Festival of Races

L to R Estelle Hahn, Roger Hahn, Libby James

Fort Collins, Colorado to Syracuse, New York. That’s a long way to go to run 3.1 miles but I can’t think of a better reason to take to the airways, even as cramped and crowded as they are. The 24^th running of the Festival of Races 5k Masters Championships ranks right up there with the best running experiences I have ever had. There were lots of reasons.

I had the great good fortune to stay with Estelle and Roger Hahn, long-time dedicated runners. In addition to picking me up at the airport, opening their beautiful home to me, providing me with delicious food and stimulating conversation, in a very short time we formed a friendship that I know will be lasting.

On Saturday morning Estelle and I hobnobbed with runners as we picked up race packets at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Seems like the older runners get, the more committed they become to their sport and to their fellow runners. They can chat forever about past experiences, injuries and other disasters, stats and predictions about the upcoming event. Who’s coming? Who isn’t? What will the weather be like? There’s no stopping them.

Sunday, race morning, dawned cloudy but dry to everyone’s delight. Temperatures in the 60’s, no wind and only a tiny bit of humidity to whine about.

This race is low altitude for me. All season I’ve been trying to get below the 25-minute mark and until I reached the 1k sign on the course, I thought this might be my big chance. But 1k into the race, I was fairly certain that wasn’t going to happen and it did not. Close—25.14 gun time-25.11 net time, but not quite the goal I’d hoped for. No complaints. Everyone needs to have a goal, right?

This was my first USATF race in the 80-84-age group. Doesn’t that sound gruesome? The good news is that, much to my surprise, that 25-minute 14-second time was good enough for an American record, surpassing a time that had stood for 27 years.

Estelle took third in her 75-79 age group, beaten out by Fran, who crossed the finish line at exactly the same time as Estelle did. A photo showed that Fran’s torso crossed the line before Estelle’s did and that became the determining factor in their placement. Estelle, who has done 23 of the 24 Festival 5ks, will be will sticking out her chest a bit more next year.

Some weekends just go by. Others are more memorable. This was one for the books.