When I ran this race last year, I was on a heart rate restriction from my cardiologist and taking a regular dose of beta blockers. I’m on half dose now and hope that in August, I can go off completely. I haven’t had an AFIB occurrence since January. However, I still get occasional arrhythmias (PVC and SVE), including a Supraventricular Ectopy yesterday morning.
My goal for today’s 5km was to run the entire distance without walking.
In 1986, the Rappahannock Area YMCA began its annual spring River Run 5km. In 1992, they needed to modify their course to eliminate crossing William Street twice at Sophia Street. They laid out the course beginning on Caroline Street at the Library and finishing behind the Library on Sophia Street. They reused the route for the initial Turkey Trots, starting in 1993. This course was the first one I measured for USATF certification in 1995. Somebody has used this route for the last 34 years.
My first race on this course was the 1992 River Run; today was my 30th finish. In 2022, we made a slight course adjustment, relocating the start line to Sophia Street to align with the finish line.
The YMCA held the final River Run in 1997, and the Turkey Trot outgrew the course capacity in 2009.
In 2003, the SPCA wanted to hold a fundraiser, so they managed their first 5 km and took advantage of the certified course. The SPCA has been able to utilize this course, which is one of the last 5 km races in the city, entirely on public streets. Working with the city and holding the race at 7 am on a Sunday helps the SPCA maintain the permit. Missing the 2020 event due to COVID, this year marked the 22nd edition of the Rescue Run.
In 2004, the Fredericksburg Area Running Club added the race to their Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix series, the first time I participated in their event.
My alarm went off at 4:45 am. Between monitoring, taking prescriptions, eating, and other things, it takes me almost two hours to get out of the house. I’m getting a colonoscopy on Tuesday, so my eating time was reduced.
The temperature at the start was 68 degrees, with a 68-degree dew point, and threatening rain. It had rained overnight, and puddles remained on the road. I prepared for heavy rain anytime I was out for the race.
I left my house at 6:30 am, warming up during the mile journey across the Chatham Bridge to the start line with 30-second jogs interspersed with walking to get my body used to running.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, my FARC singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 22 shoes.
I joined “Team Cat” again this year. I’m not a dog person and haven’t had a cat for 30 years, but the t-shirts were either cat or dog-specific.
I arrived at the start line with 10 minutes to spare and placed my bag under the Arsenal Events timing table. I even made it in time for the FARC group picture.
Race organizers moved people with dogs and strollers to the back of the pack. Initially, they advertised a second wave starting five minutes after the general field, but this was later changed to three minutes. Rumors were that there would not be a second wave with dogs starting on the gun. The actual gap to the second wave was one minute. Last year, without a second wave, the dogs running near me made for a bad race experience.
I lined up toward the rear of the general field.
During the group picture, I noticed a large puddle right after the start line. After the gun went off, I stayed to the right of the puddle.
I was feeling better than expected in the first mile. It took three tenths of a mile before the first stroller passed me, and a half mile for the first dog. So, there had to be a gap in the waves. Brian Pessolano passed me with his dog near Old Mill Park, and I asked him about the delay for the second wave. He indicated two minutes.
My first mile was 10:31, which was faster than expected. My fastest first mile on this course was 6:07, which I paid for in the later miles. I wondered if I would be able to hold my pace.
There were cones on the center stripe the entirety of Caroline Street. They did not need to be there. I ran most of the tangents crossing the center line. Most people did not.
I don’t remember seeing the water stop on Welford. Turning off that street, the course marshal directed us to the incorrect side of the Hanson Street median. The side we ran on was shorter. My second mile was slower in 10:53, although my legs and breathing felt okay.
Back on Caroline, I did not take advantage of the left tangent near Old Mill Park. Getting to Herndon Street, runners were staying to the right of the cones on the center line. We should have been to the left in the safe lane, allowing for cars to drive in an open lane. I moved to the left of the cones. There was an officer directing cars to turn left at Pitt to avoid runners on Caroline.
I wasn’t running as fast as I usually would be in the last mile. My legs were starting to bark, and my 150 bpm heart rate alert was beginning to vibrate. My third mile was 11:14, and the final 0.10686 miles took 66 seconds. I’m not happy about the decline in pace per mile.
With a finish time of 33:46, I was 126th overall, 75th among males, and 15th of 16 males in the 60—to—69—year—old age group. Last year, I was 15th out of 18 in my age group. I guess two slow guys didn’t show this year. I was 7 1/2 minutes faster than last year.
My average heart rate during the run was 146 bpm with a maximum of 155 bpm.
Looking back at my 30 runs on this course, my fastest time was 20:28 at the 1995 River Run. That year, I finished 69th overall and 65th male. In the 35 to 39-year-old age group, I was 16th. If I had put that time into today’s race, I would have been 8th overall.
Another note from that 1995 race: 272 finishers were under 30 minutes, and the remaining 29 were in before 35 minutes. With today’s time, I might have been DFL.
Keep plugging away. I now have a 63-race active finish streak in the Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix.