Earlier this year I
competed in the Louisville Triple Crown of Running. I wrote about
the first two races in a previous post. The last leg of the series
was the Papa John's 10 Miler. In the first two races, I won the 5K
and the other female competitor Tina Vogel took the 10K. I was very
eager to see who would win the 10 Miler because whoever won would
take the entire triple crown. Tina was well ahead of me at the
finish. I did not pace well because I did not know the course.
We got the chance to
compete again at the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon. I wanted
to see what I could do because over all our times were very close. I
started out ahead of her and stayed ahead for the first two miles.
Later she passed me but I thought that that was fine because I had
kept her at bay for a long time. About mile eight or nine through
the race I saw her round the corner ahead of me. I was surprised
because I thought that she was way out in front. I decided that I
was going to try to pass her. Slowly, I worked to close the distance
between us. About mile eleven I caught up to her. I passed her and
stayed ahead. Tina passed me at the last turn because she knew that
the finish was right there. We fought down the home stretch and in
the end I won by 0.21 seconds! I was thrilled! I found out later
that around mile eight she dropped her glove rubber and went back to
get it. If that had not happened, I would not have stood a chance.
The next weekend, I
raced in the Indy Mini, which had a much larger wheelchair division.
There were four female wheelchair competitors from Illinois, which has
the best wheelchair racing program in the nation. They got ahead of
me and stayed way ahead. During part of the course I got to race
around the Indy 500 track and cross over the brick yard. As I was going around, I looked up and on
the jumbo-tron I saw a local news station interviewing the first male
wheelchair racer to cross the finish line. I thought “I am little
more than half way done and he finished and has time to be
interviewed.” I fought to finish well. I pushed myself to go hard
even though I had not felt well the night before. I finished with
the time of 1:13:12 and in fifth place. I thought that it was pretty
ironic that I felt slower in that race because I came in fifth even though I had the time
of 1:16:09.57 in the Derby Festival Half the week before.
Here are some links:
A news article about the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon:
Results for the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon:
Results for the Indy Mini:
Being classified was very exciting because it opens more opportunities for me to compete. In track and field classification, "T" stands for track and "F" stands for field. There is a a numerical system that keeps all of the types of disability grouped together. The numbers 11-13 are for blind athletes; 20 is for those with an intellectual impairment; and any number above that is for a physical impairment. I am in the 50's. This grouping contains those who are in a wheelchair for competition.
