Race #1: 10,000m (men and women combined)
Goal: Establish a strong early pace and run even splits through 8k.
The women...This race was headlined by the famous "Coach Ponytail" making her outdoor track debut. The late-bloomer took all the drama out of her debut performance by taking the lead from the gun and pulling away from a race field comprised of collegiate runners. By a mile into the race it was clear that the lead was 20 seconds and by the mid-way point she was already lapping slower runners. With just over a mile to go every other runner in the women's race had been lapped and she began closing on the tail end of the men's race. When it was all said and done she closed out the 10k wire-to-wire victory with strong kick in front of an appreciative crowd of spectators.
The men....The flavor of this race was defined early by T-Birds at the front. In the men's race Eric & Peter took a lead they never relinquished. Both running the first 10,000 meters of their college careers the plan was a conservative early effort. Peter set the pace and lead for the first 2 miles of the race with Eric running right on his shoulder resembling the teamwork of a cross country race. From the 2 mile Eric and Peter took turns setting pace as the east side wind blustered around the Mt. Hood Community College track. At the 4 mile point the pace began to take it's toll, but the dynamic duo regrouped with a mile to go in preparation for a big push to the finish. With a half mile to go Eric surged ahead and opened a 20 meter lead...Peter easily could have run conservatively and cruised in for a second place, but he regrouped and closed the gap over the next 5oo meters and made a crowd pleasing move with 200 meters remaining to quickly putting a 10 meter gap on Eric. Passing lapped runners in the final 100 meters, Eric answered the move and closed the gap as the rumble from the grandstands built to an eruption as the cheering crowd rose to their feet to show their appreciation for the effort. As both finished shoulder to shoulder after 10,000 meters the race was decided by lean at the tape as Peter narrowly edged Eric by a mere .20. Peter's 34:44.38 qualified him for NWAAC's and Eric's 34:44.58 was nearly a 2 minute improvement to his personal best. The future is bright for these young runners who will begin training together this summer in preparation for cross country.
Race #2: 1500 meters (Joe)
Goal: Running only the third race of his budding track career Joe's goal was to lower his PR in the 1500 by running a conservative early pace and finishing with a strong kick. In his last 1500 he ran through the first 400 meters in 67 seconds and learned the hard way about the importance of a lactate threshold. Today he ran the first 400 meters in 71 seconds and was able to cruise the mid-point of the race in what would have been a PR for 800. The conservative early pace paid dividends as he was able to power home the last 200 dropped his lifetime best by another :03. With 1 race left in his rookie track season Joe is poised to end his season on a high note at the Conference Championships in 2 weeks.
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