Paul Christopher Low

1999 Racing Diary




Recap for 1999
1999 was a year of a few new pr's, some big changes, and a few breakthoughs in my oun little world of running. First of all, I moved from Mount Pleasant, Michigan to Bend Oregon, a switch that allowed me to train at moderate altitude, run a greater portion of my miles on inclines and trails, and change training groups. During the last year, I have also had the opportunity to represent post-collegiate clubs (West Valley track Club-San Fransisco and Team Red Lizard-Portland) for the first time in North America. Out of all the events, races, and new experiences for me in 1999, the most monumental single thing was my membership on the USA national team for the World Mountian Running Trophy. After placing 41st overall (2nd US scorer) I have decided to focus on Euro-style mountain racing in the near future with the primary goal of performing well at these championships. Anyway, here are the numbers...
  • New PR's for 1999

    • Marathon 2:32:17
    10K 30:36
  • Course Record Set in 1999

    • McDonald's Forest 15K (52:47, old CR 55:06, Eric Reed)
    Elephant's Perch Backcountry 16.5 Mile (1:43:35, old CR 1:46:35, Carl VanCalcar)
    Mount Hood Ski Bowl Scramble(41:44, old CR 48:05)
  • Best Three Races:

    • 1. World Mountain Running Trophy
    2. Elephant’s Perch Backcountry Run 16.5 miler
    3. XC nationals
  • Worst Three Races:

    • 1. Springfield Turkey Trot 5k
    2. Willamette XC Invitational
    3. Northwestern USATF XC Championships
  • Best Overall Running Moment:

    • Running all out at the end of the World Mountain Trophy (up a very step hill) and out kicking two very reputable mountain runners

    Race Number: 27
    Date: December 12, 1999
    Location: Lake Merced, San Fransisco, California
    Distance: 4.464 kilometers
    Time: ???
    Splits: ???
    Team Place: WVTC 3rd team
    Link to results: WVTC.org
    Comments: My last race of this way-too-long season proceeded rather well from an individual standpoint; however, my primary goal of winning the race as a team was left unfulfilled. I ran as the ancor of the West Valley Track Club out of San Fransisco and when I recieved the handoff, I was 2:28 behind Cris Ashfield of eventual winner Hoy's Excelsior and 1:05 behind runners' up Adidas Transports. With a deficit of 2:28 against the winner of the PAUSATF short course and XC Grand Prix, I just concentrated on running as hard as I could. At the end, I had pulled to within 2:11 of the leaders meaning that I closed 17 seconds on Ashfield. Third place as a team was a bit anticlimactic, especially when I was not in a position to affect the outcome of the race from my ancor position. Oh well.

    Race Number: 26
    Date: December 5, 1999
    Location: Eldorado Park, Long Beach, California
    Distance: 10 kilometers
    Time: 31:47.10
    Splits: 1 mile-4:42, 5k-15:25
    Place: 51st
    Link to results: Flash Results
    Comments: On a hot, breezy day in sunny southern Cal, the National XC Assoccaition Champs went off without any major problems, or flair for that matter, just solid racing. At the gun, the race went out hard but steady with dust rather than traffic as the primary obstacle to be overcome. After the first mile, (reached in 4:42 but felt like a 4:55) I was almost completely clear of traffic and ran in small packs thoughout the rest of race in about 60th place until the final 2 km when I got up the strength to overtake most of a struggling pack and move up to 51st. Although West Valley Track Club was gracious in funding my travel for this event, we were unable to compete as a team due to USATF beurrocracy and the work of a selfish coach from a certain FILA sponsored TRACK club from the WESTern part of the country, and disinterest from other members of WVTC. Hopefully, all of this can be remidied by the year 2000 for a crack at the top three teams in Franklin Park.

    Race Number: 25
    Date: November 25, 1999
    Location: Thurston Aquatic Park, Springfield, Oregon
    Distance: 5 kilometers
    Time: 15:21
    Splits: ???
    Place: 4th
    Link to results: The Good Race
    Comments: ...took the lead early, lost contact on a surge, finished slow. ...not much more to say...

