I’m an Olympian!
A while ago I learned about an organization named “Michigan Senior Olympics“. Their website listed all the events they hold, the qualifying criteria, and the results for each event from the last several years. I saw that the 5k and 10k races only had a handful of entrants each year in my age group, 60-64, and the fastest times were close to what I had been running the last couple of years. I also saw that the top 4 runners in each age group were eligible to go to the National Senior Games being held in June 2019 in Albuquerque NM. So I decided to try to qualify for nationals.
The problem was I was having hip, hamstring and glute pains the last few months and it was getting worse. So I started seeing a chiropractor to try to correct the problem. I’ll post about that another day but it did seem to be helping some.
Both races were being held at Oakland University in Rochester MI. The 5k was on August 14 and the 10k on August 16, both at 9:00AM. I took both of those days off work without knowing what exactly to expect at the races.
The morning of the 5k was hot and humid, fast approaching 80 degrees by 9:00AM. It was a small field of men and women most of whom looked much older than me. But there were some that were hard to tell their age. I thought a couple may have been in my age group so I wanted to stay close to them. The course started with 2 laps of the OU track then headed out to campus. As soon as we left the track we had to tackle a decent hill which turned out to be just the first of a few. The course was an out and back so as I was nearing the turn around I saw the leader was a guy that I guessed could be my competition. He was probably running a 7:15 pace and in the heat with my sore hips I was more like an 8:00.
After everyone had finished the race there was an award ceremony and I was pleased to accept my silver medal for second place. I was truly excited to be an Olympian and eligible to represent Michigan in the National Senior Games next year.
Two days later at the 10k the weather was much different. Rainy and cooler was a nice change, plus it kept some of the competitors away. I had heard that if you qualify in either race distance you are eligible to run both distances at Nationals. So the guy who had smoked us all in the 5k must have decided there was no point in running the 10k in the rain. With the smaller field, I felt confident I would medal in the 10k and was happy to accept the gold medal at the ceremony.
So with a gold and silver medal I am very proud to be an Olympian and I hope to make the trip to Albuquerque next summer to experience the National games!