The Tulip Run 2012 Confusion
This morning I woke up to sunshine! Yes, here in Seattle. The drive to Burlington Washington was beautiful. Mist skirting the mountains, the wide open fields. Good music on the radio.
I got to Burlington and parked, hit the porta, grabbed my number, came back to my car to pin it on, realized I had no pins, went back to check-in, hit the porta again, back to car, warm-up...You know, the typical. Met Megan from Club NW, who warned me of a wicked headwind on the home stretch. True.
5 minutes late the 5 miler race went off. My first mile was 5:15 pace eeeeeeeck. First woman, top 8 man, no one in sight behind. Tried to smooth out, relax, concentrate on my race not the dudes in front of me. Hit 2 miles and realized I had a 5k to run, questioned my choice of sport. Side cramp (that jerk) hits, think: breath, breath, breath, don't drop out. 4 miles catch the dude in front of me, ride it out. FINISH! 29:47
Now the fun starts, well after the 4 mile cooldown with new friend Megan. The race results are all effed. They call out a Mimi as the winner, she takes the prize, even though she knows full well she was 5th. I'm called 2nd. Err? I point out as I glance at the results while accepted 2nd (WTF-stay cool) that they are wrong. Of course there is suspicion of me because I reek of 5mile -race -looting. Whatever. All the over-alls are announced wrong. Confusion ensues, Megan (2nd place) defends me, I defend her place... it's a hubbub. You can imagine. You come to run a race and be respected for your finish. But instead you are caught in a very awkward situation where you now have to defend your finish.
That said, I'm not mad at the race organizers, they did the best they could, which wasn't great because of some flub in timing somewhere. I am upset that women were accepting awards they know didn't earn. It's not confusing, you weren't first. You saw at least three chicks pass your booty. I know it's not fun, but... hello, admit you didn't earn your prize. Very strange attitudes.
This situation put a damper on what was a good day. To close, I'll hit some high-notes: I have the course record, unannounced (thanks Mimi) and a strong race behind me. I doubt I'll trek back to the Tulip Run, but Eugune lies ahead. And the weirdness of the race results lead me to meet new people.
*it appears the Tulip Run results were figured out, I wonder if Mimi and Stacy feel odd for accepting 1st and 3rd over all?
I got to Burlington and parked, hit the porta, grabbed my number, came back to my car to pin it on, realized I had no pins, went back to check-in, hit the porta again, back to car, warm-up...You know, the typical. Met Megan from Club NW, who warned me of a wicked headwind on the home stretch. True.
5 minutes late the 5 miler race went off. My first mile was 5:15 pace eeeeeeeck. First woman, top 8 man, no one in sight behind. Tried to smooth out, relax, concentrate on my race not the dudes in front of me. Hit 2 miles and realized I had a 5k to run, questioned my choice of sport. Side cramp (that jerk) hits, think: breath, breath, breath, don't drop out. 4 miles catch the dude in front of me, ride it out. FINISH! 29:47
Now the fun starts, well after the 4 mile cooldown with new friend Megan. The race results are all effed. They call out a Mimi as the winner, she takes the prize, even though she knows full well she was 5th. I'm called 2nd. Err? I point out as I glance at the results while accepted 2nd (WTF-stay cool) that they are wrong. Of course there is suspicion of me because I reek of 5mile -race -looting. Whatever. All the over-alls are announced wrong. Confusion ensues, Megan (2nd place) defends me, I defend her place... it's a hubbub. You can imagine. You come to run a race and be respected for your finish. But instead you are caught in a very awkward situation where you now have to defend your finish.
That said, I'm not mad at the race organizers, they did the best they could, which wasn't great because of some flub in timing somewhere. I am upset that women were accepting awards they know didn't earn. It's not confusing, you weren't first. You saw at least three chicks pass your booty. I know it's not fun, but... hello, admit you didn't earn your prize. Very strange attitudes.
This situation put a damper on what was a good day. To close, I'll hit some high-notes: I have the course record, unannounced (thanks Mimi) and a strong race behind me. I doubt I'll trek back to the Tulip Run, but Eugune lies ahead. And the weirdness of the race results lead me to meet new people.
*it appears the Tulip Run results were figured out, I wonder if Mimi and Stacy feel odd for accepting 1st and 3rd over all?