Paul Christopher Low
2001 Racing Diary
Early 2001 Races
Race Number 3:
Race: Compaq 10k
Date: April 22
Location: Cupertino, California
Distance: 10 km
Time: 30:42
Splits: 4:45 (short?),9:5?, 14:45
Place: 2nd
Link to results: Bay Area Running News
Articles:Bay Area Running News and Runnersworld Daily
Photos: Here
Comments: An odd sense of piece came over me in the first mile of the 2001 Compaq 10k. It was the feeling of not getting dropped by the leaders, a feeling that I get in almost ever race that I run. Dan Nelson and Jacob Busienei were out like Kenyans during initial straightaway while I was back leading the pack. Mike Dudley pulled up along side of me after apparently being impeded by a man in a San Jose Shark mascot costume for the first few hundred meters and together, we caught up to Dan and Jacob near the top of the first overpass. The four of us then pulled away from the field, alternating the lead until the three mile mark (14:45) when Mike announced, "I'm finished" and dropped off of the pace. After managing to stay with Dan through 4.5 miles, I too fell off pace and began thinking about what I could do to ensure that I would be first among the losers. One mile later, I heard the sound of an overweight asthmatic being flogged with a medium sized tuna and I realized that Mike was right behind me. We ran together, sharing the lead until the turn toward the finish line when I unleashed a 75 second last quarter and left Mike in arrears.
Saucony Running and Racing on ESPN will feature coverage of the race on Tuesday May 29th, 10:30am PDT & 1:30pm EDT and Sunday June 10th, 2:30am PDT & 5:30am EDT.
Race Number 2:
Race: Eastern States 20
Date: March 25
Location: Salisbury, Massachusetts
Distance: 20 Miles
Time: 1:47:09
Splits:
Mile 1: 5:32.05/ 5:32.05
Mile 2: 5:18.75/ 10:50.80
Mile 3: 5:15.25c/
Mile 4: 5:15.25c/ 21:21.30
Mile 5: 5:04.17/ 26:25.47
Mile 6: 4:59.09/ 31:24.56
Mile 7: 5:24.74/ 36:49.30
Mile 8: 4:47.75/ 41:37.05
Mile 9: 5:20.00/ 46:57.05
Mile 10: 5:16.61/ 52:13.66!!!
Mile 11: 5:13.14/ 57.13.80
Mile 12: 5:16.93c/
Mile 13: 5:16.94c/ 1:08:00
1/2 Marathon 1:08:31
Mile 14: 5:15.25/ 1:13:15
Mile 15: 5:20.80/ 1:18:36
25 km: 1:21:26
Mile 16: 5:41.33/ 1:24:18
Mile 17: 5:42.33/
Mile 18: 5:42.37c/ 1:35:42
Mile 19: 5:42.38c/ 1:41:27
Mile 20: 5:40.00c/ 1:47:07
Place: 1st
Link to results: Coolrunning
Articles:Coolrunning, Union Leader, and Portsmouth Herald
Photos: Here
Comments: I went to great trouble to list all of the splits becease I think that they tell most of the story for this race... After a reasonable mile of 5:32, Mattheus (who I later discovered has won the Commrades Marathon) and Hinga started a battle that would see the three of us running, well look above. By the 8th mile, I knew that this was a foolish pace (keep in mind that this was into a noticable head wind) but to ease back would mean running alone during the crucial middle of the race. Hinga began walking at 8.5 (shortly after helping to instigate a 4:47 mile) and I was left behind by Mattheus for a few miles before catching back up (which involved going through 10 miles in 52:13). We ran together for a few miles but I was struggling and, after getting cut off behind the pace car, mattheus surged ahead. At mile marker 16, I noticed that I was catching the leader very quickly. Just before I passed, he pulled off with a leg cramp. Ha-ha. I just put my head down and ran as hard as I could for the remaining miles (just trying not to get passed by someone who had run a smarter race than I did.)
Race Number 1:
Race: Irish Jig 5k
Date: March 17
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Distance: 5km
Time: 15:08
Splits: 4:46, 5:00
Place: 4th
Link to results: Classic Race Management
Comments: After a few good weeks of training, I ran this race which is usually the first competitive road event for the year up here in Michigan. With $600 for the win, this race always gets a few fast runners and this year our lead pack had Kyle Baker, Paul Aufdemburg, Brad Kirk, and Nathan Dorn. We went through the first mile in 4:46 which was probably a bit short since it was not all that hard and primarily into the wind. After a slower second mile (about 5 flat) Baker surged and Aufdemburg followed for a while. With one km to go, the field had been stung out and 10 seconds separated the top five at the tape. For a while, I thought that I would finish in fifth but somewhere in the final 600 meters, I managed to outkick Aufdemburg for fourth. All in all, I was pretty happy with the time (hey, it is windy here in March!) but I would have really liked to have finished higher.