    Race Number: 24
    Date: November 21, 1999
    Location: Blue Lake County Park, Portland, Oregon
    Distance: 8 kilometers
    Time: ???
    Splits: ???
    Place: 12th
    Team Place: Team Red Lizard, 2nd (CNW, 1st)
    Link to results: CNW?
    Comments: Went out hard and got right where I wanted to be at the two mile mark-tucked in behind the eventual first and second place finishers. Then, there was a surge. The frustrating thing about this race was that my faltering was caused, not by physical weakness, but by mental unpreparedness. I did not show up to race and I paid dearly for it. I am just tired of racing right now but there are so many good races to be run at this oint in the season and in a few months, there will be none. After the Christmas Relays, I can relax and get back to traning and leave all of this speedwork stuff behind for a while while I become strong again.

    Race Number: 23
    Date: November 7, 1999
    Location: Lower Woodland Park, Seattle, Washington
    Distance: 10 kilometers
    Time: ???
    Splits: 4:56, 9:46, 15:05
    Place: 9th
    Team Place: Team Red Lizard 2nd (CNW, 1st)
    Link to results: CNW?
    Comments: After a three week hiatus from racing, I was still not as mentally sharp for this one as I should have been. As of late, my mind has suffered repeated attacks from well-meaning intoxicants. This race was small, make that very small. What it lacked in numbers, however, it made up in the quality of the field. Rob Cook took the race out with only one runner in tow. Behind him, two packs formed, the more distal of the two containing myself and three others. Distractions, moreover, got the better of me and I faltered toward the 4k, let the runners in front of me get away, and had to run the remainder of the race repeating a cycle of gaining and losing ground on Todd Davis for the remaining 6k.

    Race Number: 22
    Date: October 17, 1999
    Location: Flying M Ranch near Yamill, Oregon
    Distance: 10 kilometers run?/15 kilometers bike?
    Time: ???
    Splits: ???
    Place: 2nd
    Link to results: The Lizard Revolution
    Comments: My run when well... Quite well. The course immediatly crosses a river then follows two-track for 800 meters to a clear-cut hill for 400 meters of xc hill running and tripping. Then, it is back onto a two-track for some rolling hills and then, the running starts. The last two miles of the course follow one of the most oregonesce (is that really a word?) scence available- tall pines, moss, pine needle-littered ground, and most of all, shade. At the end of the run, I had a few minutes lead on the rest of the fieldincluding those who were running just the fisrt leg of the dual as there race. Things did not go nearly as smothly on the mountain bike section of the race... Wile my exchange was good, I lost alot of time going up the first hill, partially because of tired legs but mostly due to not being able to properly mount my pedal cages. The first part of the bike was slow. Very slow. Finally, a second wind of sorts allowed me to speed up right just as the technical stuff was beginning. Crash number one occured on a soft, steep downhill after I locked the wheel, flipped over the handlebars, and landed on my back. I recovered quickly and burned down the fastest part of the course until eventual winner, Sam Cordell passed me near the bottom of the course. I hung onto Sam for a few minutes until, in anticipation of an upcomming climb, I shifted into my granny chain ring and sumarily lost use of my chain. By the time that I returned the chain to its proper position on the drive train, Sam was out of sight. Unfortunatly, this was the one point on the course were you could see over 400 meteres forward. This is were the technical terrain begins... In the next two miles, I carried my bike for about 1.75 miles and still managed to break both of my pedal cages (good riddance) and find a good place for crash number two. Locked the wheel, flipped over the handlebars, landed on my back (sooud familiar?). Finally, a fast, non-technical sprint to the finish... Except that I found a small ditch that enabled me pull off the hat trick of crashing. Locked the wheel, flipped over the handlebars, landed on my head this time. My helmet really saved my ass (or rather, my head) on this one as I basically broke my fall with the very to of my helmet and then still had the momentum to flip over onto my back. After this, I "jogged" it in and made the accouncement that my mountain bike was officailly for sale.

