Salado Creek Trail Run

Aah........ the benefits of growing old. At 51 I am often told "You're not old." No, to people near my age I am not, but to many of the 20 and 30 year old crowd I sometimes run with, I am. Even though they are kind and say otherwise. And to those older, as in an older co-worker, I am "just a snot-nosed pup." But at my age it is sometimes advantageous as in today's trail run at Salado Creek. I felt good and knew I could have a good race if I played it right and ran "MY RACE". As is usually the case though, I got caught up in the quick pace of the front runners, but quickly toned it down and ran with a group I thought I could hang with. The race started on the road for the first half mile then turned into a really tight single track trail. So tight at times that frequently it was necessary to duck under trees and at least 3 times I was brushing my shoulders up against trees and large brush. Low trees were abound and demanded ducking, dodging, and weaving. I was running with a group of about 10 runners and soon we dispersed as the trail became more technical. At times the trail opened up to a wider almost jeep trail and then to very rocky river bed terrain. I could tell some were not accustomed to running in such tight and rocky trails. At one point there was a fallen tree traversing the trail. In a split second I thought, Go under or climb over? I climbed over and nearly fell. Thinking I was running well, and fast, I again surveyed the field as I had done at the start and thought I could maybe place in my age category. Not too many old guys out here. Come on, don't we all do that? I passed at least 5 people the first 5 miles, but then I began to get passed. At the 5 mile aid station I stopped for about 30 seconds to grab some Gatorade. a group of about 7 people went pass me as I took my break. I continued and tried to keep that group in my sight. With about 2 miles to go I was feeling somewhat fatigued but was able to sustain a good pace. I finished in 1 hour 15 minutes and change. I felt good about my chances. Tom, Brian, Joe, Roy, Edgar and his fiance Kerri hung around and waited for the results. Tom won third in his age category, 45-49. Kerri won an award (she's young, I didn't pay attention to her age cat). And I won first! Granted, there aren't too many guys my age out there but it felt great! HEY CHRIS, I'M FAST....................For short distances, and among old guys. Lately I have been noticing the affects of aging on my body, and I am OK with it, but it feels great once in a while to be successful. Wait a minute........, I mean to win something, because just going out and running an event is being successful. I hope to keep running for many years to come and I wish for my friends, family and everyone to do the same.