Sept. 6-Wildcat Den 5K Run

With some trepidation I decided to go ahead and run my first 5K run. The venue was at Wildcat Den State Park and the 5K (3.1 mile) run consisted of about 1/3 pavement and 2/3 trails. The trails were vertically challenging to say the least. The race started at 8am and before I decided to do this race, I had already volunteered to be the leader of a bike ride over this week-end and about 20 riders were supposed to meet me at 8am in Muscatine that morning. I sent my faithful wife, Patti, to meet the group after she dropped me off.

There were 87 runners for this race and I believe this was the second year they had offered this particular race. I did not recognize any fellow cyclists at the race, so believe that all participants were true runners. The odd thing about this race is that once I completed the run this would be the longest distance I have ever ran at one time. Since I began my running career back in mid-July the longest distance I have ever ran was 2.5 miles. Most of my training runs consisted of 1-2 mile runs.

The race starter fired his pistol and we began a 1/4 mile descent down the pavement adjacent to the covered picnic area on the top level. Running at speed downhill is harder than it looks and is very hard on your legs and especially your quads. At the bottom we turned south on the pavement and went to the end of the pavement and turned back west on a trail through the woods. This trail had a slight ascent and eventually crossed the paved road we had initially come down. Once we entered the western area of the park, the terrain became very hilly and one descent was so steep you almost had to walk it to avoid slipping. The opposite side was much the same and I was unable to run all the way up the steep grade. The first 2 miles seemed to go pretty fast, but the 3rd mile was like slow motion. I could coax my legs into moving faster, but only for a short time as my cardio-vascular system was unable to replenish my oxygen to my muscles fast enough. I didn't have anyone pass me during the first 2 mile stretch, but during the last mile I had 7 runners go by me (all much younger than me).

I finished 21st out of the group and 1st in my age group (8 runners) with a time of 24:55 (Race Results). Once you pull up this web-site, schroll down to the appropriate race and click on results.

That's not me about to pass out, I am in the blue going through the finish area.