    Race Number: 21
    Date: October 16, 1999
    Location: McIver state Park, near Estacada, Oregon
    Distance: 8 kilometers
    Time: 25:09
    Splits: 4:58, 9:58, 15:07, 20:11
    Place: 2nd
    Team Place: Team Red Lizard 1st
    Link to results: No Link
    Comments: A beautiful fall day in the valley, a small, low key college xc meet, and a relaxed early pace usually makes for an enjoyable racing exprience. 1999's Lewis and Clark Open saw a beautiful day and an early pace that failed to drop even my slow ass. One problem is that my ability to maintian an even pace for any length of time. This saw me running poorly with the pace and then setting out into the lead at the 3 mile mark only to quickly pull gaps (about 126, I think) only to have them close just as quickly. The strange thing is that I was not really trying to surge in an attempt to leave behing all comers; rather, I was just running with reckless pace judgement. My 3 mile surge dropped our pack to 4 and a fast last mile whittled off one more. At 4.5, I began to feel uncomfortable for the first time in the race and with 300 meters to go, it became as much of a kickers race as an xc meet can get. Then, I swung wide on the 90 degree turn 100 meters from the finish and got out kicked by fellow lizard, John Dimmof. All in all, I am happy with my performance because I beat a few guys that finished ahead of me two weeks earlier at Willammette and I was in control of the race throughout. 25 low is not a bad performance on this course either.

    Race Number: 20
    Date: October 10, 1999
    Location: Bend, Oregon
    Distance: 10 kilometers
    Time: 30:50
    Splits: 4:56, 9:54, 14:44, 19:45, ?
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: CORK
    Comments: On a beautiful day for a race, I took it out with Dylan Mason in tow for the first two miles. After that, a well hungover Dylan faded as I maintained pace through three miles. After a slightly uphill 4th mile of 5:01, I lost interest in running hard and, well, finished.

    Race Number: 19
    Date: October 2, 1999
    Location: Bush Park, Salem, Oregon
    Distance: 8 kilometers
    Time: 24:54
    Splits: 4:42, 9:52, 15:00, 20:07
    Place: 18th
    Team Place: Team Proletarian 3rd
    Link to results: Will U
    Comments: With almost 350 runners, I was apprehensive about crowding at the start and a notorious funneling not far into the race. This, however, was only a minor problem as I got out quite well, in fact, I had the lead through the first mile in 4:42. I do not ordinarily like leading in a race with runners who will be beating me to the finish line, but the pace felt right at the time. Up the first hill, I got passed into tenth. Quite embarassing. This scenario would repeat itself on every uphill on the course. My pacing was pretty good but the race seemed long and my body felt rough. In addition to this, I was wearing flats (due to the diabolically vast distances of tarmac on the course) and flats and grass do not mix. At all. A descent effort but a truley disapointing race both for myself and my roster-difficulty-plagued team, Proletarian who placed third overall.

    Race Number: 18
    Date: September 25, 1999
    Location: Deschutes River, just south of Bend, Oregon
    Distance: 5 miles (Actually, 5.1, or so)
    Time: 27:08.3
    Splits: ???
    Place: 3rd
    Team Place: Bendistilery Corporate Team 1st
    Link to results: CORK
    Comments: Not much to say here; my legs felt tired (it was as though I had run up and down a mountain really hard for an hour less than a week ago) and Dudley and Nelson took off, and I could not go with them, I ran in third, by myself for the rest of the race. Not a pleasant experience. On a more positive note, my corporate team won, which is not surprising considering our men went 1, 3, and 4.

    Race Number: 17
    Date: September 19, 1999
    Location: Kinabalu National Park, Near Kundasang, Saban, Malaysia
    Distance: 12.5 Kilometers with at least 1276 meters of climbing
    Time: 1:02:04
    Splits: ???
    Place: 42nd
    Team Place: USA 9th
    Link to results: www.jaring.my/sabah/
    Comments: See Here

