I decided that not heading to Richmond to run would be a good idea. That let me sleep later than 5 am.
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 permanently in September.
I left my house at 2:30 pm., heading to the FARC storage shed. I met Jimm Lafferty there to load tables and cones into his pickup. After dropping cones on the course, we closed the finish street to traffic and moved road closed signs into place.
Thunderstorms were predicted for the area between 4 and 8 pm. The main group of race organizers met to discuss our potential actions in case lightning approached the race.
At 5 pm, while others were working on packet pickup and organizing the finish area, I met with the cyclists, then the course marshals, and finally the police to coordinate course support. By 5:30 pm, I was ready to start my warmup. I wanted to run and walk for 30 minutes to get my lungs and legs ready. Within minutes, my heart rate exceeded 160 beats per minute without much exertion. That was a little high for the perceived effort.
I stopped and talked with each of the course marshals, reviewing their responsibilities. I got back to the start line in time to see the 6 pm female heat begin.
My race started at 6:15 pm. I walked around some and returned to the start line and hung out at the back for the five minutes before the gun.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, my white FARC singlet, and my Saucony Triumph 22 shoes. For once, I carried my cell phone in my waist belt.
At summer track meets, my mile time consistently hovered around 9:20. My goal was to break 9:20 by running with an even effort.
By the time my race started, the temperature had dropped to 81 degrees with a 64-degree dew point. There had been no rain nor thunder. However, there were rumors that heavy rain was within 10 miles.
I started OK when the gun went off, but I got left in the dust, running smoothly with only a few behind me. I’ve run with my cell phone belt before, but not at a fast pace. It bounced a little, and I needed to tighten it.
At the quarter pole, one of the trail cyclists passed me, and I asked if I was DFL. I wasn’t. I heard a clap of thunder.
Heading up the hill to the turnaround, I passed a few people who had started walking. They passed me on the downhill back to Kenmore Avenue.
I continued to run the next uphill to get ahead of the walkers and stayed ahead to the finish. Turning onto the homestretch, I saw the finish clock was still in the eight-minute range. I didn’t feel I was running that fast.
Coming to the finish, I heard somebody behind me and pushed to stay ahead.
Although I knew where the quarter-mile locations were, I did not take splits on my Timex. From Garmin, my splits were 2:18, 2:23, 2:27, and 2:31. Not great.
My finish time was 9:39, 12 seconds slower than in 2024. This run was my 22nd Downtown Mile finish. I was 95th overall, 67th among males, and ninth of twelve in the 60—to—69—year—old age group.
My average heart rate was 163 bpm, and it peaked at 176 bpm.
I walked a little to cool down, then I had to write award checks and help with the award ceremony.
As it got dark, others helped clean the area and move cones and road signs.
At approximately 8:15, we set the over-under on time for the first vehicle on the road after removing the road closed signs at 13 seconds. I picked the under.
We removed the signs, and a horse-drawn carriage made the under hit.
I helped Jimm return the equipment to the FARC shed.
Except for the one clap of thunder, there was no other bad weather, and we emerged dry.
Although you know I wasn’t the RD, because I don’t run races, I manage, my body still reacted to the stress of the responsibility and the extra physical activity. In recent days, my resting heart rate has dropped. The headaches are still popping up. Those might be vision or sinus related.
I wish I had run better and didn’t have the increasing quarter splits.