Race #163 - Cupid's Cup 5k - Charlotte, NC - 02/11/12

With the big half marathon in Myrtle Beach next week, I considered just taking this entire weekend off to rest up a little, but Friday night as I trudged along on the treadmill for just an easy mile to keep my streak going (now 247 straight days of running) I thought about how lucky I am to be able to run at all since so many people my age aren't able to, and as soon as I completed my obligatory mile I hopped off the treadmill and told Linda she could sleep in and I would go over and run the Cupid's Cup by myself. She was all for sleeping in and since we have another 5k scheduled for Sunday afternoon she didn't feel too guilty about it.

It's always fun to run the major races in Charlotte because so many running friends show up, and this is one of the best cold-weather races of the year. The big cold front was due to come in on Saturday afternoon so despite being pretty cold, it wasn't nearly as cold as I was afraid it would be, and just like last year there were quite a few patio heaters in the parking garage where the race festivities were held so it was fairly pleasant both before and after the race.

Last year this was my second fastest 5k of the year with only the notoriously downhill (and possibly short) Santa Scramble being the fastest. I did manage to win my age group this year with a time of 20:31 but that's 19 seconds slower than last year, which no doubt is a result of my diet since about Thanksgiving. I've gained about 5 pounds since then after having dropped 10 pounds and running my best times ever last fall. For some reason I haven't been able to get back on track with the good eating habits yet. Hopefully I can make some progress this week with the huge race coming up next week. My training's going great, and nothing hurts, which is nice just three weeks out from my 60th birthday. Now if I can just get a little self control on the eating.



My Stats:

Time:  20:31
Pace:  6:37
Age Group:  1 of  15
Overall:  49 of 914

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* RACE RATING  (100 Possible Points) *
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Note: With my new rating system (started in December 2011) there's not a chance of any race scoring near 100. If it's important to you, look at each individual category to see how points were earned (or not). Just trying to be more objective with the details. I generally like all of the races I run. If there's something that really rubs me the wrong way I'll mention it in the summary above.

RACE COURSE  (20 possible points)
3 - Chip Timing: (3 points if yes)
0 - Starting Mat: (2 points if yes)
2 - Water Stops: (at least 1 for 5k, 2 for 10k, 4 for half marathon) (2 points)
1 - Course Marking:  (0)bad  (1)good
1 - Course Scenery:  (0)bad  (1)good
1 - Mile Markers: (0)poor or none  (1)normal  (2)with clocks or time called out
2 - Volunteers:  (0)too few  (2)good
2 - Finish line: (0)mediocre  (2)pretty good to excellent
2 - Certified Course: (0)no  (2) yes
2 - Correct Distance: (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Partly or fully on unpaved roads:  (0)yes  (1)no

REGISTRATION  (6 possible points)
3 - Cost:  (0)expensive  (1)reasonable  (3)cheap! ($25 on race day... cheap for Charlotte)
3 - Race Day Registration:  (0)no  (3)yes

RESULTS  (3 possible points)
2 - Posted promptly online:  (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Clear link on website:  (0)no  (1)yes

AGE GROUPS  (13 possible points)
2 - 3 deep awards: (2)yes (0 for anything less)
5 - 5-year age groups (5 points) (0 for anything less)
1 - 14 and under group (1)
1 - 65+ group (1)
1 - 70+ group (1)
1 - Top Overall M/F:  (0)none or first only  (1)top 3 or better
1 - Masters Category(40+): (0)no  (1)yes
0 - Grand Masters Category (50+):  (0)no  (1)yes

AWARDS  (9 possible points)
2 - Overall Winner Awards: (0)none  (1)yes  (2)excellent
1 - Age Group Awards: (0)none  (1)yes  (2)excellent
0 - Door Prizes or Drawing: (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Finisher Medals for All Finishers: (0)no  (1)yes  (3)really cool medals

POST RACE  (7 possible points)
4 - Food for Race Participants: (0)none  (1)some  (2)adequate  (5)a feast! (not quite a feast, but good)
1 - Entertainment:  (0)no  (1)yes
1 - Finisher times posted after race:  (0)no  (1)yes

REST ROOMS  (4 possible points)
2 - Porta Potties:  (0)no  (1)limited, long lines  (2)plentiful
2 - Indoor Restrooms: (0)no  (1)limited, long lines  (2)plentiful

T-SHIRTS  (8 possible points)
2 - T-Shirts: (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Design: (0)not good  (1)not bad  (2)nice
0 - Material: (0)cotton  (2)technical fabric
0 - Discount for no-shirt option:  (0)no (2)yes

PHOTOGRAPHY  (12 possible points)
5 - Professional Photography: (0)no  (5)yes
5 - Prices: (0)expensive  (2)reasonable  (5)cheap!
0 - Free Photographs (newspaper, etc.):  (0)no  (2)yes

PARKING  (8 possible points)
2 - Close to Start:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Close to Finish:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Plenty of spaces:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Free Parking:  (2)yes  (0)no

WEBSITE  (5 possible points)
2 - Dedicated race website (0)no  (2)yes
x - No dedicated site but separate page on other site (organization, running store, etc):  (0)no  (1)yes
2 - Results or link to results posted on website:  (0)no  (2)yes

OTHER  (5 possible points)
2 - Shelter from Inclement Weather (needed or not): (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Swag (free socks, water bottles, etc.): (0)no  (1)yes, some  (2)excellent
0 - Part of race series or Grand Prix:  (0)no  (1)yes


TOTAL:  79

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