Race Timing Unlimited and I timed this race from 2009 to 2019. In 2020, Arsenal was set to time the canceled COVID-19 race. Arsenal timed the race today.
The race is held at and by Capital Baptist Church in Annandale, Virginia. Pastor Steve Reynolds is the race director and the director of the Losing to Live program, which incorporates running to aid in weight loss. He has written a few books about the program with titles “Bod 4 God”,
Today’s race is the end goal. Participants may run in person or virtually anywhere in the country. The race has been in existence since 2007.
The organizers always schedule the Losing to Live 5km for the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend.
I ran this race in 2021. In 2022, I ran a marathon in Washington state, and in 2023, I ran another marathon in Alaska on Father’s Day weekend. Last year, I was recovering from my procedure. In 2021, I ran a 27:57 and finished fourth in the Male 60-69 year old age group.
After last week’s SPCA 5km, I checked on how Losing to Live was doing. Since 2021, the number of finishers has increased each year. Looking at my age group results from 2024, the third-place finisher was over 40 minutes. With an entry fee of $25 and no service charge, a number rarely seen anymore, I decided to run.
When I got up this morning, the dew point was 69 degrees, and the temperature was 74. I was expecting those conditions with cloudy skies for the race.
The first year we timed the race, the organizers had some issues, and runners were going in every direction, with the first runners crossing the finish line under 12 minutes. After 2009, there has never been a repeat of the misdirection issue.
I left Fredericksburg at 6:50 am for the hour drive north. I wanted to ensure I had time to run an extended warmup before the 9 am start time.
I picked up my bib number and course map and started my warmup by 7:55 am. I did not intend to run a 5 km warmup. However, at 8:25 am, I was more than a mile from the start line. I arrived at the route’s two-mile location at 8:30 am. If I didn’t hustle, I would miss the start. And from 2 miles to the finish is mostly uphill. I ran the downs and walked quickly on the ups, making it back to the start with 10 minutes to spare. My warmup was longer than 5 km.
With the higher dew point, I made sure to drink a half-liter of water on my drive north. Once back at my car, I drank another half-liter of water before the start.
During my course review run with a map in hand, I saw chalked arrows in the turns. I found all of the hills on the course and reviewed the tangents. To run a straight line on the winding roads in the third mile, you need to cross from one side to the other.
In the rolling hills of the first two miles, there was a 150-foot drop in elevation. The rolling hills of the last mile had to go back up. I forgot how hilly the course was. It’s hilly but fair. For every up, there is an equal down. The uphill grades were less than 3%.
Usually, before the gun goes off, Pastor Reynolds announces how many tons of weight was lost. I didn’t hear a number this morning.
The weather had not changed. I wore shorts over compression shorts, my blue FARC singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 22 shoes.
The race starts uphill. I was about 30 feet off the start line, behind the kids going out fast and in front of the walkers.
My goal was to run the entire race.
In the first mile, I passed most of the kids who went out too fast. On the downhills, my heart rate alarm started vibrating. I forgot to turn off the alarm that goes off at over 150 bpm. I was concerned that, while running downhill, I was above 150. I wasn’t feeling stressed. My first mile was 10:48
The second mile has the first long uphill section. I kept my cadence up and shortened my stride length. After cresting the hill and a bit, the organizers placed a water table on the longer side of a curve, where I took a cup of water. A nice cold cup of water.
After a sharp right turn, the roadway has a smooth left bend. I ran the straight line to the left shoulder, and the others stuck to the right shoulder. On a track, if I were in lane 1, the rest of the field would have been in lane 25. By the time I crossed back to the right shoulder, I was about 100 feet in front of those sticking to the right. Somewhere along the curve was the 2-mile marker, where I ran the second mile in 11:18. My legs were aching somewhat. I looked at my watch each time the alarm vibrated. My bpm stayed below 160.
We then entered the uphill portion of the course, which consisted of a hill followed by a slight flat section, and then repeated. Most of the field stayed to the right shoulder in this section, and I ran the straight line. The hills slowed my third-mile time to 12 minutes and 3 seconds.
And, I crossed the finish in 35:07. Not great. It was a minute slower than last Sunday. I was not pleased with the decline in pace. My average heart rate was 154 and maxed out at 163 on the long hill of the third mile. I wonder if I were not on beta blockers, would my heart rate be higher, and my speed faster?
I looked at the results monitor to see that I had placed 38th and was third in my age group.
I did a 10-minute cooldown, mostly walking. I drank a liter of water while waiting for the awards ceremony to begin.
As usual, they started with the younger age groups.
My award was a pair of socks. While accepting, I asked Pastor Reynolds about the amount of lost tonnage. He didn’t know.
I got out of there by 10:52 am. Traffic was better than normal heading south. It took me just under an hour. Somehow, my Corolla indicated 45.9 mpg on the trip.