My Melon Run Experience

Yesterday I ran in the three-mile Melon Run, sponsored by the Florida Track Club and held here in Gainesville in the Westside Park vicinity. I enjoyed some of the run, but much of it was an exercise in futility.

Like every other race I have participated in, I was crowded out by aggressive, usually slower runners in the crowded pack at the race's start (even though I had lined up ahead of them). This cost me precious time as I tried to find openings around these runners, whose pushiness this way makes no sense to me. Most of us have a general sense of how fast we are going to run. The slower runners should understand that they are only creating traffic logjams by pushing to the front at the beginning (much like a slow driver insisting on occupying the left "fast" lane on the Interstate).

I spent the rest of the race catching up with and passing other runners, most of whom I should have been ahead of in the first place. At the very end, some hotshot popular elder runner, whose name bystanders were cheering (while ignoring me) pushed past me to the finish. Other than him, it was a typical pattern of me falling hopelessly behind pushy, slow runners at the race's start and then playing catchup and passing others the rest of the way. I finished with a time of 23:04. I probably would have had a 22:30 time or better had I been allowed to run without interference.

Also, unfortunately, the officially posted times were off, since the Florida Track Club uses an antiquated system that matches times with racing finish order. If there is any glitch along the line, than each runner is given the time of the runner ahead or behind him (or her). I was given the erroneous time of 23:15. They should institute the use of computer-chip timing and ditch the present flawed system.

For this race at least, I decided to wait for the awards ceremony. Bad decision. I had to wait an hour and a half, just standing around with the other runners. I tried to make conversation with some, but for the most part they were tightly corralled into their own private circles of family and friends. I felt almost like an unwelcome stranger, here in my home town of 33 years!

The race's organizers, the Florida Track Club, had an irritating manner of being very warm and encouraging to their select group of "buddies" while displaying a rather strict formality to "outsiders" (like 33-year resident "me"). Equally irritating was during the awards ceremony when the presenter would take great pains to recognize UF professors by calling them "doctor" so-and-so. For crying out loud, we only ran a fun race. Am I expected to kiss up to these people all of the time?

You might think that I am down on the Florida Track Club and Gainesville races. But I just sent the FTC my membership application and one year's dues. Maybe by becoming a part of the picture, I can exert a positive influence on running here in Gainesville, especially towards the aim of eliminating the kind of cliquish behavior I perceive going on. We'll see. In any event, I ran my July public race. I can't wait to resume running in longer events. Events timed by computer chips!

Oh by the way, this time I did carry my little digital camera with me for the race. Not much to show, but hey, it was my first venture into "running tourism"! The blurry picture was due to me trying to photograph while running, not a good idea.