Tulsa Run Race Report

Saturday was the 32nd edition of the Tulsa Run. Being a BOK employee, I get to run for free. Joining me this year was Julie and several of my co-workers. Most of them were going to walk to walk the 5K, but hey, at least they got off the couch. Julie had decided to do the 15K. She had planned on training for it, but she did not do much running in October. I figured it was going to be a long day for her.
Here is a few of them at the start of the 5K. From left to right is Shane, one of my Transit employees, Cheryl, who works with Julie, and Tracy, who is one of my leads. This was Shane's and Cheryl's first 5K. I warned Tracy about wearing her Tulsa Run shirt for the race, but she didn't listen. You cannot wear the shirt until you have actually done the race!

I was very fortunate this year to start up front due to the kindness of Runnersworld. I have been on their race team for a number of years and they were allotted 10 slots and I received one. It was kind of neat being up front as we did little tiny loops to warm up in front of the masses. It was kind of like being on display at the circus.

I ended up about second or third row behind some of the tiny elite Kenyan girls. They were very petite, but quick. I am pretty sure I have ate bigger sandwiches than what they weighed. The countdown started at we were off at 9 AM. I had just got a Garmin 305 on Wed. and decided to wear it during the race to try and pace my self. It worked out really great during the first 5K, which is where I normally go out too fast and pay for it later. I stuck right on my 4:00 pace per K for the first 6K. As we came down on Riverside, where it was flat, I started to fall back. This is where I should have been able to kick it in, but instead, I just got slower. I guess I have not had enough longer tempo runs. I went through the 10K at 40:45 and knew my goal of sub 60 was gone. I kept a pretty even pace up to the Denver hill, but knew that would drop me back even further. I hung in there and pulled out a 1:02. Good enough for 121st overall. I even managed to be the top runner for the Bank this year and pulled us into a 3rd place for Corporate teams.
Here is the first female coming across the line. I think she finished in 50 something.
One of the great things of the Tulsa Run is that is either around or this year, on Halloween. Clark Kent ran the race this year and flew across the line. He is pretty fast, sub 60!
Here I am coming across the line. I was sure glad to be done. I have a ways to go to get sub 60. I hung around afterwords and drank a soda and talked to the kids. They were getting fussy holding all our gear, so I told them to go take the stuff back to the Jeep and I would go back out and find their mother. I headed back out on the course and the looks on peoples faces when I was going back out was priceless. I did a slow jog and saw several people still coming in, Bobby, Ken, Kathy, and the Runnersworld group. I was starting to wonder how far I was going to have to go back and in between 11 & 12K I found here. She was so glad to see me. I stayed with her the rest of the way as she slow jogged and walked it in.
Here is she coming into the finish. I am so proud of her for not quitting and accomplishing her goal. She was not last and she even beat one of the celebrity runners. With some training and dedication she can do a lot better. No matter what, she still did 9.3 miles.
Glad to be done.
Here we all are after the race, except for Wyatt, who was hanging out in the port-a-john.

The Tulsa Run is a great race with a great race director. The course is really tough with all the hills, but it so much fun to come out and see the excitement. I really hope that this sticks with the people at work who did this and this will lead them to a more healthy lifestyle. I will see what happens next, but I may throw myself into the Route 66 Marathon in a couple of weeks. Who knows? The results can be found here.