Race #212 - Run for the Money 5k - Gastonia, NC - 04/20/13

It's nice to finally be settling in for some local races after all the traveling we've been doing for the past few months. This week's race was in our hometown of Gastonia, and it's the biggest local race of the year. This time around there were 1,235 finishers in the competitive 5k race and hundreds more in the 2k walk.

The unique thing about this race is that in each 10-year age group the 1st place finisher gets to direct a $500 donation towards any local participating nonprofit group of their choice, and 2nd place directs $250 towards their choice. For the second year in a row I ran for Career Management Group (CMG), one of the lesser known nonprofit groups. They run Gaston Residential Services (GRS), which provides housing for handicapped adults. Linda's twin sister has been one of their clients for many years and they've done a beautiful job over the years in helping her to be as independent as possible despite being debilitated with cerebral palsy. She went from living in a group home for a number of years to moving into a private apartment where several other handicapped adults live with the assistance of staff members who are on call in an apartment/office on the site 24 hours a day.

The good news is that I won the 60+ age group again this year, and the even better news is that my friend Roberta Villneff (Bobbi V) came over and ran for them too, and being one of the fastest 60+ females she easily won that age division, so between the two of us we earned $1000 for Gaston Residential Services and  CMG.

Once again I did a video wearing my video sunglasses, and below I'll include the video and a few photos. Additional photos from this race can be seen in a gallery on my Facebook page.

Here's the video...




x

My wife Linda gets in a little warm-up before the race.

The National Anthem 

There's plenty of fanfare both before and after the race.

Rick from the Gaston County Runners (GCR). He spends a lot of time
chasing me in races. He almost caught me this week... won't be long.
I didn't count but we probably had 10 or 15 runners from the GCR at the race.

Bobby, also from the GCR. He's usually chasing Rick.

Lisa won the 30-39 female age group. She's already fast but has been
training with the Tri Yon group in Charlotte, which from all accounts
I've heard makes fast people even faster. I spent much of the race chasing
her, as you can see in the video.

Liz, also a Gaston County Runner, spent the first 3 miles of the race
chasing me. She spent the last tenth of a mile leaving me behind.

More GCR peeps: D LeVar, Stephen, and Craig.

It was a little crowded from the start as we went up and turned left only
a half block into the race. There are a lot of turns on this course.

There are also a lot of hills. 

Here's Lisa showing great form up another hill.

Here's Liz after she passed me at the 3-mile mark.
You can see in this photo and also in the video that there is a steady stream
of walkers in the right lane as the runners are finishing in the left lane.
The walk is a 2k and a number of people signed up for the 5k and ended up
walking the 2k, which caused quite a bit of confusion for the results.

My official time was 21:53. 

Nothing but water.
Sadly, one of the worst things about this race is there is no food
after the race. It's strange but every year it's the same.  I'm not sure
if the organizers just don't realize that it's standard for races to have
refreshments for runners after the race or if they just don't care or
don't want to bother with it, but it's a pretty big omission.

Me and Bobbi V after the race. 

There was plenty of entertainment on stage as we waited for the awards.
Speaking of awards, the only winners are 1st and 2nd in each 10-year age group.
That's another drawback for this race. In most normal races, especially of this size,
there are 3 winners in each 5-year age group. 

As the Race Rating below shows, this race gets a low score, mostly because of the lack of food for runners and 2-deep age group awards in 10-year age groups. I appreciate the fact that I was able to win my age group, but most people aren't that fortunate. I know it's for a good cause, but almost all races are held for a good cause and there really needs to be more of an appreciation shown to the runners, because without runners you can't have a race.


Click Here for Race Results

Click Here for Photo Gallery on my Facebook Page

My Stats:

Time:  21:53
Pace:  6:57
Age Group:  1 of  25 (60 and over)
Overall:  48 of  1235
Age Graded Equivalent Time:  17:27  (73.95%)

***************
* RACE RATING *
***************

RACE COURSE
3 - Chip Timing: (3 points if yes)
0 - Starting Mat: (2 points if yes)
2 - Water Stops: (0)none  (2)normal  (5)extras [Gu, sports drink, etc.]
1 - Course Marking:  (0)bad  (1)good
0 - Course Scenery:  (0)bad  (2)pleasant  (5)extraordinary
0 - 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)not bad  (5)very good  (7)spectacular!
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
1 - Cost:  (0)expensive  (1)reasonable  (3)cheap!
3 - Race Day Registration:  (0)no  (3)yes

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

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

AWARDS
2 - Overall Winner Awards: (0)none  (2)yes  (5)excellent
2 - Age Group Awards: (0)none  (2)yes  (5)excellent
0 - Door Prizes or Drawing: (0)no  (2)yes   (3)fabulous door prizes!
0 - Finisher Medals for All Finishers: (0)no  (3)yes  (5)really cool medals

POST RACE
1 - Food for Race Participants: (0-10 with 5 being average)
1 - Entertainment:  (0)no  (1)yes
0 - Finisher times posted after race:  (0)no  (1)yes

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

T-SHIRTS
2 - T-Shirts: (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Design: (0)not good  (1)not bad  (2)nice  (5)beautiful!
0 - Material: (0)cotton  (2)technical fabric
0 - Discount for no-shirt option:  (0)no (2)yes

PHOTOGRAPHY
0 - Professional Photography: (0)no  (5)yes
x - Prices: (0)expensive  (2)reasonable  (5)cheap!
2 - Free Photographs (newspaper, etc.):  (0)no  (2)yes  (5)lots of free pics!
                (There is a small gallery of race pics in the Gaston Gazette -- 35 photos)

PARKING
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
0 - Dedicated race website (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Results or link to results posted on website:  (0)no  (2)yes

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


TOTAL:  42