Race for the Ta-Tas

Time: 61:07
Distance: 8.95 miles
Race: 15:37 for 7th

W/u: 25:10 for ~3.2 miles
C/d: 20:20 for 2.65 miles

Not good, not good at all. I wasn't focused, I didn't race tough, I pansied out. This was a wake up and I need to re-focus.

I drove from Charlotte to Wilmington yesterday in order to visit some accounts and run in the Race for the Ta-Tas put on by TrySports. The race is modeled after the Skirt Chaser events where the women leave three minutes before the men and the first person across the line wins some money. In this case, it was $1,000 and I didn't think would be possible for a man to win. Turns out I was right considering Stephanie Pezzullo showed up to compete. She is coming off a sub 16:30 effort up in Providence at the CVS 5k.

First, let me express my beef with the 3 minute head start. It's way too much time to spot the ladies. Why? The difference in world records at 5k is only something like 90 to 100 seconds. I could look it up but off the top of my head the records are 12:36 for men and 14:10 for women, give or take a few seconds. To expect a male to make up 180 seconds is a bit preposterous in my opinion. But, I guess it's a race to support boobs and geared toward the ladies, so giving them an unfair advantage is how these races work. At least there was money for the top three men ($500, $250, $150). I believed I could at least get a share of that.

On the day of the race several guys showed up with a legit shot at money. On the front line was Devin Swann (ran for NC State and works at Raleigh Running Outfitters), two guys who drove all the way from Auburn University, Matt Elliott, some local guys, Chris Lamperski and Brian McMahon. I hoped for the best considering I haven't worked out in several weeks minus a couple of races.

The first mile was absolute chaos and I panicked. We didn't go out all that hard but from 600 meters to the first mile a group of 10 guys weaved in and out of traffic. I couldn't run relaxed as I was hopping up on curbs, zig-zagging back and forth and constantly being knocked around. This was my first Skirt Chaser type race and I failed miserably. I felt like I needed to be further toward the front, but couldn't make my way up there. The guys from Auburn managed to control the early tempo with the rest trying to catch up. In contrast to my panic, Devin tucked in behind Matt Elliott with the thought that he would clear out any traffic in front as Matt is a pretty big dude.

We came through the mile in 4:53 but it felt a hell of a lot harder. In the next mile Devin went to work and pushed the pace. I made it for the next 1k and then just stopped. I was in the lead pack of 5 (Devin, Matt, Auburn dudes and me) and then simply jumped off the course. I wasn't necessarily hurting, but I didn't feel good. Basically the pace felt tough, I was leaving my comfort zone and I quit. How lame is that?

I was off the course for about 20-25 seconds when I looked up and saw Chris Lamperski coming by. He looked to be hurting so I jumped back in the race with the intention of helping him out. After about a minute I started to feel good and then took off to catch a few runners that had passed me during my lapse in toughness. I ended up running 15:37 according to the clock but 15:14 according to my watch as I stopped for 23 seconds.

The guys up front went on to run pretty fast with the top 3 guys all going under 15:00 and winning money. I could have been up there. I should have been up there. But, I wasn't.

After the race I cooled down with Devin and his wife Laura. I watched the award ceremony and saw that only one of the guys who had driven 8 hours from Auburn had won money. Jean-Pierre Weerts, originally from Belgium, took home $250. There is no way that those two banked money on the trip. They drove a total of 16 hours, bought gas, needed food, and rented a hotel room all for a payout of $250.

I used to be those guys and I totally respect it. They are hungry and know the chance to win money at a road race means a lot. However, I'm not there anymore like I was in 2007 and 2008 where I would search out each and every local road race offering a small sum of money. I raced hard knowing the extra cash would go a long way. But, my mentality has definitely changed and now I'm semi-dropping out of races when it gets tough. I hope to rekindle that hunger for the cash, the roads and the pain like I had a couple of years ago. Having a steady income and proper job has altered my priorities not necessarily in a bad way, but I certainly recognize the shift. I still wish to be fast, but at what cost? I'm not balking at $150 either as that would have easily paid for the trip, however it's just not as important now. I think I learned something as a result of this race that didn't go quite according to plan.