TC 1 Mile Race Report

I know what you all are wondering—did Ryan Hall ever win a "Most Beautiful Baby" contest at Kmart?  Most likely not.  Of secondary importance is how the big duel went on Thursday.  Read on to find out.

Katie and I set out for downtown around 6pm, and thinking that parking would be crazy downtown, I picked out a garage ahead, and we ended up there.  Pulling in, we realized that the Courthouse Ramp may not have been the most popular place to park.  Ignoring that, I parked next to the only other car in the garage (a jerky thing to do, I know) because it was the perfect chance for a submission to Autobuds!

Mine is on the left. Unsuspecting autobud on the right.

We journeyed over to the festivities as the "Friends and Family" wave was getting ready to start.

Lining up with Uncle Sam in the front

The finish line was 1 mile in this direction

Friends and Family on the move

It was time to warm up.  Katie and I tried running up the course, but it was tough weaving through all the people on the sidewalk, so we crossed Washington Avenue and we found a little plaza that was quite empty.  While I was warming up with some strides, Katie came by waving wildly saying "I think it's him!!"  Sure enough, Ryan Hall was warming up on the same plaza.

This should be the paragraph where I tell you that I went up to him, introduced myself, and got him to sign my shoe.  But I didn't.  I didn't do this for 2 reasons:

1. I'm not the best person at going up to strangers (famous or not) and striking up a conversation.  How do you start a conversation like that? "Hey, you're Ryan Hall!" (I think he knows that.)
2. He was warming up.  Every runner has a pre-race ritual.  A runner needs to get both mind and body prepared for the race.  If Ryan Hall was in a chatty mood, he wouldn't have been warming up by himself.  I've got my own pre-race ritual, so I respect that.

So, I didn't get to meet Ryan Hall.  Disappointing, yes, but that's okay.  Witnessing him running later, and watching all the elites was a highlight for me.  Maybe someday I'll meet a famous runner.

Back to the action...

I wished Katie good luck, lined up, and then we were off.  The first quarter was uphill, followed by a slight downhill for the rest of the race.  My first quarter was a hair too fast, but not a game-ender.  

The rest was a blur.  The only thing I remember was seeing two friends, Ariel and Brian, as volunteers around Orchestra Hall.  The thing about the mile is that it hurts.  Always has.  Always will.  A mile is a sustained sprint—probably the most painful race a person can run.  With about 200m to go, Steve, snapped a photo of me:

Rounding the curve, I saw the finish and started kicking.  My goal for the race was sub-6.  Final time was 6:01.8.  Very close, but not quite.  A little bit later, Katie came flying in with a time of 7:21.5—her first ever mile!

After we finished, the USA Men's and Women's Championships started.  There's plenty of coverage all over the web, so I won't get into the details, but the short of it was:

• Sara Hall had a fantastic final 200m and won with a time of 4:31, netting a $10,000 bonus for breaking 4:32.
• David Torrence won for the third time in a row with a time of 3:58, netting a $10,000 bonus for breaking 4:00.
• Ryan Hall finished last.  Dead last.

I had a fantastic evening.  I've never been to an event as exciting as this for running.  Running through downtown, the great crowd, the 1 Mile Championships, the Halls—all made for a night to remember.  It was the first time I had ever witnessed a sub-4 mile.  I may not have beat my own time goal, but this one of my top races ever.

Oh, and I crossed the finish line before Ryan Hall.

Showdown Preview

Tonight is the big race.  Most prognosticators aren't mentioning yours truly, but I think we all know that the  Showdown in the Downtown between myself and Ryan Hall will be the talk of the running world tomorrow.  Beating Ryan will be tough, but I have a distinct advantage that I know the course better than he does (the straight shot down Nicollet Mall is really confusing, and Ryan is likely to end up in Fargo).  To demonstrate how evenly matched we are, here is a comparison of what we each bring to the table:

Ryan Hall: Holds the American Record in half marathon.
Me: Holds the World Record for participating in the largest single-day flu shot distribution.

RH: Born in California, a place fraught with natural disasters and an overabundance of Toyota Prii.
Me: Born in Michigan, the Land Shaped Like a Hand (and you've got a map of it!).

RH: Placed 10th in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics.
Me: Won first place at the 2008 engineering olympics as part of the MechE Team by duct-taping someone to a wall.

RH: Won the State of California Cross Country Championship twice.
Me: Won the St. Thomas Lutheran School Geography Bee three times (5th, 7th, and 8th grades).

RH: Ran the fastest ever marathon for an American (not an official record, though).
Me: Won the "Most Beautiful Baby" contest at our local Kmart (official record).

RH: Has run the Boston Marathon 3 times.
Me: Has run around Boston Common once.

RH: Has never run the Twin Cities Marathon.
Me: Has run the Twin Cities Marathon twice.

As you can tell, you can't find two people more evenly matched for this race than Ryan Hall and I.  If I win, I plan to be very humble and gracious (and I may ask him to autograph my shoe).

Race details: TONIGHT on Nicollet Mall.  First wave starts at 6:50pm, my wave at 7:39pm, Women's Championship at 7:53pm, and Men's Championship at 8:03pm.

Showdown in the Downtown

In my most recent post, I told you about one last race I plan to do in Minnesota before I leave: The TC 1 Mile.  Well, the plot has thickened.  A new competitor has emerged, and I'm hoping to leave with some bragging rights from this duel.  So, next week, when we're running a 1 Mile on the mall, it will be:

VS.

Ok, I think I lose in the "Most Photogenic" contest, but next week Ryan Hall—fastest American marathoner ever—will also be running the TC 1 Mile.  I think I've got a shot at beating him*

*Due some registration snafus, I will be running in the "Open Wave" that starts at 7:39pm, and Ryan Hall will be running in the "USA 1 Mile Road Championship Wave" that starts at 8:03pm.  I think the 24-minute head start that I'll have is pretty negligible, so we'll be pretty evenly matched.

A Last Hurrah

Things are winding down for me in the North Star State.  This past weekend, my folks absconded with my apartment, so all I'm left with are some clothes and a pot in which I can make pasta.  Oh, and now my living room has become a Command Center:

Before I leave, I'd like to do another race or two.  I'm signed up for one already, and I'm contemplating a second.  The one I'm signed up for is the TC 1 Mile.  I know that I'm not in top racing condition (for any distance, but particularly a mile), but this looks to be a fun race, and I'd like to give myself a chance to win a guaranteed entry into the TC 10 Mile in October.  For the 1 Mile, I'm going to enjoy it (as much as one can enjoy a 1 mile sprint...) and get a baseline of what fitness I've managed to salvage over the past few months.  It will also give me a reason to go to my local track a few more times before I leave.

I'm excited to race again, and racing down Nicollet Mall on a Thursday evening sounds pretty awesome.