The 800

Two days rest between the 5k and the 800 was nice. For some reason only 7 men declared, so we went straight to a final.  I studied the internet pretty intensely for this race, and knew I had my hands full. Jeff Mann and Kevin Forde were veterans in the world of Master's track, and Jeff had beat me in a mile in 2009. I felt like a damn high school freshman during the warmup. The nerves were working me over big time! Oh yeah. It was 102 degrees today at race time.

Lane 6 was mine. Kevin drew 1 and Jeff started in 2. And....we're off. By the break line, I was dead last, 3 meters back and fading. Then as usual, the pace slowed a tad. Kevin was directly in front of me. At the 200m mark, I moved by Kevin and settled in behind Jeff.  Feeling pretty decent at this stage. Jeff moved up directly behind the leader down the front straight as we approached the 400m mark, and I hovered off his shoulder straddling the line in lane 2. I assumed Kevin was lurking somewhere behind me. Having no idea how these 2 REALLY raced an 800, my strategy was to cover any move either of them made unless one of the other guys got bold on us.

Jeff is big and tall. He pretty much blocked the clock at the line. As we approached the 400m line, I saw 58, 59, and thought I was in for a tough 2nd lap.  More on that in a bit. No change in position through the corner. Just past the 500m point, Kevin was beginning to rev up. He shot by all of us like we were in our cool down!! Luckily, Jeff had just begun to move to the front, and I wasn't going to let me get away.  Kevin put 5 meters on the pack by the time we hit the corner. Kevin........6 others. Kevin.......6 guys racing for 2nd. It took me FOREVER to find my legs. I got by Jeff going into the corner. We gained literally nothing through the corner into the straight, and we were flying! Well, for a bunch of 46-48 year olds.

Then... something happened. Within 20 meters I closed half the gap. But that was it. I angled out into lane 2 to give myself a chance. I had no idea Jeff was half a step behind me. Another 20 meters, and the distance was the same. Dammit! I was running for second. Then..... something happened...again. Kev's arms started to come down low. He was fading. I dug like hell and caught him at the last high hurdle mark on the track. 8 meters left. One last effort, and I got to the line first.

I have a photo courtesy of Kevin and his Philly teammates of him walking past the trackside clock looking skyward. He is uttering something. Probably the same adult word I heard shortly after crossing the finish. He was the only guy with a British accent in the race. Just sayin'.......

Needless to say, the last 80m hurt just a tad. I looked up at the scoreboard and my jaw dropped. 2:02.12. Are you kidding me?!?!? I gave Jeff and Kevin a handshake and sent a thumbs up to my college teammate Harold Kuphaldt, who came to watch and video the race. Cool down time. Kevin joined me. We chatted a little bit about the race, he mentioning that he went too early. Reckoned he may have won had he waited until 200 to go. I mentioned I was done for the weekend, was happy with 2 golds, and would drop the 1500 coming up the next day to save my achilles tendon.  The 2 of us swung by the awards room and picked up our medals (no awards presentation at this meet). We looked forward to seeing each other next year at the World Master's Champs on the same track.

And now the real story.  I figured just under 2:04 was within range, and whatever I got out of it would be great. Harold and I went back to his house and loaded up the video. I was still shocked I ran as fast as I did, and then was totally dumbstruck as we slowed down the video at 400m. We actually passed the clock in 64.7. Back to the start and grabbed the stopwatch.  62.8 for the first lap! So we closed in 59.3?!?! I hadn't run a 400 under 63 in training, and had just run 200m in 29.7 five days before the 5k. Guess it goes to prove that running every day for 2 years without a miss gave me some serious strength.

It's kind of odd to say that I'm proud of myself, at this age, for winning a race. It is definitely the most satisfying of my track races since starting up again in 2009. I was certainly lucky to recover from Kevin's racing strategy and felt great about holding off Jeff. 2:02.12 for me. Kevin hit the line at 2:02.40 and Jeff was 2:02.51. A really competitive one, and my respect goes to both of them. I look forward to seeing them this summer in Sacramento in the 1500m final. Stay healthy boys!