Wild Side Running quite literally ran the 3rd weekend of June in Albany. On Friday evening, Wild Side hosted the “Race Against the Clock 5K.” The premise was great; runners had to estimate their finishing time without the use of any timing devices during the run. Winners were decided by who was close, closer, and closest to their pre-recorded finish time.
Personally, I was very excited to use this race as a personal time trial. I am coming back from a high hamstring injury that presented itself in the spring of 2016. It took quite a while to heal, and my efforts running have been less consistent then I would like. I jumped at this opportunity to run a 5K and judge if my head and legs were in the same place.
To keep things interesting, the heat index of 101 degrees Fahrenheit, added an extra variable to the run. Not really the best of running conditions, but we are in Southwest Georgia and that is just what happens in late June. Also, several of our runners had already been active in the weekly Strength and Mobility session earlier in the evening. As runners, we know logically the heat will slow us down a bit, but the question is how much?
As we all lined up on the starting line, Chris Phillips made one more announcement. We are running the course in reverse. After 3 ½ years of living in Albany, I am finally able to run the Wild Side course without getting lost, and now we are going backward. Course directions clearly are not a strong suit of mine. Thank goodness for the GIANT flour arrows pointing the way, I owe Emily a big thank you.
The race itself was a good one. It was a different mentality than most races because you weren’t racing against each other so much as racing your own brain. I was very thankful for Ann Centner, who was so far out in front of the pack, I was not afraid of getting lost.
In the end, my finish time of 20:13 was 7 seconds off of my estimated time of 20:20. I was the proud recipient of a pair of Brooks Ghost shoes. Scott Macy also earned a pair of shoes. Kelli and Oscar scored a pair of Hoka Recovery Slides, and Ann and Tracy received a Wild Side Running tumbler. All in all, it was a great evening, with great friends, and great prizes.
We all left Friday night with the hope of a cooler morning for the Flint River Ramble 4-mile Trail Run.
Saturday morning, many of us were back again to take on a trail run. Josh Fix and his son Lane, along with a lot of help from Ben and Chris Phillips cleared and maintained a trail for the Flint River Ramble’s new course. The start and finish of the course are very recognizable because it shares the same location as the finish line for the Albany Half and Full Marathon.
The race was as relaxing as races get, just being in the trees and running up and down ravines seems to take the edge off “running for time.” I am proud to say, I did not get lost, so I am improving. The last time I ran the Flint River Ramble, I managed to get turned around and ran about a mile extra. I really got my registration fee out of that race, haha.
I am always happy to see the finish line, but I was very happy to see my 7-year-old find the line. She loves running the races and always finishes with a pretty mean sprint to the end. She listens when I tell her to finish strong.
Two great races in two days, makes for an outstanding weekend with our running family that is growing stronger and stronger in Albany.
written by Jennifer Perkins. Photos provided by Jennifer Perkins from unknown source.
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