    Race Number: 16
    Date: September 6, 1999
    Location: College of Marin, Kentfield, California
    Distance: 10 kilometers
    Time: 30:55
    Splits: Out fast, felt it later.
    Place: 5th
    Team Place: WVTC 1st
    Link to results: The Runner's Schedule
    Comments: In my debut race representing the West Valley Track Club (WVTC), I was successful in helping the team to its first pausatf grand prix team win of the season. With our 5th man placing 14th overall and our first two in the top five, we made quick work of all comers. As for my individual race, it was pretty standard as far as Californian road races go. Actually, this was my first time racing in the golden state and the corse was flat and pleasant if a bit borgious. At the line, I could not manage to land a spot in the first row. No, this was not because the starting line was only 4 persons wide thus allowing room for only the 4 people who would place ahead of me, but rather because the race was full of self-important assholes that apperantly deserved the pole position(s). After the gun, Ashfield took it out hard for the first mile and a small pack of 7 or 8 trailed by 10 meters until 1.5 miles when Dudley and Stoltz (no, not John Stoltz of Alaska Fame) surged, caught the leader, and worked away from our pack. After running with an ever dwindling chase pack though 4.5 miles, I saw that 3rd place (Ashfield) was faltering and decided to make a run for the 3rd (and final money) place. In closing the gap on Ashfield, however, I was unable to drop Bingham who ran by me with less than 1 mile to go. I was then in fifth, a position that I would maintain for the remainder of the race despite slowing considerably.

    Race Number: 15
    Date: August 15, 1999
    Location: Mount Hood Skibowl West Park
    Distance: 5 miles
    Time: 41:44 (CR, old CR 48:05)
    Splits: ???
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: The Lizard Revolution
    Comments: Not much to say: straight up, then strait down. The race began at the ski lodge at the base of Mount Hood then proceeded to wind on a gradual switchback for the first 800m of the course before turning to some mountain bike trails for 200m or so. At this point, the course leaves the trail and goes strait up a hill...for a long time...without a trail. I have competed in off trail events in the past, however, they have all been in yorkshire where the grass is not only greener, but shorter and not full of such nuciances as trees, shrubs, branches, more shrubs, hidden crevaces, and more shrubs. At one point on the corse, I found myself in a washout that came up to my chest but was not visible from above because of the canopy of the shrubery. Near the end of the climb, there was boulder field that covered the last 400m of the climb. Finally, after 27 minutes of climbing, I had reached the ridge and could open it up along the ridge trail to the summit 600m away. At the summit, the race passed though the gate for the downhill mountain bike course which it follows for the remainder of the race. The downhill was moderately technical with several places where one could open up to top speed only to have to slow it down for a switchback or a steep portion.

    Race Number: 14
    Date: July 24, 1999
    Location: Fox Creek Trails, North of Ketchum, Idaho
    Distance: 16.5 miles
    Time: 1:43:35 (CR, old CR 1:46:35, Carl VanCalcar)
    Splits: ???
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: www.elephantsperch.com
    Comments: Well, I finally got one right. 16.5 miles of mountain trails without one step in the wrong direction. There are some other positive facets to my performace here including the CR, the win, and the mountain. The first mile of the race was on a relatively flat, paved residential road which ordinarily would have allowed us to opportunity to settle into the pace without having to sprint out to jockey for position on a quickly narrowing course. Nevertheless, this guy (later identified as 1996 olympic trials steeplechase finalist, Carl VanCalcar)took it out hard and fast. By the time that we had hit the trails, he was out of sight and I was becoming worried because I could not see him at the beginning of the first ascent. The first ascent sucked. It really sucked. Even during the prologue, I was practically walking and the steeper stuff near the top was slow and painful. It was near the top that Jeremy Wright passed me only to have me tuck in (as best I could). On the descent, I pulled away from Jeremy and was pulled to within 25 meters of the leader when he turned right for the 9 mile race and I turned left to complete the 16.5 miles. While I was looking forward to passing Carl on the course, I was also relieved that I did not have to contend with him later in the race. Going up to second ascent, Jeremy almost caught me near the top; however, I pulled away once again on the downhill and pulled almost 5 minutes on him by the finish. While I was happy with my race at the finish line, I learned two things that made me even more elated. One, I broke the course record by 3 minutes, a course record that was set by Carl VanCalcar (no slouch) and two, the second place finisher was a member of the 1999 national team for the world mountain running champs.

