Catch Me If You Can

Skirtchaser Tempe
February 14, 2009

She Said
Overall Time: 25:50 (8:05 m/m)
Placing: 245/1115 OA, 87/673 F, 24/151 AG (30-34)

Splits:
1 M - 7:45
2 M - 8:26/16:12
3 M - 8:13/24:26
Finish - 1:23/25:50

Fashion Report: Black Marathon Girl skirt, Pink Crush Tattoo T, pink & white socks, LIT visor, Mizuno Wave Inspire 4
Food Report: Two slices of toast w/ peanut butter and coffee for breakfast; Half a roast beef sandwich, baked chips, diet Dr. Pepper for lunch; water
Goals: Goals? This is a fun run so, uh, have fun. Oh and not get passed by any boyz before the first mile marker.

Is it sad that I can't remember the last vacation we took that did not have a race anywhere in the plan? Maybe it has something to do with the fact we actually check out race calendars when we book trips so imagine our surprise (and delight) when we found out that the Skirtchaser in Tempe coincided with the long President's Day weekend. We can go back to AZ, visit friends, and run what looked to be a super-fun race! Better yet, we roped other friends into running it with us.

My only complaint about the race was the late start at 2:14 for the girlz followed by the boyz at 2:17. Pre-race meals were a bit tough to manage since I needed to eat but not too much and not anything that would give me gut problems on a flat and fast run. And since it was your typical February day in AZ, it was clear, dry, and 60 at the start. Change that 6 to a 4 and I would have been in heaven. In any case, we got to Tempe Beach Park about 90 minutes before the start, plenty of time to leave Nathan with AngBob, meet up with Mark & Amy who were also running, and get a short 1.5 mile warm-up in complete with strides.

They sent us off and a huge pack of skirts tore down the multi-use path around Tempe Town Lake. The footing was a little tricky complete with dirt, concrete, gravel (river rock) but flat save for a few ramps up to bridges which crossed the lake. I hit mile one at my target pace, happy that no boyz have passed me yet, and also thinking that it was hot and wondering how much longer I can hang on in the relative heat of the desert.

Roughly at the 1.25 mile mark halfway across the Rural Road bride, the first boy passed, wearing a red Skirtchaser T and running by fluidly and effortlessly. Hey wait! That was Tim DeBoom! Excuse me while I indulge my inner schoolgirl....EEEE!!!! OK, I'm finished now. Back to the task at hand. A hard left hairpin back to the lake path and about 13 minutes into my run I hear, “whap, whap, whap, whap” behind me. No wonder Chad's running buddies tease him about his stealthiness. You can hear him coming from ¼ mile away. Hi Chad, bye Chad! Thirteen minutes and change and 1 2/3 miles into the race, exactly where I predicted he'd pass. It wasn't long before he was a speck in the distance. I kept my pace steady, carefully navigated the gravel (river rock) hill up to the Mill Avenue bridge and kicked it into the finish. We cheered Mark & Amy in then headed home to get ready for a “grown-up” night out with everyone sans kids. Fun concept, fun run, and yeah, I'd do it again.


He Said
Overall Time: 19:42 (6:10 pace)
Placing: 15/1115 OA, 12/443 M, 2/89 AG (35-38)

Splits:
1 M – 5:55
2 M - 6:23
3 M - 6:25
Finish – 0:59

Fashion Report: Red Snowflake Gym Girl skirt, Red Lizard Tech T, red & white lizard socks, Mizuno Wave Elixir 3
Food Report: 1 bowl Joe's O's with milk, banana, and coffee for breakfast. Turkey wrap and chips, soda for lunch. Water. Lots and lots of water.
Goals: Beat Raquel. Finish in top 10% of boyz. This was a downward revison from my 5% goal due to a nagging cough and sore throat Friday and race day. Enjoy the ridicule that comes with being a guy in a skirt.

The warmup routine was the same as Raquel's as we jogged together along the waterfront. I finished the final porta stop just in time to walk over to the start and see the girlz off. The girlz got a three minute head start and it took almost two full minutes for them to clear the start line. Clearly, it wouldn't take long to catch the back of the pack. I lined up in the second row behind some local runners who clearly knew each other and one Tim DeBoom. I didn't know for sure which one he was, but I knew he was up there. The gun sounded and the boyz were off. I quickly maneuvered to the outside edge of the first 180 degree turn in order to pass as many slow starters as possible.

Soon there were about 8 guys in front of me and we were coming up quick on the ladies. One of the first girlz I passed was our friend Amy, running her first 5K and longest run ever. I didn't recognize her in time to shout out a greeting. Instead I passed her and then thought “white sleeves, black tights...Amy” By then I was 50 yards past her and needed to focus on the crowds ahead.

The boyz had to run on the grass outside of the official course since we were running 2-3 times as fast as the women we were passing at this point and picking one's way through the crowd simply wasn't practical. I looked down at my Garmin about a half mile in and saw that I was running 5:04 pace. Crap. That pace is about 40 seconds fast assuming I was healthy and doing speedwork. Since neither was true, I knew I needed to back off the pace. Slowly, I backed off and ended up running close to tempo pace. The bridge crossings only allowed for two people abreast at most. We needed to stick to the sidewalks since the roads were open to 45 mph traffic. Since I couldn't focus on keeping my pace in the truly uncomfortable zone and avoid stepping on feet, I chose to back off the pace and enjoy the rest of the run. Soon I saw Raquel ahead. I noted the mileage and told her “1.67 miles” as I passed. The rest of the race was spent reeling in as many girlz as possible and battling a local runner in a blue shirt. I would get ahead of him and then he would pass me whenever I got caught in a pack. Then I would pass him back or hang on his shoulder for a while. As we passed the 3 mile mark, I decided to up the pace to try and pass him for good. First, I got caught on the bridge between two girlz, a light post and a construction sign in the bike lane. Blue shirt managed to squeeze by me. I chased him down on the ramp off the bridge and prepared to pass him on the inside with the finish line in sight. He squeezed me into a decorative boulder and I had to fall in behind again. This was a fair move, but really pissed me off. I immediately laid down a brutal kick over the final 150 meters and ended up beating him by about 5 seconds. The kick also allowed me to catch my final female roadkill and left me staggering at the end. Perfect!

This race was a fun concept. The biggest change compared to a conventional race was always having someone to chase down. I much prefer chasing to being chased. The course could have been a very fast one. The narrow bridge crossings prevented faster times on this day, but I'd love to run a standard 5K on it sometime. I did go back and meet Amy and her husband as she neared the finish. Mark and I escorted her in which she thought was really cool. All in all it was a fun day and I'd certainly do it again.