MikeF wrote:
WOW Dave, 41 years between sun 5:00s is utterly amazing...SoCal Cush how about you?
I had 34 years span...1972 first sub 5:00...2006 final sub 5...now relegated to dreaming about another sub 6:00
MF
first sub-5 in 1982 (at age 14), most recent 2017 (at age 50), so i've still got a ways to go to catch dave, or steve spence--dave, do you have a streak of uninterrupted years of sub-5, or are we just talking about the impressive gap between first and most recent?
late to the game with the 15k race report (spent most of sunday shaking off the cobwebs from saturday night)--i finally figured out who coyote is--and as he posted, we enjoyed some blustery weather. i wish i could use it as an excuse for a slightly sub-par race, but i don't recall it affecting me much, other than maybe the wind on a short stretch right at the 10k mark as we made our way over the arkansas river.
if you want some comparative data:
2015/2016/2017 times:
john gardiner: 50:53/50:01/50:03
david angel: NA/50:58/50:25
cush: 51:31/NA/52:50
nat larson: 53:36/54:09/52:20
2016 was pretty warm, over 80 maybe when it finished, which wiped out some people (i was spectating, hampered by my achilles injury). however, the incredible nat larson, who is on quite a tear right now, and whom i beat by 2 minutes in 2015, is defying odds--while i got 79 seconds slower over 2 years, he got 76 seconds faster to crush me even though he's 5 years my elder. pretty damn inspiring for a 55 year old dude, whom i was lucky to barely outkick in the flint mile a couple months ago; he was clearly the stronger runner here, spoiling my racing debut as a 50 year old by also pacing his 50-54 y/o teammate kent lemme past me with about two miles to go. i've clearly got my work cut out for me before lexington.
to add to replies about socializing at these races: i'm lucky to have some great teammates to travel with as well as my wife, who was 3rd in the women's 50s age group. dinner before was friendly and fun, catching up on training aches and pains, and plenty of fun trash talking during awards (mixed in with free miller ultras), before we sampled the good stuff at prairie artisan brewery and other local pubs/bars, all within walking distance. lest you think calcoast is exclusive in our partying, we've always welcomed and/or adopted any willing participants; minnesota masters female melssa gacek (2nd overall to a 50yo!) usually hangs with us, i usually enjoy at least one shot of jack daniels with david angel (3rd overall out of blue ridge VA) as the night progresses, the dreadlocked jason ryf of oshksoh, WI had lunch at prairie with us and made it to at least one pub afterwards, and relatively new masters runner matt schmidt, also of minnesota, hung with us into the wee hours to get a full taste of the shenanigans and s#!+ talking that goes on as the night gets long and the stories get longer...
even with a slightly disappointing race result, i'm happy with my effort and progress, and had more fun than you'd think possible in downtown tulsa, enough that i look forward to hopefully going back next year for the fourth year in a row.
that's my story and i'm sticking to it,
cush