Posts Tagged ‘age-graded’

The Week of No Running

Well, I can walk normally, and the pain is gone even without Advil, but the stiffness remains and I know from previous experience that I’ll only aggravate it if I start in again too soon. So I wait until both legs feel pretty much the same.

In the meantime, the updated standings from the Buzz Oates RunSac Race Series have been posted. You have to love an event that rewards you more for sheer dogged stupidity than for speed. Last Sunday I ran a reasonable 50:28 10k. It was age-graded to a 44:09… which was good enough for 39th place out of 46 runners!

Yes, I’m clearly out of my league. However, in the short term at least, I am kicking major butt because as long as you race, you get points. No matter how fast you are, if you don’t race, you get zero points. So my crummy finish still boosted me to 26th place in the overall standings, out of 153 participants.

That’s pretty impressive, until you check and discover that I’m 26th out of the 31 guys who have run all three races so far.

The next race is in two weeks, but it’s touch-and-go whether I’ll manage it. Until then, it’s massage, ice, rest and prayer.

Woody Allen Is Not a Runner

Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” He had a point, but his math was faulty.

The updated standings in the 2009 Buzz Oates Run Sac Race Series were released and my less-than-stellar half-marathon rocketed me from 64th place to 34th. How is that possible, you say? Well, if you don’t run the race, you get zero points. Though there are currently 136 runners in the men’s division, only 41 ran both races in the series thus far.

Just showing up and completing the race pushed me past dozens of runners. The bad news is that the series gives you 14 opportunities to complete 8 races – four of 5 miles or less, four of more than 5 miles. So as the year progresses, my advantage will mostly disappear.

The good news is that I’ve run one decent race and one crummy one, and will get better. The rankings use the scores from your eight best races if you run more than eight. I’m not in the same league as most of the other runners in the standings, but I know I can move up out of the cellar.

If Woody were a runner, he would recalculate success to 50% showing up, 30% grinding it out, 15% not doing something stupid, and 5% good fortune. That 15% is what trips me up.

Comeuppance

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had signed up for the Buzz Oates RunSac Race Series, which ranks runners (for prizes) who race in specified events during 2009. I’m one of about a dozen people who entered as independents; the rest come from local racing teams and running groups.

The Valentine Run was the first race in the series, and I finally got the age-graded results.

Ouch.

Of the 78 enrolled guys who ran the four-miler last Saturday, I came in 64th. The age-grading was actually a wash for me. Five older, slower guys got ranked above me, while five younger, faster guys slid below me.

Disappointing, but a fairly accurate gauge of where I fall among the area’s best runners. Work still to do.

Glutton for Punishment

I signed up for the Buzz Oates RunSac Race Series, which is a year-long competition of 14 races. It features prize money and is mostly suited to the local running clubs. I joined as an independent, and I’m a middle-of-the-packer. Why did I do it?

Uh, I’m not really sure.

The results are age-graded, so that’s helpful, and the standings are based on your top 8 times. Since I tend to run a lot of races, this gives me something of an advantage.

The first race in the series is a 4-miler this Saturday, and naturally I’m running my slowest in weeks. Why?

Uh, I’m not really sure.

This means my goal for Saturday is a time-honored one: Avoid embarrassment. Wish me luck!

No Excuses

Too old to win anymore? Here’s one race that levels the playing field for veteran runners.

The Buzz Oates No Excuses 5k in Sacramento, California, is the brainchild of Rich Hanna of Capital Road Race Management. Some of you may recognize Rich as a great but unheralded ultramarathoner. He won a silver medal at the World 100k in 2001, and he’s still formidable at age 43. Last March, he won the Bidwell Classic Half Marathon, then went out the next week and placed fifth in the Way Too Cool 50k with a time of 3:39 (for comparison, ultra legend Tim Twietmeyer finished 50th in the same race).

Rich’s No Excuses race automatically adjusts each runner’s chip time for age and sex. For example, the time of a male runner aged 22-29 would receive no adjustment, but a 76-year-old woman would have her time reduced by 15:09. The race website has a page that explains how the handicap is computed for each age.

You don’t have to understand the system to enjoy the results. A large-screen TV is placed at the finish line so runners can see how their age-adjusted time has moved them up or down in the rankings. First place, or any other place, can change well after the first runner has crossed the finish line. This year a 17-year-old male was the first to finish, but he ultimately ended up in 10th. The age-adjusted winner was a 68-year-old woman who ran a 23:11. You can compare the raw results here with the age-adjusted results here.

There are no age group awards. Instead, the top 50 age-adjusted finishers receive a plaque. As the race goes on, the runner currently in 50th place is sent to sit in the Buzz Oates Hot Seat, which is a comfy recliner donated by a local store. As more people finish, the person in 50th changes, and is sent to the hot seat. Whoever ends up in 50th place when the race is over wins the recliner!

If you’re not lucky enough to win an award or a recliner, at least everyone goes home with a prized No Excuses t-shirt. On the back it reads:

“Why I Didn’t Win the Buzz Oates No Excuses 5k – Check all that apply” then lists various excuses, including:

• I didn’t want to give anyone low self-esteem.
• Global warming.
• I can hide, but I can’t run.
• Too many slow-twitch muscles.
• Galloway method didn’t work.

The age-grading didn’t do me much good. It pushed me in front of 24 runners, but it pushed 49 other runners in front of me. The beauty of the race is you only have to get older to improve your time. That I can handle.