EMU XC Celebration

The University of Michigan men's and women's cross country teams open their 2015 season at the Eastern Michigan University Celebration in Ypsilanti, Michigan at Eagle Crest Golf Course. Michigan's Mason Ferlic and Erin Finn were the overall winners. Ferlic won the 5000 meter race in 14:56.1 and Finn set an unofficial record winning in 16:54.9. The meet was a non-scoring event.


Michigan's men's team runs again on September 11 at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational i State College, Pennsylvania and the women run again on September 19 at the Commodore Classic in Nashville, Tennessee.

A highlight of the day was when I tweeted that Erin Finn walked by me but I was too shy to say hello. Finn favored that tweet a short time later. When the women's teams were doing their final run outs prior to the race, Finn and I saw each other and waved. Technology is neat.

Volunteering

Usually in November and December I start looking ahead to the next road racing year. I pick out races that are already announced that I want to do. I found a race in May that I have never done before that I thought would be fun. I did run on the same course back in November and ran a 5K PR. I was going to register for the race soon, but decided to run in the USA 25K Open Championships on Saturday, May 14. The race I was going to enter, For Women Only 5K, is on Sunday, May 15.

Instead of running the For Women Only 5K, I signed up to be a volunteer. I have been running in races since 2003 and this will be the first time I have volunteered for one. I have never been to a road race that I haven't participated in. It will be different to be on the other side. I don't know what I will be doing that morning, but it will remind me of all of the people who donated their time to help make our races possible.

New Balance Girls on the Run of SE Michigan 5K

I didn't know what to think about this race heading into it. I signed up for it because I needed one last race of the season. Usually the Souper Run (the first Sunday in November) is my last race, but I thought I was going to miss it this year. The good news is that I made it back home very early that morning and decided to run it. So that made the New Balance Girls on the Run of SE Michigan my final race of 2010.

I signed up for the race because it was fairly close to my home and on a Sunday. The round trip was about 80 miles. That is the longest I've driven for a race, outside of a half marathon. This race was an non-competitive fun run. No times to take or slips to rip off your bib. Even though the race was non-competitive, I wanted to set a new PR (personal record).

Since the time wasn't being kept, it was hard to gage how fast I was going. I did wear a watch, but I never looked at it during the race. It was buried underneath my coat and glove. I thought I was doing good. I was near the front for the entire race.

Around mile 2, a guy caught up to me. We ran side-by-side for the rest of the race. I was thinking with less then a half mile to go, "will I have enough left to out kick him?" Unfortunately the answer was no. When we made the final turn leading up to the finish line, the distance between us grew. I couldn't find another gear. Once I crossed the finish line, I finally looked at my watch. My watch read: 25:01:84. I let out a loud, "YES!" and a worker asked me if I ran a good time. I replied I did. I know it wasn't official, but I finished 9th overall.

If I knew how close I was to going under 25 minutes for the first time, I would have tried harder to sprint to the end. Since I just barely missed it, it gives me something to work on over the winter. My running goals are to run a 7:30 mile (my high school best) and get under 25 minutes for a 5K. I hope to accomplish both of them in 2011.