    Race Number: 13
    Date: July 18, 1999
    Location: Flying "M" Ranch, Near McMinville, Oregon
    Distance: Somewhere between 16 and 18 miles
    Time: 2:04:30
    Splits: ???
    Place: 4th
    Link to results: No known link
    Comments: Well, this is my second major trail race in a row in which I have taken an early lead and then taken a wrong turn. This time, however, I finished the race. The Mount Trask Assault had a 7 mile and a 16 mile event both of which ran together for the first 5k. At the split at the 5k mark, I had a 200 meter lead on all participants, including those who were nearly half of the way finished with their race. Nevertheless, I took the climb easy and followed an arrow pointing to the left when I should have gone straight. This detour took me at least one mile from the course (a mile of steep uphill.) When I discovered my error, I decided that I should still try to win the race and took off fast down the hill. After rejoining the course, I passed two men right away and hoped that I would find the leaders soon. Minutes later, I passed the race leader...of the women's race. At the next water stop, I was informed that there were 5 runners still in front of me and I picked off three more to finish 4th overall, 4 minutes out of 1st place. Overall, the "Assult" was a great course and a good time. Next time, however, I will run the correct course and win it.

    Race Number: 12
    Date: June 24, 1999
    Location: Just north of Salt Lake City, Utah
    Distance: Somewhere between 15 and 17 miles
    Time: DNF
    Splits: ???
    Place: DNF
    Link to results: No known link
    Comments: Twelve years ago, I ran in my first race. Since that time, I have probably run over one thousand races and up until this one, I had finished every one of them. At the gun, I took the lead from the start and decided to work up a comfortable cushion between myself and my competition before the real (uninterupted) climbing began. Thirty minutes into the race, I would estimate my lead at between two and three minutes. It was at this point that I took a wrong turn at an unmarked intersection and ended up far off of the course at the University of Utah. By the time that I got back to the junction where I had turned mistakenly, I had already run for one hour and 45 minutes and probably had another 90 minutes of running had I completed the course. So, I decided to run straight back to the starting line and call it a day.

    Race Number: 11
    Date: June 5, 1999
    Location: Southbend, Indiana
    Distance: Marathon
    Time: 2:32:19
    Splits: 13.1 miles in 1:14:0?
    Place: 2nd
    Link to results: www.sunburst.org
    Comments: While my second marathon went much better than my first, I still feel that there is much room for improvement. Before I comment on the race, I should begin with a brief summary of my travel escapades in the few days preceding the race...Wednesday morning, I boarded a Greyhound bus bound for Portland Oregon at 9:55 am. I would ride this bus for the next three days en route to Chicago where Scott Belland had aggeed to meet me and drive me the remained of the way to Sound Bend, Ind. We arrived at my hotel at 10:45 pm local time and, when I discovered that I had been assigned a roommate by the race organizers, we called a friend whose parents lived in the area and arrainged to stay there instead. Ordinarily, I would have no problem with sharing a hotel room; however, with my later-than-anticipated arrival, I was more concenred with disurbing the only runner who would finish in front of me 8 hours later. Despite the 6:00 am start, the weather was already hot and humid, conditions for which I was not adequatly prepared. Fortunatly for my race plan, the pace when out easily with a pack of four breaking away in the first few miles. At around 10k, I had to make a 30 second pit stop to deficate (tastefully hidden from view, I might add) and I decided to try and catch the group as fast as I could so I threw in a 2k at 5 minute pace and caught them a bit down the road. We ran together until about 14 miles (halfway in 1:14:?) when two members of the pack dropped off of the pace and left me alone with last year's winner, Heinno Haava. Haava and I ran together at a relaxed pace until around 21 miles when he surged going up one of the larger hills on the course and I decided that I would run conservatively and protect my second place rather than go with the leader and risk having to walk in the last few miles. The next 5 miles were hot, humid, sunny, (unbelievably sunny considering that it was just after 8:00 am)painful, and slow. By the last few miles, I was just hoping that I could finish in second.

    Race Number: 10
    Date: May 9, 1999
    Location: Bell Tower Public House, Vancouver, Washington
    Distance: 10k
    Time: 30:36
    Splits: ???
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: On the Run
    Comments: First of all, this race was advertised as awarding a whopping $5,000 which, in previous years had produced a fast field with a few almost world class athletes. Opon our arrival at the starting line, we learned of the recent changes (no prize money) and debated whether or not it was worth the entry fee and the drudgery of running in suburban nothingness when the trails of downtown Portland's extensive park system were on the way home. Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, it probably would have been better to do a workout since myself and two of my training partners took the top three places. On a flat and fast course with a little breeze, I took off in a pack of three other runners. We all ran together with three of us sharing the lead until about 4.5 miles at which point I threw in a surge that eliminated the one non-Bend resident from the pack. I then tried to push the pace to the end, finally pulling a gap on second place in the last 400m.

