Virtual
Racing and More Virtual Racing is something I highly recommend after personally having experience it. The weekend of April 17th, 2004 I found myself in the Nashville Motor Speedway area for the Mustang 40th Anniversary Celebration. Knowing that Teri Stephens would be at the same event I started early recruiting my partner-in-crime, escape from the car show for a few hours. I sent e-mail to Teri to see if she would join me for a race on Saturday morning. I had found several in the area, but two were relatively close to the Speedway. One race was "Champions for Children 5k Walk/Run" benefiting " Prevent Child Abuse TN 5K Run / Walk" in Smyrna at 8:00 AM. The other race was "Journey Of Hope 5K Run / Walk" at MTSU in Murfreesboro at 9:30 AM and this race was to help establish a Rape Recovery and Prevention Center (RRPC) in Murfreesboro. Both races were for a good cause, both were for walkers and runners and both were on the day I wanted to escape from helping Dick clean, polish, wax, etc. his Mustang... Oh, I mean a day I wanted to race. I checked out the races on-line, printed entry forms, etc. Since Teri didn't seem to have a preference for which race I decided the Smyrna race was the choice. The 8:00 AM start time appealed so we would finish fairly early and start drinking coffee, and the entry form was the clincher. If the t-shirt was going to be like the entry form it would be really cute! Having a brother that lives in Smyrna, I e-mailed him and he provided excellent directions to the TN Rehab Center, which is at the Smyrna Airbase. On Friday at the show I recruited another lady, Jeri Cantwell, from South Carolina to desert her spouse and join us at the race. Now Jeri had been in a motorcycle accident a couple of years back and broken both knees (knee-caps), she said she didn't think she could run the race, but sure she would go and walk and maybe jog some along the way. Just about anything beats spending hours on hours cleaning a car in the hot sun at a dusty speedway. Saturday morning, 6:00 AM, we all met in the lobby of the hotel ready to race, of course there was the required cup of coffee before we could leave. Barely slowing down as we passed by the Speedway to let Dick and Bob (Jeri's spouse) out, we provided them with instructions to get the cars cleaned and polished before it got hot! We had no intention of returning until after the cars were clean. Off to Smyrna we headed, found the correct exit, found the first turn, found the signs to the Air Base, found the Air Base, even found the TN Rehab Center. BUT we didn't find the race. We stopped at the National Guard and inquired...no they didn't know anything about a race. Teri and Jeri went inside at the rehab center and the security personal there didn't know anything about a race. We drove around the area, no race to be found. It felt a bit like the "Twilight Zone" according to Teri. We did find a nice parking area with adjoining covered picnic tables, which probably was were the food, water and awards should have been. About 7:15 AM we also found another runner looking for the same race. After a bit of a discussion, we all came to the conclusion we were either really, really lost, which didn't seem likely or the race had been cancelled. I had even called the night before and checked the recording, and the recording still indicated that the race was scheduled for April 17th. Teri checked a calendar in the Rehab Center to ensure that we had the correct day; at that point none of us were sure it was April 17th. Yep, it was April 17th. We then came to the conclusion it was a virtual race, and quickly took dibs on the order of finish. As it was Jeri's first ever 5K, of course we awarded her first overall female, for second we had Teri (I had assured Teri at the hotel today was to be a PR day for her), and third was mine to be had. Based on my current training and conditioning I was pleasantly thrilled with third (it's been a long time since I've been in the top 3 finishers). None of us became overheated, dehydrated or had cramps from this race, so what more could we ask for. The virtual awards were quite outstanding; just ask we'll gladly describe them in detail anytime. We did find however that virtual racing didn't consume the calories we had hoped for, so after a bit of consultation we decided to drive to Murfreesboro and implement Plan B. We also provided the other lone runner, virtual 5K male overall winner, with information on where this alternative 5K was going to be held. There was a good two hours to the start time of the "Journey for Hope 5K" and it was about a 15-minute drive to MTSU from the air base. Regardless of traffic, we figured we could make the race in plenty of time. What an understatement! We arrived in Murfreesboro and followed the signs to MTSU, fortunately it appeared this race wasn't going to be a virtual race but a real race on April 17th...we found race route arrow signs marking the route. Following the arrows we arrived at the James Union building where the workers were just beginning to set up for the race. The building was open, with bathrooms (what a bonus) and a sitting area; we took advantage of both. For once before a race I did a lot of stretching, wasn't a whole lot else to do, along with a lot of BS (big smiles?). I'm not sure if we were their first race day registrants but we were right there at the beginning. The other lone runner from Smyrna also showed up and entered, once you decide you want to run a race it's amazing what a runner will do. Waiting around gave us time to have a warm up jog and Teri recognized a couple from the State Park Tour series. She talked with them and they were from Smyrna and were able to shed some light on the Smyrna race. Friday night they had received a phone call that the race was cancelled and would be held in October, boy am I glad we didn't hang around waiting for that race! I sign or someone there to let us know the race was cancelled would have been greatly appreciated. Believe me we would have found a sign had there been one posted because we looked everywhere. Finally at 9:30 AM we started running, and this race actually started on time. How many races have you run that start on time? The course was flat and winded around the MTSU campus, and Jeri described it as picturesque. I thought it was a very nice course, it wasn't closed to traffic but that wasn't a problem. The course was well marked and they had plenty of workers not only directing you in the correct direction but also providing lots of cheerful encouragement. One corner had a couple of young girls cheering us along... "Go Runners Go"; another corner along with the adults had some young boys really giving lots of encouragement it really was quite pleasant. After the race the food was great. Water, OJ, juice drinks, yogurt, snack bars, bananas, oranges, apples, an assorted veggie tray, and yes they even had donuts. The only item I found missing was...coffee! This was the first year for this particular race and the turnout was small, but I hope it grows. The fees went for a good cause and the event was well done and organized. The Murfreesboro Pacers assisted with this race and did a fine job. After this experience I would certainly run another race if I'm in their area. Jeri completed her first 5K with a combination of walking and jogging (especially at the finish) and was not the last participant as there were plenty of walkers. Teri thankfully kept me from being a liar and set a PR...way to go Teri! I enjoyed my run and didn't injure anything. Now I have to admit, participating in the "Journey of Hope" race beat the virtual race; but virtual racing does have it advantages. You can decide on the course, the race distance, your pace, finish time and order of finish; however it still just doesn't provide that same level of satisfaction of crossing the finish line with other participants. Regardless the best reward of the day was the wonderful companionship of friends while our spouses were slaving away in the hot sun cleaning Mustangs. Virtual Participants: Jeri Cantwell, Teri Stephens and Jane Herron |