I'm usually not very interested in awards. I always try and stay for the awards ceremony, especially if I win an award, but I do that more out of respect for the race than anything else (and also to see how everyone else ran).
But the way the awards ended up in today's race was pretty weird. This was just a local 5K and 10K with very generous cash prizes. The top three placers in male, female, masters male and master’s female win $75 for first, $50 and $25. I ended up as the third overall and received the $25 open award for third place. Someone who finished behind me received the $75 award for first master. Hmmmm, that just seems strange. This same race had a problem last year when they only had cash awards for the top open runners. Last year's race was run by "Indio," one of the guys from my Houston running club. He'd just turned 40 and he won the race by a couple of minutes. For some strange reason, they wanted to assign him to the masters group and give him nothing but a trophy!
I wonder if there really should be a separate group of awards for masters. Unless the masters category is age-graded, you're really just looking at the youngest of the group. What about the 60 year old who finishes a minute or two behind but runs a national class age-graded time? For small races like this one, I think it would be best just to have awards for the top three and then everyone else competes for the age group awards.
My time wasn't great, just under 40 minutes. It was a very nice morning, 73 degrees with nearly no wind and the dewpoint in the upper 60s (humid for most people but pretty dry for this area). The last two miles were in full sun, which even though it was just 8:30AM, was pretty warm. I should've run the 5K ;)
Brazosport Facts article about the race
$(*%(*# Time to put this in perspective. I just looked at the NY Times webpage and saw 4 soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were found dead and three are missing from the same area where my son was last year. My heart goes out to the fellow soldiers and their families. This makes my whine about race awards seem pretty petty and foolish.
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2 comments:
You're right, that was awful news about the soldiers who were killed and went missing, and the interpreter. I hate news like that. It brings it that much closer to home, knowing that my nephew is over there in danger. BUT, their sacrifices make it possible for us to whine about things. Although I know what you mean, our problems seem very petty compared to theirs. There's not much more I can add to that.
But the race director really does need to reorganize the awards situation. I was confused just reading about it. Great job anyway!!! Prizes is prizes after all. :)
Yes, sometimes the way things fall for awards is weird. A friend of mine once got awards for finishing as first female in a small 5K, for being first in her age group, and for being the first female resident of the town to finish. They were merchandise awards and she tried to give some of them back. It was odd.
More devastating news from Iraq. I've already lost one friend and another is over there right now. I don't know where he is (he's not allowed to tell me) so I just hope he is okay. I just wish it would stop. Is your son back from his tour of duty? Many thanks to him for serving.
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