Race #45 – James K. Polk 5k – Pineville NC – 07/25/09


After an unplanned interruption in the race schedule last week, we were back up and running at this week’s James K. Polk 5k held at Belle Johnston Park in Pineville, North Carolina. It was a beautiful summer day but kind of on the hot and humid side, especially during the race. There were a couple of challenging hills, especially one (for me anyway) at about the beginning of the third mile. Although I’m still a big believer in the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run method, once again I kept chugging away without any walk breaks. I keep telling myself, “If you feel like you’re gonna die, then walk a while.” Then I ask myself whether I’m about to die, and usually the answer is no, so I keep going. Occasionally the answer is yes, and at that point the least of my worries is whether I’m walking or not, so the walk breaks are still an option. One thing that seems to have helped me keep going is taking hills somewhat more slowly so that I’m not completely exhausted, so I’ve been able to recover after reaching the top of the hills and keep running.

I finished in 22:02 for 42nd overall and 2nd in the 55-59 Male division. Linda got 2nd place in the 55-59 Female division and won 2 tickets to Carowinds in the door prize drawing during the awards ceremony. Our toddler grandson Jonas just recently got a season pass to Carowinds and we wanted to take him, and since we don’t have a season pass that was a really nice door prize for us to win… worth 5 extra points in my completely unbiased and objective race rating.

I noticed in the race results there were 351 finishers, which is about a hundred more than in previous years. Seems like road racing is becoming more popular than ever!
I’m including some pics I took, mostly of people finishing, and as always, just click on the slideshow if you want to see larger photos or to get free downloads of the large original pictures (3000 x 4000 pixels).
Race Rating
8 – 1-10 Website (Informaton, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
4 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
5 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
4 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
4 – 1-10 T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
4 – 4/6 Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
0 – 0/5 Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
5 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
4 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
7 – 3/7 Age Groups (7 if 5-year groups; 3 if 10-year groups)
5 – 0/5 Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
5 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
5 – 0-10 Other (Carowinds Tickets!)
TOTAL – 78

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