Date: Saturday, July 30, 2011
Location: Lindenwood Park, Fargo, ND
Hotel: Courtyard by Marriott, Moorhead, MN (recommended!)
Weather: 68F, muggy (dew point 64F) with showers and lightening. Wind from SSE at 10MPH
Official Results: 10K Results
Personal Results
Goal: 39:59 (6:26 per mile)
Official Time: 40:45 (6:33 per mile)
Overall: 7th overall (57 total); 2nd in 50-59 AG (8 total); 3rd in Age Graded Performance
This was fun. I love going back to North Dakota to run in the towns of my youth. Fargo is where I attended university. I ran those streets, backways, and parks a lot. Including Lindenwood Park, which is where this 10K was hosted.
The other nice thing about Fargo...try to find a hill! Here is the elevation from the 10K:
We had a total of 60 feet of elevation gain. 61 feet of elevation loss. Like running on a treadmill. Except this was a muddy treadmill. See back of shirt post event:
The course snakes along the Red River. The river that has been causing so many flood issues recently. Same this year, but not quite as bad as last. Still, the course for this event was to have been a out-and-back. Because the river is still reeking havoc, the course was altered from going out 5K and back 5K to a out 2.5K, return....then repeat. This meant we had to slow to make a 180-degree turn not once, but thrice. Tough to build that speed back up again!
The river has left a lot of mud on the pathways in this park and it was a bit sloppy at times.Combine mud with intermittent showers, and high humidity and it was somewhat slick! In the opening pack of runners, one person almost went down as we made one of the initial turns. A number of times, it felt like I had zero traction. But really, it was fine. Here is the course, courtesy of my Garmin:
I had hoped to go sub 40-minutes, as I had been doing last year. But July is the first month since February that I have actually gotten in decent run mileage (> 100 miles) as I put the pelvic stress fracture further behind me. I came close, just have a little more work to do. My splits:
I felt really good the whole way. I just need to build the endurance back up and I'll be back on my game. My Dad was once again able to come and watch me race. After missing most of my high school and college races as I grew up due to his work schedule, he has been turning up at event after event as much as he can.
And best of all, this was an Age Graded running event! My first and it certainly will not be my last. Age grading is a way of putting all race participants on a level playing field, regardless of age or gender. Age-graded scores let you compare your race times to those of different runners, as well as to the standard for your age and gender. An age graded calculator is used to determine an overall score.
Age-graded information allows you to adjust your performance to what it theoretically would have been during your prime running years (your 20's and a portion of your 30's depending on the race distance). Judge your performance, using an achievement percentile, without bias for gender or the aging process (in other words, you are measured against a specific standard for your age and sex). These percentiles can be interpreted as follows:
- Over 90% --- World Class
- Over 80% --- National Class
- Over 70% --- Regional Class
- Over 60% --- Local Class
- 80.20 - Ken Hammer, age 58 (40:08)
- 74.08 - Ben Bitter, age 14 (38:36)
- 73.87 - Brian Maas, age 50 (40:45) - This equates to a 35:39 age graded time, meaning what I would have run in my prime.
So, I scored two awards. One for the AG finish and one for the Age Graded performance:
The Lake Agassiz Pacers club put on a very high quality event for very little cost. $20 got me a great race, a customized, 25 oz, BPA Free, Eco-friendlyStainless Steel Water Bottle with Carabiner, and two nice awards.
All told, I was in Fargo for 10 1/2 hrs. Had to get back to homebase for another important event going on.
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| The Boy® (all way on right) and his relay mates |
The team took 2nd in the heat. He PR'd for the 100 meter free with a split time of 1:27.89. His 50 meter splits were 41.19 & 46.70. Significant as his previous best was 1:31 and change. Plus his splits are getting more balanced.
His event was at 3:30, then we rushed home from the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center and I fought traffic to Fargo. Up at 4 AM on Saturday I ran the race (7 AM start), showered, and hurried back for his first relay on Saturday at 2:30 PM which was the Boys 11-12 200 Medley. Again, the Boy® swam freestyle:
His 50 meter split was 40.02, another PR. The team finished 4th in their heat.
Then four hours later (the sufferings of a swim meet!), he swam second leg on the Boys 11-12 400 Freestyle Relay:
I had a feeling he might be not at his best for this relay, and he wasn't. He swam second leg and posted a 1:31.91 split. The team finished 7th in their heat.
On Sunday, we were back as the Boy® swam 3rd leg on the Boys 11-12 200 Freestyle relay:
Here, the Boy® swam third leg and I could tell from the first few strokes he was in good form and would have a good split. I just hoped he would not run out of steam and come in under 40-seconds for his 50 meter split. And he did, with a 39.97.
He had a great opportunity to go to the State Meet and used his experience to build valuable lessons. I thank his coaches immensely for giving him this golden opportunity!
Next Event:
Aug 13 - Turtleman Duathlon; Shoreview, MN (USAT) - 3K run, 36K bike, 8K run
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