    Race Number: 9
    Date: April 25, 1999
    Location: Athletic Club of Bend, Bend, Oregon
    Distance: 10k
    Time: 30:44.4 (short course
    Splits: ???
    Place: 2nd
    Link to results: CORK
    Comments: Eventual winner, Mike Dudley took it out hard enough that I dropped back at 2 miles and started running for the title of first loser. At no point in this race did I feel good or smooth. The time is for a short course but it is probably comperalbe to a fully paved, flat course at sea level, since the Salmon Run is run on about 90% dirt trails and grass, is a 3,500 ft and has a nasty combination of long, gradual uphills and steep downhills.

    Race Number: 8
    Date: April 17, 1999
    Location: McDonald's Forest, Corvallis, Oregon
    Distance: 15k with 1,450ft elevation gain
    Time: 52:47 (CR, old CR, 55:06, Eric Reed)
    Splits: ???
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: CORK
    Comments: Ran hard enough for the first 5k (rolling) to drop all but two of my competitors. Got passed into second near the summit but then quickly regained to lead and extended it on the descent to 30 seconds. Felt good until the last mile. I am quite pleased with this race not only in the fast time but also in how good I felt for most of the race...



    Race Number: 7
    Date: April 3, 1999
    Location: Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
    Distance: 3000 meter steeplechase
    Time: 9:14
    Splits: ???
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: ???
    Comments: A very promising race that gets me excited for chases in the near future...that may or may not happen. Took the lead from the gun and ran easy with a guy right behind me for the entire race (I almost got out kicked. ALMOST.) I do not recall any of the spilts but I know that the final lap was really slow. The reason that I am so excited about a mere 9:14 is that my hurdling form was attrocious. I even stepped on 6 barriers and the ones that I did hurdle, I was all over the place and very inefficient. Spring in the valley weather did not help the time either (windy.)



    Race Number: 6
    Date: March 14, 1999
    Location: Downtown Portland, Oregon
    Distance: 5 kilometers
    Time: 15:02
    Splits: 1 mile in 4:30 (wrong)2 miles in 10:09 (maybe)
    Place: 2nd
    Link to results: On The Run
    Comments: I went into the race with the intentions of winning the whole thing so that I could revel in the 1st place prize of dinner for four at a good sea(cow)food place in downtown Portland that I would never choose to afford otherwise. The race went out at a medium pace and I pulled up with the leaders right at the start and then took the lead at about a quarter mile out and lead for one kilometer. Three of us passed through one mile in 4:30 which is too fast considering that it was uphill and I felt fine. Almost all of the second mile was up hill and the eventual winner pulled the eventual third placer to a decent lead over me by the two mile mark (10:09). During the mostly downhill third mile, I moved into second place and closed just a bit on the leader whom I later discovered is a 3:40 1500m runner from the U of Colorado.

    Race Number: 5
    Date: March 6, 1999
    Location: Linfield College Track, McMinvile, Oregon
    Distance: 3000 meter Steeplechase
    Time: 9:30?
    Splits: 2km in 6:10
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: U of O Women's Track
    Comments: Toed the line with 5 other guys and shot into the lead at the gun and ran unchallenged to the finish. Second place was a good 200 meters back at the end so I just concentrated on pushing myself but... Ran well through 2 km (in 6:10) but did not have the focus that I needed for a strong finish. This is unfortunate because it was a great day for running the chase and I am sure that the next time that I get on the track, the wind will be howling and the pace will be slow and congested.

    Race Number: 4
    Date: January 15
    Location: Saginaw Valley State University Rider Center Indoor Track University Center, Michigan
    Distance: 3000 meters
    Time: 8:57.74
    Splits: 1 mile in 4:41
    Place: 8th
    Link to results: SVSU Athletics
    Comments: About 3 hours after the finish of the 5000 m a pretty bad field and I should have been second or third. Oh well, my legs were tired and I am sick of running indoors. On a positive note, the combined time for my 8k tonight was 23:59.99.

