A few weeks ago, I ran the Chilly Dawg 5K, which is sponsored by my wife's department at The University of Georgia. I've done well at this race the last two years, hovering right around 22-minute finish times. Enough to win my age group, but just barely missing out on the master's title. Last year stung a bit, particularly since I missed out by less than :10.
So I was motivated to do well at this race. That is, until I started having trouble with my calf again. The combination of that, graduate studies, and putting on a little weight led me to temper my expectations.
Additionally, the gentleman who beat me the last two years was not in attendance. So I thought maybe this would be my day.
I would say the course has rises, not hills, but you'll still work to get over them. Given how out of shape I was and how little speedwork I did, I was pleased to clock in at 22:30. I aggravated my calf the week prior and stayed off it until this, and my calf may have fallen off had the race been 3.5 miles and not 3.1. Anyway, I left it all out there.
That's when the fun began.
I received a finisher's card with a #7 in the corner, so I allowed myself the thought of achieving my goal. There was no big board with finishers taped to it, and the clock over the finish line was unclear, so I didn't really know for certain. We hung out for the awards ceremony, only to find out someone else (who I beat) was named master's winner. Needless to say I was not pleased. All I could do was let it ride, since you can't create a scene during the presentations. Then, when I learned I won my age group for the third straight year, the announcer got my name wrong. Missed it by a mile.
My dear, sweet wife worked back channels at the office and found that I won the master's division, and I'll be getting the snazzy coffee cup that comes with it. It's a victory, but what's missing is the recognition of my effort. The timing company got it wrong. I fully expected to hear my name as the master's winner, and it was pretty rough seeing someone I passed get the Shiny Metal Object (a catch-all term) I earned. Disappointing.
Wifey also learned the timing company from the last two years is more expensive than the group brought in for 2016. So you do get what you pay for. My belief is that attendance suffered as a result, nearly 400 runners last year, probably because this had been a grand prix event. With that out of play, 255 finished this year. So there's that.
It won't stop me from coming back next year. I just hope they get it right.
