Autumn Breeze 5-K

Two years ago, we ran this race in pouring rain (see post of October 4, 2021).  We probably would not have run that year except (a) we had already driven to the race and were standing at the starting line, and (b) we are both, as I often remind myself over and over again, Not Right in the Head (the condition is much worse in me than it is in Martha).  I remember her asking me, moments before the start, “Are you sure you want to do this?”  But then the race started and we already knew the answer.

Last year, the race conditions were much better, and our friend Anthony, who is the co-Race Director, asked at the starting line how many had been there the previous year.  Several hands went up, and we all looked around to see how many other runners were Not Right in the Head.  This year, conditions were even better.  The temperature was in the low 60s, there was a light breeze, and the sky was that unique color of deep blue that we often experience in the mountain in October.  This course is one of the prettiest ones we have run regularly, too, starting just upstream from the dam in the Tallulah River, following the river past the Terrora Hydro Plant, and then returning on a paved asphalt greenway trail under a canopy of hardwoods just beginning to turn gold.  It is relatively flat, but not an especially fast course because of branches pushing up the pavement of the greenway trail, which is an impediment for clumsy runners like me (but not for the 16-year-old boy who won the race in 18:12 - it didn't look like his feet even touched the ground). 

It had only been eleven days since our eleven-mile run in Cades Cove, but both of us had been training a little more seriously.  I even ran a couple of 400-meter intervals once, and we both felt good going into the race.  Martha, as usual, rounded the first curve and disappeared, and I never saw her again.  We both had good races.  My time last year had been 40:54, and we had both taken first place in our age groups.  This year I was happy with 41:44, and I managed to win a third place award.  (First place in my age group was taken by a 70-year-old in an amazing 28:28, a time I have not run in almost a decade.)  Martha again took first place in 36:28; her goal had been only to break 40 minutes.

 

 

We celebrated as we had last year at The Edge Café and Bar, located just up the hill from where the race had finished – cold draft beer and good, healthy food!  A perfect Sunday afternoon.