NOT watching an elite race, but you personally racing.
NOT watching an elite race, but you personally racing.
Well, I qualified for the state final in the 800m, but it would be tough for me to score more than 8th place (this was my freshman year) and the way that they ran state that year was that they did the 1600m about an hourafter the 800 finals. I talked to my coach and we decided to have me cruise the 800 an then race the 1600 hard for most points possible. I jogged the 800 and ran 2:19, but a guy was DQ'd, so I got 7th and was "fresh". I would've been fresh, but they made us wait in the baking hot sun because they had to figure out the situation and all. I ended up not really having a cool down or warmup an went straight to the tent to get ready for the 1600 and to get signed in. I ended up getting 14 out of 16 and was about 20 seconds off my PR from being mentally and physically drained (I also raced the 3200 on day 1 of the sate meet). So, long story short, I tried to take it easy in a race to save it for the next and it backfired, I won't be doing that again.
That time I won a race with the last 10 strides in slow motion getting slower with each stride and I raised my arms up as I crossed the finish line...
I was in a holiday five-miler with about 1200 people. I knew the field pretty well and though I'd get fifth or sixth. But about a mile and a half in, I was in a pack of six running 50 meters behind the solitary leader and figured if I didn't do something unusual right now, nothing unexpected was going to happen. I moved ahead of the pack, caught the leader and passed him with relative ease and kept building my lead. They were catching up in the final mile but I still won by ten seconds against guys I'd NEVER have defeated if I'd resorted to the usual tactics.
It was heat 1 of our sectional meet and I was the last qualifier of the 16 total 800m guys. There was mostly 2:07 to 2:14 guys as this was the slow heat. My best had been 2:05 earlier in the season but I got injured and had been bogged down for the majority of my Junior year. There was one outlier who had a pr of 1:57 but ran to win in a slow district winning with a 2:12. The gun goes off and I immediately get shoved to the back for the firest 100. I passed the 200 in around 31 and backed off a little as I had given up at this point. First lap in 1:04 for me which was well out of contention as the leaders went 59. About 70 meters into the second lap the leader drops out and I pray to GOD and turn on the burners. I pick off person after person until the last 150m and then I hawk down the final three guys with a 13 flat last 100m winning the slow heat in 2:08 and 5th overall.
1991 Buffalo Marathon. Went in with a PR of 2:53 from four months earlier and thought I'd shoot for 2:50. But I felt so good early on that I just couldn't slow down, and found myself nearly on Olympic Trials qualifying pace (2:45 for women) by the halfway point. By then I was second woman, with first place out of sight ahead of me. As expected, things started to get a bit ugly by 20 miles or so, but I was still oh, so close to OT qualifying pace as I rounded the last curve. I fixed my eyes on the finish line clock and ran toward it with all my might, and watched sadly as it turned over from 2:44:xx to 2:45:xx and I wasn't there yet.
As I approached the finish I saw a big clod of people standing around right in front of the line. I practically had to shove them out of the way to throw myself across in 2:45:16. Only then did I look down and see the winning woman lying on the ground halfway across the finish line. I learned later that she had started to stagger with a quarter-mile to go, had fallen down and gotten up several times, and finally crawled across the finish line with 3 seconds to spare, in 2:44:57. Ten minutes later, after getting some food and hydration, she was standing around talking to people and seemed just fine.
The winner's crawl across the finish made the next morning's news shows and she was the talk of the town for a while. We both destroyed the old course record but no one noticed me, coming in second and staying vertical the whole time. I didn't mind. It was a huge PR for me, and I got my OT qualifier five months later.
I went to a small West Texas high school. Competition in the area was lacking. So my coach decided to drop down in distance for a duel with the local 800m stud at a random midseason meet.
The weather was perfect in the morning. I PR'd in the 3200 running solo from the gun and was riding that emotional high.
But then it got hot and the wind picked up to 30mph, gusting to 40. There was a reddish brown haze all around the horizon from the dust. When that happens, and the sun starts getting lower, it's as if you are looking at the world through a sepia filter. It set a surreal tone to the meet, and also took away any chance of running fast. It was true one on one race, without regard for time.
The 800m guy and myself were the only two state caliber athletes at the meet. I was undefeated in the 16 and 32, and he was undefeated at 800, so we had a nice little crowd when the gun went off.
This guy had 48.x quarter speed, the plan was to grind it out from the gun. But I had a poor feel for the pace and was two seconds too slow at halfway. We were about to hit the 30mph headwind on the back stretch. I knew if I let him draft I had no chance the last 200m. If I drafted, he would let the pace lag and I'd have no chance the last 200m.
