RACE REPORT: Movin' For Community Outreach 5K

Submitted by Brian Lankford

This morning I ran the Movin' for Community Outreach 5k in Tarboro. I took 3 months off starting in December and started back about 6 weeks ago. This setback was secondary to an injured left buttocks. Jeff Miller says it's my hip, but it is my butt that hurts. Anyhow, I decided that the this race would be a good shake out race. Great day for a race, nice and cool. Stretched well, good warm up and they're calling us to the starting area. My good buddies the "butterflies" have showed up in my stomach just in time.

I usually try to get right on the starting line, but I don't know how I'll run, maybe I'll go out easy to see if my butt can take it. There's a lot of highschool kids on the line anyway. All the thank yous have been given and now the mayor of Tarboro will give the command, "Runners take your mark, GO!" We're off! The high school kids are off like somebody stole their ipods, oh ya, and some guy from Running Outfitters, who could be in the Olympics. I see about 20 sets of feet and elbows flying in front of me. Will they be able to hold up this pace? After about 100 yards the answer is NO. I'm a running back dodging would be tackling dummies.

After about 1/2 mile there are 6 guys ahead of me and the "Olympian". I begin to take stock, how do I feel? Breathing good? Yep. Good stride? Yep. Butt OK? Yep. Great, I'll just keep this pace for a while and see what happens. Soon a group of 3 high school boys falls back into my clutches. Their breathing is not good and their stride is deteriorating and I decide to surge. Can my butt handle a surge? I don't know. So I surge and my butt comes through with flying colors. Yea Butt! Now I have 3 runners ahead of me. Really 2 because one is just a speck on the horizon now. At mile 1 I know there will be a photographer because he was there last year. I must catch the next runner and do away with him so he won't be in my picture. I surge again! knowing now that my butt can handle surges. He puts up somewhat of a fight which makes me nervous, because surges should be....well...surges. He is now behind me and morally defeated. I run with perfect stride past the photographer and see the 2nd place runner 100 yards ahead.

All this excitement and we are only at mile 1. I check my watch, 6:17, not blazing but I'll take it after a layoff. I figure to catch this next kid I'm going to have to kick it up a notch. Take stock again, all systems ok? Yep. Butt? Yep, ok. Almighty then, I push off a little harder, lift the knees a little more and lift those feet toward my butt a little more. The 2nd mile was petty boring but I did manage to make up about 75 yards on my little 2nd place friend. Check the watch: 12:30, a 6:13 mile.

At this point we are doubling back which is always a tremendous motivator for me especially in Tarboro because everyone I see knows me: and my 2nd place buddy. By now I know his name is Chase. How appropriate, I'm chasing Chase. So now it is "Go Chase!", "Good job Chase, don't let him catch you!", "Keep the old man behind you Chase!" how rude! Of course there are your "Way to go Doc!" "Stick with him Doc!" "You can do it Doc!" Obviously nobody in Tarboro knows my last name, but at least they recognized me. Well this not only gave me added motivation, but it must have lit a fire in Chases shorts also. Fine, systems check: breathing; good, form; good, butt?...good! Way to go butt, you're really hangin' in there. What shall I do but.....that's right, surge!

I have caught Chase with no less that 3/4 of a mile to go. Now what? I don't want to push the pace, I just surged for heaven's sake. So we just ran side by side. This is nice I think to myself. Me and Chase running side by side. So I say something like "Wow, that guy in 1st place is really smokin'" and Chase says, "Ya." That was the extent of our conversation, but I felt like we bonded there for a moment.

When we got to about .1 miles to go I felt that I should test this youngster and see if he could hang with the "old man". There was no fight, and soon the purple shirt of Chase was not there in the corner of my eye. I had sole possession of 2nd place! I pumped my arms and legs with the kick of a sprinter, the crowed was cheering, they were going wild! They were saying, "Come on Chase, you can catch him!" And with 15 yards to go the purple shirt was in the corner of my eye again! I was at warp speed, the dilithium crystals could not give my star ship anymore power. I watched the purple shirt pass me at the gate.

What a race!! Our times were the same. A victory for youth, and a great race for the "old man". I congratulated my friend Chase and checked my watch. 18:50. that's a 5:45 pace for the last 1.1 miles. I was so proud of my butt, I didn't know if he had it in him today, he pulled me through.