Feeling blue at Bluemont

I have run at Bluemont Park probably 2 dozen times. I have run a lot of races there and I also do some of my training there. It's where my wife usually goes to run and I will occassionally join her. So when the DC Road Runner Club held there annual 5K there August 5th I was feeling fairly good about my chances. Not only did I know the course but they also moved the starting line back so the one major hill on the course wouldn't come into play for this race. On the downside, it was hot and storms were in the area so it was also kind of muggy. Given the cancellation of the 8K a few weeks before, I was actually surprised to find that the race was on as scheduled when I arrived in the parking lot.

Unfortunately, I had one of those days where I just didn't "feel it". I went out moderately fast but had to take a walk break after only about 4 minutes. I then used a 4 on, 1 off cycle for the remainder of the race. I tried to keep some of my old competition (Bob Gurtler, Tami Graf, Sharyn Gordon) in sight but I lost touch with them after about a mile. Then I tried to keep Blair Jones in striking distance but I lost her at about the halfway point ( I did lead her for part of the first half of the race). In the end, it was just me running between some slower women. Not a guy to be seen behind me and the nearest male in front of me finished 3 minutes ahead of me. I finished in 37:02 (official was 37:18), making me the 89th male and 139th overall out of 146 finishers. Back to the treadmill I suppose.

Notable finishers were:
Sam Blasiak M 28 Falls Church VA 16:33 1 male winner
Madeline Harms F 22 Arlington VA 19:24 1 Female winner
Karsten Brown M 34 Front Royal VA 17:11 4
Ted Poulos M 46 McLean VA 18:49 15
Charlie Mercer M 38 Arlington VA 19:20 22
Bill Stahr M 47 The Plains VA 20:12 28
James Moreland M 55 Gaithersburg MD 20:25 31 won age grp
Kirk Gordon M 52 Mitchellville MD 20:58 36
Jay Jacob Wind M 58 Arlington VA 21:12 41
Bob Platt M 57 Arlington VA 23:24 57
Jon Palks M 59 Bowie MD 24:46
Tami Graf F 72 Lusby MD 31:08 42 F70-79 1
Robert L. Gurtler M 73 The Plains VA 31:18 86 M70-79 2
Sharyn D. Gordon F 50 Mitchellville MD 32:16 43
Blair Jones F 64 Washington DC 33:17 44 F60-69 1