After the Park to Park 5 miler, I felt a little lift in my extreme lack of motivation. I mean, that wasn't much slower than my PR, so maybe there was hope for me...
In the following week, I focused on getting in good runs, including a nice little 6 miler on Saturday that felt *good*. Got in 3 runs in the next week, and we were up to the Mutt Strut 5K race on the runway at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
Mutt Strut: I'd like to say that this will be my last year doing this one, but since it is on the runway and my hubby loves him some planes, I doubt it.
I'm just fed up with it, though. To start, they advertised on their website that if you didn't want a T-shirt it was free to run, or you could make a donation. I asked for no T-shirt (got a pretty full drawer anyways!), but was charged the full fee (which I was going to donate anyways, thank goodness, or I may not have had it on me) and the volunteer seemed totally confused by my lack of wanting said T-shirt. Not the volunteer's fault, but if you are going ot advertise it on your website, train your volunteers, please.
Then, they totally underestimated the number of people they'd get. They went on sort of a media blitz in the weeks leading up to the "race" and the mutt-strutters were out in force. Because of this, they decided to start the race a half hour late, when it had gotten quite warm on the runway.
They started the runners first (SMART!!), then walkers, then anyone with a mutt. I had forgotten my Garmin, so was just going to try to run by feel. It was almost 80 degrees, and windy. First mile on my watch was 8:11. I was pleased with that. Second mile 8:22. Also pleasing. I was running with the second chase pack, which for me, is waaaaay farther in front of a race than I'm used to. There was the leader, then a fairly large first chase pack, then a little gap, then the pack I was in. Unfortunately, we turned into the wind for the last mile, and I died. Oh, and also, most of the mutt strutters decided to turn around at the 1/2 mile mark, and made a huge crowd to run through, slowing runners down. Final time was 27:06 (gun) by my watch.
My suggestions: they really need to go to chip timing. They need to start the strutters 30 minutes or so after the runners to avoid the congestion. They need to anticipate the size of their race better, and train their volunteers better. And finally, they need to post the friggin' results!! It is now 11 days after the race, whose website promised results would posted "shortly" after the run, and no results. NOTHING annoys me more than a lack of results.
Again, if you are looking for a flat course, you couldn't find a flatter one than the runway at the airport. This event could just be having growing pains, but I'm not convinced... not sure I'd recommend this one any more, unless you just want a jaunt with your dog. In that case, it would be great!
No comments:
Post a Comment