The Silver Strider online presents
 

St. Paddy’s Day 5k, 10k, & Half

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By Jerry Dietrich
with photos by Bruce Fisher

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This race is unique because it takes place right in the heart of downtown Tacoma. Pacific Avenue at 9th street is closed off to northbound traffic. So is the Schuster Parkway all the way to Old Town. From there it’s all the way to Ruston on the sidewalk for the Half Marathoners.

What an undertaking for the TCMA staff and their volunteers. As far as I could determine the race went off smoothly, a tribute to Race Director, Tony Phillippi and co-workers.

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 The 5k

What a marvelous turout. 895 runners jammed the start area.

Normally eyes would be on the front of the pack but today 95 runners at the back dominated the scene. Dressed in matching shirts, the group was going to walk the 5k with Kevin Hall, a victim of MSA, Multiple System Atrophy. Keven is wearing #1394 as he leads his pack of supporters.

 

A short distance after the start, the Schuster Parkway became a divided expressway with two northbound lanes and two southbound. All three races were out and back and certified. The 5k would occupy the southbond lanes and the 10k and the Half would have the northbound lanes.

The plan worked perfectly except for a little congestion as the returning 5k runners encountered the Hall group which occupied the entire southbound parkway. The Hall group graciously scrunched up as the faster runners, running close to the curb, sped by.

Congratulations to Jeffery Hotsko 22:28, and Andrea Nye 26:21, the first Silver Striders to finish the 5k.

Running the 5k, Edythe Hulet continued as the co-leader in the race for the Female Grand Prix Series Achievement Award with 5 races and 50 points.

Edythe Hulet

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The 10k

Congratulations to Keith Lerew 42:05, and Tricia Swann 55:19, the first Silver Striders to finish the 10k.

Running the 10k, Judy Fisher continued as the co-leader in the race for the Female Grand Prix Series Achievement Award with 5 races and 50 points.

Judy Fisher

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The Half Marathon

Congratulations to Will Williams, 1:28:25, and Monica Corrigan, 1:49:15, the first Silver Striders to finish the half marathon.

Running the Half Marathon, Steve Husko continued to lead the race for the Male Grand Prix Series Achievement Award with 5 races and 50 points.

Steve Husko

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Jerry’s notes:

I broke my foot at the Renton Park Run on 2/28. I had 3 weeks to partially heal before the St Paddy’s run.
So, when the day arrived, I walked with an injured foot, just taking baby steps

There was a gang of what looked like about 100 adults with children bringing up the rear with me so I wasn’t alone. They wore identical shirts supporting Kevin Hall, an MSA victim. Kevin was marching at the front of the group and I was bringing up the rear.

I thought to myself, “This is great. No one will notice me finishing last”.

Guess what? The group turned around at 1.4 miles and started back toward the finish leaving me all alone.

As I moved about onward through the group, I saw why the Hall group had turned around early. The course left the parkway and proceeded onto a narrow onramp split with a row of cones. The group would have had to split into a line two abreast and 50 runners long to negotiate the final stretch to the turnabound. Without a Drill Sargent to organize the huge undertaking, the group did the only alternative, an early turnaround.

Nobody else was in sight as I did the final tenth of a mile to the turnaround. Even the volunteer had gone home, leaving a lonely red cone to witness my honesty.

I finished the 5k alone in over an hour and a half.

I did feel better when I saw some Silver Striders waiting to cheer for me at the finish line.

My ego trip was short lived as I realized they weren’t waiting for me. They were waiting for the restaurant to open at 11:00 am.

Somebody asked me why I raced with an injured foot. I replied, “I needed the points!”

We had a nice breakfast. The Mexican restaurant was now an Italian restaurant. It was expensive, but worth it. We took a giant booth and 10 of us squeezed in together. We could all visit with each other. It was great.

After breakfast, I went home and slept for 14 hours.

My foot actually felt better the next day. I walked for 2 miles, the idea being I would force faster healing.

I’m a little apprehensive about the downhill portion at Des Moines in two weeks. A downhill like that adds about 20 lbs. of bodyweight to your foot strike.

Life is an adventure. Risking injury is worth it most days.

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Here are the race results in photos by Bruce Fisher