    Race Number: 3
    Date: January 22
    Location: Saginaw Valley State University Rider Center Indoor Track University Center, Michigan
    Distance: 5000 meters
    Time: 15:02.25
    Splits: kilometers in 3:01/6:01/9:05/12:??/15:02
    Place: 1st
    Link to results: SVSU Athletics
    Comments: Traded the lead with Jason Jalwozynski for the first 3k before leading and pulling away at 4k. Did not kick. Jason finished 2nd in 15:19

    Race Number: 2
    Date: January 15
    Location: Saginaw Valley State University Rider Center Indoor Track University Center, Michigan
    Distance: 3000 meters
    Time: 8:57
    Splits: 1 mile in 4:36
    Place: 2nd
    Link to results: SVSU Athletics
    Comments: About 2 hours after the finish of the 5000m lead through the first mile in 4:36 before Lyle Mayers from LCC passed me and pulled away at 2000m to win in 8:45.
    Race Number: 1
    Date: January 15
    Location: Saginaw Valley State University Rider Center Indoor Track University Center, Michigan
    Distance: 5000 meters
    Time: 15:09
    Splits: kilometers in 3:05/2:58/2:59/3:05/3:02
    Place: 2nd
    Link to results: SVSU Athletics
    Comments: Lead for most of the race with an LCC runner (Rob Block) right behind me until 600 meters to go in the race. When he went by, I got caught up in "tempo run" feel of the race and coasted in easily to go one second under my old meet record of 15:10. 8 seconds in front of me, Block finished in a new meet record of 15:01. This was a good workout, especially for this time of the year…

    Last race of 1998
    Date: November 08
    Location: Downtown Columbus, Ohio
    Distance: 26.2 miles
    Time: 2:34:57
    Splits: 13.1 miles in 1:11:07 (see "comments" below)
    Place: 18th
    Link to results: www.columbusmarathon.com
    Comments: When the gun when off, 3 white guys took off with a relay runner and I went out the the top kenyans at 5:30 for the first 3 miles; felt like I was walking (note; the eventual winner, abderrazak naki would later refer to this as a "ladies pace"). then, the pace became "erratic" with a 5:05 mile followed by another 5;30. at this point, Steve Kempainen, an american with a similar 2:20 goal and I decided to take matters into our own hands and push the pace for a while partially to get back on 2:20 pace and partially to get in the clear and not have to contend with ramming into some kenyan's ass several times a mile whenever he decided to do an "anti-surge." We ran a few miles in around 5:20 until the head wind was so bad that we both had to tuck into the pack. The next 8 miles consisted of an "erratic" pace centering around 5:25 pace. We passed through the half in 1:11:09 and i was feeling fine and dandy. At 14 miles, all but one of the africans took off and left our pack with me, 2 other americans, a russian masters? guy, and a kenyan. 2 miles later, it was just us americans and, after a few more miles, I fell out the ass of that pack since they decided to make up all of our deficit on 2:20 pace in one mile. It was at this point (about 17 miles) that the wind really began to get to me (it did not help that i was totally alone at this juncture) but i was still on 2:22 pace. Then 2:24 pace. then 2:25 pace. Then, at 24.2 miles, I was at 2:18:09. This, of course, means that at 5:30 pace, I could have run 2:29:09. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. Instead, I ran 2:34:57 to finish in 18th place overall. I only mention this place because I was in about 10th at 20 miles. I also think that it is at least slightly ironic that my best performance in mac xc is a 41st place in a race of 70 runners and yet i can run a shitty marathon with my last two miles in just under 8:30 pace and still place 18th out of 4,200 runners. Oh yeah, the guy who placed 17th passed me after the 26 mile mark. After crossing the finish line, I drank 2 cups of all sport and went into a nearby building to get a massage. Upon completion of this massage, one of the therapists told me that I should get an iv and called the paramedics over. My legs were cramping quite badly at this point and my skin was really dry. So...I went to the marathon icu and my temperature was 93 degrees and a was shivering. They bundled me up and gave me an iv and then checked my vital sings for another 90 minutes. When they finally discharged me, the finishers were running 4+hours and I am sure that they were running faster than I was when I finished.