Our 60 plus team threatened to be awesome this year. It won the championship last year but with the addition of several committed runners, this could have been the 1927 Yankee's of Pacific Association Super Senior Teams.
Right now it looks not to be.
I turned out to be a non starter. Work stress and my own supposed interest in being a competitve racer turned out to me fooling myself. My plan was to get down into sub 20 minute 5K shape but all I have run so far was a very unispired 21:54 at Zippy's. A year ago at the same race I ran 21:07 and just before Zippy's this year I ran a club race that worked out to a 20:40 not all out 5K. Several weeks after Zippys 9this year) I ran a 5K in 21:08 as a 90% AT run. Go figure. In any case, I have been all over the map with none of it close to the vaunter sub 20 minute barrier.
At best I am deep bullpen to be used only when the team can only field 2 runners. In fact that came up this past Sunday and I couldn't make it so I wasn't even very good at that.
Jim turned 60 and reeled off some great races, peaking at Zippy's with a 3rd place 60 plus finish, but over trained himself into injury city. He is fighting his way back into shape but seems to be doing the same training program that got him injured in the first place.
Neil, who lives in Reno doesn't seem to have the ability to buy a Pacific Association card, or even remember you need one to score so he has turned out to be a no op. The club is going to buy him a card.
The steady guys have been Dick, Joe and Bob. But Dick has an achilles problem and missed the last mile race in Davis and 7:30 miler walt had to step up so we would have a 60 plus team. In another race Bob went off to support a friend of his who was running some ultra and he missed. The team was designed to be deep enough so we could handle that. What has happened is that none of us is stupid as all of us.
Our best runner, he of the 17 minute 5K's and 100 mpw lives and runs in Colorado. He gets out here now and then but never on Pacific Assdociation race weekends.
Teams like Tamalpa and Pacific Striders are closing fast or finishing ahead because of the failure of our so called depth.
Next year Bill comes up to the 60 plus ranks. He is steady when not injured. Right now he is flirting with the high 18's for 5K.
If Jim can stay healthy and Bill is uninjured, then the two of them, along with Dick, Joe and Bob can keep us competitve.
I don't know if I have the will to go compete again. I may stay deep bullpen for local races only.
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