Race #86 – White Lake Water Festival 10k – White Lake, NC – 05/16/10


Linda’s best friend from college has been going to White Lake her whole life, and in fact, now owns a cottage there, and when they recently got back in touch for the first time in many years we looked for a race in the area so we could do a little multitasking by visiting and running a race on the same weekend. It worked out nicely this weekend, so off we headed the approximately 180 miles to White Lake, North Carolina, which is about 30 miles east of Lumberton near Elizabethtown. We didn’t really know what to expect in the area but were pleasantly surprised that the area is a beautiful and laid back summer hideaway that time seems to have forgotten. There are no big hotel chains but quite a few mom and pop motels and cottages that line the shore, many with a private beach of their own. We rented a really nice cottage for the night at Carolyn’s Cottages, much more than we needed as far as space (it slept 10 but there were only two of us) but the price and location were perfect.
We had a nice visit on Saturday evening with Linda’s friend Jean and her husband Jimmy, then went back to the cottage and watched TV on the screened in porch then got a good night’s sleep. In the morning we were able to walk just up the street to the starting line.
This was a tiny race, possibly the smallest we’ve ever been a part of.  During the previous two weeks there had been a half ironman and a sprint triathlon on the lake, both with several hundred competitors. This race, associated with the upcoming water festival was a much smaller affair. As we left the starting line I found myself near the front of the pack and soon there were only two runners in front of me. I stayed in back of them until about the 0.75 mile point of the race and then I decided they were probably running defensively instead of offensively, saving their energy and going slowly as long as they could, which might have been smart since the temperature was already close to 80 degrees. I decided to step it up though and passed them both, and for the first time ever I was the overall leader of the race! I didn’t get overly excited though, because I knew it wouldn’t last, but it was pretty sweet having the police escort for about a half mile until I was overtaken, finally finishing in fifth place overall with a time of 43:39.
I’ll save us all some time by cutting it short. I’ve got work to catch up on, and even more importantly, t’s Survivor finale night and I’m hoping to see Russell finally get what he deserves, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
By the way, the trophies for this race were spectacular — some of the nicest we’ve ever won.
Race Rating:
3 – 1-10 Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
9 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
7 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
6 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
7 – 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)
4 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
7 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 – 0-10 Age Groups (10 if 5-year groups; 0 if 10-year groups)
0 – 0/5 Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
5 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
0-10 Other
TOTAL – 79

Comments

Post a Comment

Recent Popular Posts

Race #574 - Rocktoberfest Half Marathon - Rock Hill, SC - 10/12/24

Image
Earlier this year, I decided it would be fun to run 26 half marathons for the year, one every two weeks. I had started the year off recovering from hernia surgery last November 30th, which was followed by six weeks with a Foley catheter. Two weeks after the catheter was removed I ran my first half marathon and felt great just to be somewhat back to normal. At 72, I'm slower than ever, so I felt the need to challenge myself to stay motivated, and I thought it would be fun to at least try to run more half marathons than I've ever run previously in a year. In 2015, I ran 16 half marathons, the most I'd run in any year. This was my 16th for 2024, and I'm registered for two more, so I should surpass my previous record, but the goal of 26 has recently hit a snag. Hurricane Helene devastated the North Carolina mountains, where my next two half-marathons were scheduled. We're not in the mountains but are close enough that the hurricane affected us, and on the morning my Dav
Read more

Race #274 - Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon - Myrtle Beach, SC - 10/19/14

Image
For my running group, the Gaston County Runners (GCR), this has become our biggest event of the year. It was the fifth year of the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon and I've run four of them. I'm not sure about the year I didn't run, but for all four years that I've been there the weather has been perfect. The last five miles or so is straight down Ocean Boulevard, with a turn onto the new boardwalk to the finish line at the site of the old Myrtle Beach Pavilion. It's one of the best finishes of any race I've been a part of and I look forward to it every year. This is a pretty big race with more than 3,000 finishers in the half marathon, and this year the GCR had seven runners who finished in the top 3 in their respective age groups. For the third straight year I managed to win the 60-64 age group, this year with a time of 1:35:44. I'm happy with that time although it was on a flat course and was about 30 seconds slower than last week's Hokie Half Marathon,
Read more

Race #206 - Kings Mountain Gateway 5k - Kings Mountain, NC - 03/02/13

Image
It's kind of gratifying that I finished this race as 2nd Overall Male (and 3rd Overall since the 1st place female beat me) and I won a big, beautiful trophy, but it's a little troubling that it was my slowest 5k since June 2009. There's no doubt it's a tough 5k -- maybe the most difficult 5k I've ever run, thanks to two long hills, including one that people refer to as "Cardio Hill." On the other hand, maybe it just seemed hard to me and the hills weren't as bad as I imagined. By the time I hit the first hill less than a mile into the race I was already huffing and puffing. I knew that I had started out a little faster than I wanted to because of the way the race goes down the street at the beginning and hangs a left and everybody falls into single file until we hit the greenway. Somebody warned me ahead of time that you could get into trouble if you ended up behind some slow people so I wanted to get a good spot. If you watch the video you'll
Read more

Race #57 – iRecycle Half Marathon – Spartanburg SC – 10/10/09

Image
The iRecycle Half Marathon was my 4th half marathon in the past 28 days and probably won’t be going into my highlight reel. Of those four half marathons, this one was my slowest, with a finishing time of 1:42:10, a 7:48 per mile pace, which is about 30 seconds slower than last week’s HM. I definitely can’t blame it on the hills. There were a few hills in this race but actually less than in either of the three previous ones. Great course too, and scenic, winding around a local lake and through nice neighborhoods as well as a good portion of the Spartanburg greenway system. It was an unusually warm day for the middle of October, with the overnight low temperature about 70 degrees and the humidity above 90% at race time. I heard a few other people mention that they were bothered by the humidity and their times were a little slower because of it, so maybe that could have been part of my problem as well. Strictly Running was in charge of the race timing and they seem to always do a great
Read more

Race #184 - The Scream! Half Marathon - Jonas Ridge, NC - 07/14/12

Image
It was the second running of The Scream! Half Marathon, which is a point-to-point race that begins in the North Carolina mountains in the town of Jonas Ridge and ends about 2,000 feet below in Mortimer, which as far as I can tell isn't really a town but more like a small, sparsely populated community that might or might not be found as the smallest dot on a map. I ran it last year and it was a lot of fun and the only half marathon I know of anywhere in the Carolinas in the month of July. Since I try to run at least one half marathon every month it'll probably be on my schedule for as long as they have it in July or until I give up on the half-marathon-a-month business. Incidentally, this was my 10th half marathon of 2012 and my 40th half marathon since I began running almost four years ago. My reasoning has been that if I run a lot of half marathons I'll get used to them and it won't be a big deal, and while that plan seems to have worked in some ways it's still
Read more