USA Masters 8K Championship

The good thing about being a runner who is constantly training is that if you decide on a Tuesday evening to sign up for an 8k Saturday race, it's not really a big deal. Of course, if this had been a marathon, I wouldn't have signed up. So, I get this email from USATF about the 8K National Championship to be held in Williamsburg, Va. on Saturday and the deadline to sign-up is Thursday evening. I looked over the entry requirements and saw that the only thing I needed was to be a USATF member, age 40 and above. There was no other requirements. Hmm...I thought, this would be a good opportunity, I know I won't win or even come close but still, I would be lumped in with the other elite master runners there that day. Cool! Let me assure you, in no way do I count myself as an elite! So, I talked to Will and signed up. We arrived on Friday in time for me to attend packet pick-up (yay for PPUD!!) and then I had to attend a "technical" meeting that evening. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the rules that applied to the USATF runners. We had a different bib than the other runners and we also had to wear a bib showing our age on our back.  

There were about 1,900 runners for the 8K but the USATF runners were able to line up in the front. We also had our own tent and our very own port-o-potty. You know I was excited about that!! There were several teams racing in the master championship. It was pretty awesome standing around and seeing these teams dressed alike and encouraging one another. I'm hoping CapRun will be able to participate in this sometime, too! So, the race begins and as always, I have my own thing to do. I'm racing against myself and trying to reach my goal for that day. But, there is something about being passed by some men wearing a bib that says age 70-74. Umm...okay. Alright, back to my goal, I enjoyed the run and was able to stay focused to finish in 39:05. That is 1 minute slower than my 8k PR from last November so I was pretty happy with that. The finish line was on a track. We ran 3/4 the way around and finished on the 50 yard line. As usual, the volunteers were so encouraging and helped make it a great race. 

The results: My age group is 40-44 and there were 15 racing. I finished 15th. Yep, dead last but, still got to go to the elite tent and use the potty haha. In the regular race there were 132 in my age group and I finished 16th. This number sounds better. Here is the link for the Masters results. http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/USAMasters8kmChampionships/results.asp

I must add this little tidbit, even though it has nothing to do with the 8k but, at the technical meeting the Boston marathon race director was there to help out. Dave, I hope to participate in your race one day! 3:45 is still within my reach. Let's do it!

Thanks for reading! Don't forget my beginner running group will begin soon! There is an informational meeting May 31 at Buffaloe Lanes South 6:30pm. 
Email me: dawnwhiterunning@gmail.com for more information. See you there!

After the race...

 

                

My cool USATF coat!