So, halfway through the turn, at 450m, I put in a sudden all-out sprint for the line. It caught him off guard and I gapped him enough that he had his own headwind to deal with. I maintained the gap against the wind and through the final turn. My form was holding and I felt good. I hit the tailwind on the final straight feeling confident and strong, giving it all I had. Then, the guy appeared out of nowhere at the line and got the win with a lean. Moral of the story is that speed always wins.
despite running a 1:52 and 4:12 my senior year of hs, 1:48 and 4:04 in college and a 30:14 10k, none of my post highschool races were very memorable. heck, not even my high school races were very momentful either.
alright fellas, buckle urselves in because it's about to go to poundtown.
it's 7th grade, i'm getting ready for my very first 1600m race against every county runner. every damn day after practice i had ran a timed mile, even on the days we ran a timed mile. it was grind or go home for me, which is hilarious because i was just doing whatever i thought would make me better! anyways, it's 97 degrees and the sun is actually causing the heat dissipation issue with the track. middle of the day (probably like 4 pm) the entire season i had been running close to 5:30. i scramble around in the heat, drink water and sit through all the heats as i got dropped off as the meet began, 8 am. i sit and talk to my teammates throughout the entire day. at 12, i see more buses from different schools show up which had the people that run the relays and the distance events (which were later in the day, i'm not sure why.) by 4, i am already sweating and sunburned. as the time for my even passed, i got worried. i asked my coach and we went over and checked the schedule. i was surprised to find there had been an error and i was racing those a year above me, in 8th grade. as you can imagine, i was very nervous about the race but it was my first season and i had that "just run" mindset. we all toed the line and i was seeded 11th. one of the guys ran a 4:53! i knew my time wouldn't matter compared to them because i was younger, but i didn't want to lose. we ran the first lap in a 1:09. at this time, you can imagine i was hurting a little but i didn't want to stop. my teammates were cheering me on and my coach was concerned i had gone out too fast. i came through the 800 in 2:24. this time i was hurting, but i could see there were two guys in front of me who looked like they were running effortlessly (or as effortlessly as a middle schooler can run. it is truly a sight to see the flailing arms and such, but i was intimidated.) i moved into 2nd place and i hadn't even registered how fast i was going. i really just wanted to stop and walk off the track because it hurt too much. i was gasping for air, so badly i couldn't even hold a breathing pattern and was instead just running as hard as i could. the third lap i came in at 3:39. i continued to push myself and ended up trying to sprint as hard as i could into the final bend to pass my competitor. the heat was on me and my eyelids began to fall as i was running. i remember it vividly. i was only looking through one eye as the sweat was burning them. in a flurry of arms and motion, i finished with a time of 4:57. this was my first real race and it sparked a long career ahead of me.
First year of track I didn't really think I had any talent in sophomore year, I was injured all indoor after the first week of practice. I had a stress fracture. Later in outdoor the first meet I ran the 400 in 58. This isn't amazing but to me it meant something cause I did it off just coming off an injury. Month later after training for a big meet, I split 51 in the 4x400 and we won the relay. Probably my best memory it was a perfect day for running and the amount of adrenaline I felt as so many people screamed from the stands is something I'll never forget.
I would have to say my second marathon after running my first one in 90+ degrees. 3 months later, ran local marathon in cooler temps and qualified for Boston--well rewarded.
During my sophomore year, I had a goal to medal in a race (I hadn't medalled yet). I ran 17:10 in the 3 mile and never medalled. Track season came around and I got inured. I was out for over half the season. Finally, once I got back, I ran the 3200m. It went horribly and I was 30 seconds off my PR. At the next meet, I ran the 800. I ran 2:10.5 the year before so I figured I could run 2:12. This was a frosh/soph meet and my only real chance to medal as a sophomore. Top 3 for medals. I warmed up and got a race plan. I thoroughly studied my competition to know how I should do it. There was a sub 2:08 kid so I figured he'd win. Then, there was a teammate of mine at 2:10 and a few other guys around 2:11 and 2:12. The race starts and I get a good position. I stayed relaxed the first 200m before slowly moving up to top 5. At 200m, there was some pushing and me and my teammate stumbled a little but both of us recovered immediately. I moved up to 4th place by the end of the first lap but there was a gap between me and the next guy up (my teammate). I relaxed and matched his pace for 50m and then started moving up a little bit. With 250m left, I was with him and the next guy was just ahead. First place was still way out front. I was in 4th and knew my teammate had a crazy good last 100m kick so I passed him and went hard at 200m left. With 100m left, I was right behind the next guy. At 75m left, my teammate flies by us just like I expected and I responded immediately by going 100% and I passed the next guy. Problem was, he hasn't started kicking yet... As I overtook him, he started his kick and matched my stride for stride for 20 meters. That's when I tightened up and everything got heavy and he moved past me. I could hear my heart pounding and my vision focusing in on his back. I was not letting an ounce of strength go to waste. It still wasn't enough and he kept gaining distance. With 5 meters to the finish line he had crossed and my strength was gone. My form broke and I stumbled clumsily across the line. He has run 2:10.2 while I came in at 2:10.8. I never medalled that year but in my second race back from injury, I came .3 seconds off of a pr. That's when I knew that I was becoming a better athlete mentally and quickly regaining fitness. Most heartbreaking race ever? Yes. My proudest race? Also yes.