My First Race - The Elvis Presley International (August 9, 2008)

• Posted: August 9, 2008
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• Author: Shéamus
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• Filed under: Race Reports
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• Tags: 5K, My First Race

Graceland was about a 20 minute drive from where I’m staying in Olive Branch, MS. My wife and I were both taking part in the Elvis Presley International, and we left the house about 6am. The race started at 8am but we needed to be there to pick up our race chips by 7.15am at the latest. We didn’t know the route well nor were we aware of the parking situation, so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time just in case a whole bunch of things went wrong.

The parking wasn’t an issue. There were tonnes of spaces. In fact, the entire race was incredibly well organised from start to finish. Once out of the car, we picked up our chip and then hung out in a huge marquee with all the other runners. All told, there were over 1400 in attendance.

We had some coffee and a banana, sipped water, and waited. I had to hit the bathroom three times. Despite that, when I got to the start line I still needed to urinate. First day nerves, I guess. Overall, though, I felt great. My hamstrings were a little tight, but my body felt fine.

I lined up right at the very front, maybe two yards from the start line. It was only then that I realised that the race began with a pretty long hill climb! In fact, the entire course was extremely hilly. Nothing really major, just constant quad-crushing up and downhills, with very few flats in between.

The horn went off, and the race began. Despite the immediate hill, I felt good, and my Garmin confirmed it - not only was I holding my own with the group, but my pace was about 6:20! Pretty soon some people started to pass me but I remained solid and despite the hill knocked out a 7:10 opening mile.

But then, the hills, the endless hills.

I don’t run many hills at home, up or down. If you’re not a runner you’d think downhills would be easy and they are definitely better than going up, but they’re both major quad killers. About a mile and a half in I was feeling pretty wiped. Plenty of people had passed me by now, but my Garmin was still showing 7:30-7:40 pretty much constantly so I felt okay with my pace.

Sure enough, around the two-mile mark I started to reel a few more people back in. It was around now that this little kid - he looked about ten or eleven to me - caught up and passed me. I’m not having this, I thought, and tried to run with him, but he just took off. I felt pretty lousy for a moment but when he passed another 30-40 people in front of me within about two minutes my moment of shame quickly passed.

There were plenty of little showers set up along the way as well as water at each mile marker. Many folks in the neighbourhood had been kind enough to switch on their garden hoses and aim them into the road, and that was much appreciated. At one point I was so hot that I grabbed a cup of water and just threw it over my head - it turned out to be ice water, and the shock to my system actually made me yell out loud.

About 2.5 miles in I was suffering. It was getting hotter and hotter and the hills had destroyed my legs. However I felt, though, I promised myself I’d go flat out at end. I was routinely checking my Garmin by now to try and predict my overall time, but it looked like I was going to be short of a PB. No matter - I could still finish strong.

The problem was, at 23:10 I just passed the 5K line, but the race wasn’t over. Could my Garmin be that off?

No - the course turned out to be long. After the race, I checked with several folk and everybody said the same thing - the course fell somewhere between 3.15 and 3.20 miles depending on whom you asked. My Garmin said it was 3.18.

That aside, I made a total rookie mistake - I’m so used to stopping my watch at fixed points that I actually hit the button on my Garmin when I’d passed the 3.10 marker, which gave me a 5K time of 23:10.

My actual time in the race, however, with the extra distance and according to the chip, was 23:36, for an average pace of 7:37/mile. Out of 1400+ runners, I finished 7^th in my age group, 82^nd amongst the men, and 105^th overall.

I full-out sprinted the last couple of hundred yards, passing about another six or seven runners and putting paid to a couple of guys I’d been trading places with on and off throughout the race.

Splits:

Look at that - even though I registered from Sussex, England, they put me under Memphis, Tennessee! I couldn’t even put my home county on the map.

The race was won by 36-year old Jeff Scott who ran an incredible 15:35 (5:02/mile). Rita Jorgensen won the women’s race with a time of 17:54.

See all the race times here.

After the race, I waited for my wife to finish and then we hit the Miller Lite tent. I’ve never had a beer at 9am in the morning before, but it sure went down smooth. We picked up a few free bits and pieces and then the award ceremony began. One of my few regrets is that we had to leave all of our cameras and stuff back at the car, which was quite a way from where the race was. This meant we couldn’t take any decent pictures, although I did get one of Elvis:

On the way home, we celebrated at ihop who, in my opinion, do arguably the greatest breakfast in the world. That French toast is to die for.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. The hills caught me offguard - I simply had not prepared in that way - but I think I did pretty well. I’d have liked to have broken the top 100 overall but to place just outside of there and so highly in my age group is a reasonable result. I learned a few tricks and tips and I’ll be faster next time.

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