USA Men’s 8K Championship

After completely spacing on (and missing) the Milrose Games earlier this year, I went through my calendar and marked in all the NYRR’s Pro Races, not wanting to miss another opportunity to see this sport as executed by its masters.  Two of those pro events were this morning — the men’s 8k and the women’s 8k invitational.  There was also a people’s 8k at 7:30 this morning, but after this week of relentless work & bathroom renovation, I needed to sleep in (that means, past 6:30 AM). 

Since there were two races, I figured I’d catch the men’s race after the start, at West 86th Street, a little over 1 mile into the 4.97 mile course, with the plan then being to cross back over to the east side to see them just past the 4-mile mark.  This is the first time I’ve ever spectated at a pro race (other than the Olympic Trials and of course the NY Marathon), so I had no idea what to expect.  Turns out, there were hordes of runners in the park — all out for their Saturday morning workout — but they by and large seemed blissfully unaware someone was about to win $10,000.  I was the only spectator on my corner until around 9am, when a pack of orange-jacketed runners from the Central Park Running Club swooped in on my spot. 

Then, five minutes later, Alan Webb strode by, with a pack at his heels.  They were gone so fast (the leaders were holding a 4:34 pace), I was left blinking as I marvelled at their grace.  The final runner came by, (Kahn, who looked in pain), and I took off eastward, jogging after the CPRC jackets.  Along the way, I recognized one of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project coaches, which was cool. I somehow ended up catching the reservoir path up north, and came out just a few block south of the finish line. 

As I was waiting on the sidelines, I met Michelle, a totally cool chick who is training for the Lake Placid Iron Man, is a runner herself, and was there to cheer on a friend who was competing in her first pro race.  It was fabulous to talk with someone who was a fan as well, since usually when I talk about my favorite runners, no one knows who I’m talking about. 

It was a thrill to see the guys pound towards the finish, with Jorge Torres leading and Andrew Carlson working as hard as he could to catch him — he ended up finishing just seven-tenths of a second behind Torres.  There was a small (but dedicated) crowd, maybe a few hundred spectators or so, bunched around the finish line.  Because of this, I had a great view, and was happy to cheer for Carlson, who I’d just blogged about earlier this week when he won the 15K Championship (he looks just like his picture).  We were dismayed to see Webb finishing much farther back that we expected.  (I later learned why.) 

I have to wonder why any runner would miss the opportunity to watch these athletes in action — at most professional sporting events, you’re hundreds of feet away from the action and have to pay crazy ticket prices to watch.  This morning, I was five feet away from some of the best runners in the country, for the price of my subway ride into town.

I took this picture of Torres, and then Michele and I strolled to the start of the women’s invitational.