I am very grateful for many things in life, but on occasion, life throws you a curve and you are tested. This is what happened to me at this year’s running of the Crim 10 Mile Road Race. After surviving some brutal Michigan winter running conditions I was very satisfied with my first race of this year, the Glass City Half Marathon in Toledo OH and was looking forward to a solid year of racing, especially to running my 36th Crim 10 Mile in late August. However, about a week after Glass City I became very sick. Within a few days I had lost 15 pounds! It was as scary as it was unpleasant for about 6 weeks.

The good news is the preliminary diagnosis was proven not to exist and I instead had a treatable condition that mandated close attention. By mid-June I was able to return to running. Because I had lost significant strength and fitness level my return to running was as if I was starting over as a new runner! It was a struggle, but I knew if I could be consistent with my comeback that things would fall into place, and I would be able to at least maintain my streak of 28 consecutive Crims. So that became my goal. But as I slowly regained my strength, started running longer training routes, and even include some speed work by mid-August, I once again was hopeful that perhaps I might even place in the top 10 in my age group!

Why Crim?

Since its first race in 1977 the Crim has always been one of the top 10-mile road races in the country. The race attracted many world class runners and several American records have been ran over this difficult course. For me, it represents a homecoming. My running career began in the area as a freshman running for Grand Blanc High School. I now live about an hour south of Flint and running the Crim offers me a chance to return each year to where it all began for me.

The 30 Year Club

The Crim is perhaps the only major road race anywhere that has a 30 Year Club. The club was established for the 30th running of the Crim. At that time about 27 runners had ran every single Crim 10 Mile and were honored at the start of the race. They received a 15-minute head start on the field. Since then, the club has evolved to add new members. Any runner who will be running the Crim for their 30th time is admitted to the club. You have to admit, that is quite a long time to wait just to join a prestigious club!

Currently the club typically adds about 15 new members. They are introduced at our annual meeting Thursday evening before race day. Then as each person achieves another 5 year milestone they are honored as 35, 40, and 45 year runners and receive special recognition. Following all of these recognitions and interesting running stories, those in attendance pose for a group picture and we wish each other well until we meet again in the early morning hours of the fourth Saturday in August for yet another group photo, only this time it’s at the starting line.

As the 30 Year Club members start, there are always a few members who jump way out in front way fast! In my previous starts as a 30 Year member I was one of these rabbits too. However, not so much this year. There were maybe 8-10 runners ahead of me as I started my first mile. I purposely ran it very slow not only because training was lacking, but also because it was uphill!

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go

There is something very different about running in a major road race with thousands of other runners actually following you! I am not accustomed to this situation. It didn’t last long however because shortly after passing the 2 mile mark I heard the lead motorcycles followed by footsteps. I was about to not only be passed but to also become a spectator in this race. There were a number of young men runners flying by me. Typically, they were alone separated by 10-20 yards, but by the time I was at the 3 mile mark there were still very young and speedy runners, but they now formed a long line.

Somewhere around the 3.5 mile mark the course takes a bend and changes direction nearly 180 degrees, it also starts to gently roll downhill too! You would think I should have welcomed this downhill but not this year. For some reason my leg began to feel a numbness. Before I knew it my entire left quad felt like it was “asleep” and there was a stabbing feeling with every step. So I stopped just before the 4 mile mark and was able to rub my leg enough to where I could resume running. It was OK for a short distance but the numbness returned. I slowed my pace and before I knew it I was at the Bradley’s! The Bradley’s are a series of three rolling hills at the mid-point of the race. Shortly after starting up the first hill I decided to walk. Walking as it turned out only made my leg feel worse.

Trial and Error

So it was I learned by trial and error not to walk but rather to simply run slow and every so often stop to shake and rub my quad. Here was a near perfect race day condition going to waste because of my dang leg. By now more and more runners were passing me by. Many saw my homemade art work pinned to my back noting my 36th Crim and offered congratulations. A few told me they were looking forward to joining the Club in a few years. I truly appreciated that nobody said “way to go old timer”.

I know this course extremely well as I have not only ran it 36 times but many more times as a mid-August pre-race training run. My least favorite part of the course is the turn onto Court Street and the 8 mile mark. It seems like this is always a long straight away, very sunny, and hot part of the race. As a runner you appreciate the volunteers passing out water and Gator Aid but this is the point you need to start to focus on a strong finish. So that’s exactly what I did. I am not sure if my brain was adapting to the pain in my leg but somehow not as bad as the earlier miles. Still, I ran slow and simply “hung-on” as runners like to say. I was looking forward to that final mile.

Before I knew it I was at the 9 mile mark! Still slushing along. Maybe it was because of my slower pace but I did not feel as tired or like “running on empty” also another runner’s slang. I could see the final turn onto Saginaw Street about four blocks ahead. I began to count the traffic lights, telling myself “Keep going to the next light” because once I did make that final turn for the final 500 yards or so I was going to give it all I had and see what happened.

The Kick

I saw the bongo player at the corner of 5th and Saginaw Streets. He has been at this corner probably more often than I have ran this race. I gave him a thumbs up, thanked him and I slowly began my final kick for the 36th time.

Saginaw Street has always been paved with bricks. In recent years these bricks have buckled and when wet they become slippery. I was very pleased to see that the finish stretch had recently been repaved with new bricks. Let the kick begin!

I suddenly started to recognize and pick off runners who just a few moments ago were passing me! This is always a great feeling at the end of any race. It’s like sinking a 40 foot putt on the 18th hole to win big, or crushing a baseball solid for a walk-off grand slam, I was running hard now. While the bricks may have been new I began to wonder if they also moved the finish line farther back? Despite now running at 7:00 min/mile pace I was beginning to think the finish line was never going to reach me.

Oh yes, that pesky leg issue? My leg felt fine now, but maybe not so much my lungs. There was that finish banner just ahead of me. Time to pass two more runners so they would not block me in my finish photo. Arms raised as I was happy to finally cross and finish! Not the race I had expected it to be but again, from where I came from just about 6 weeks earlier, I should be very grateful. (author’s note: this was the first time the photographers failed to catch me finishing, so no pic to share this year!).

FINAL RESULTS

I did finish very respectable especially given my limited time to train. I was 8th of 71 in the 70-74 Age Group. My official final time was 1:40:00 for an average pace of 10 minutes even. I was 1643 of 3851 runners, so as about as close to a middle of the pack as one can get. Although my GPS device had me running 9:88 miles (ok so I walked a bit) at a pace of 9:36 per mile. Still not too shabby.

Thanks for taking the time to read my report. Next year I look forward to maybe seeing you run Crim too?

Coach Lee

Post Script:

My leg was still sore for several days following the race however, I did seek some therapeutic help along with several days of rest and I am happy to report it is now nearly back to normal.