Luck of the Irish?

Luck of the Irish? I saw a woman with a T-shirt that read, "kiss me, I'm not Irish";I second that notion. Ha ha! Happy St. Patrick's day. Actually, the title shall refer to how events turned out this weekend.

Saturday morning agenda-Miramar 5k

This day had so many to choose from. Far away, was race for the cure & close was a fun beach walk, both of which I passed on. I turned down one of my favorites, run like a bunny 5k, in lieu of this one. Jon won this one with ease. The battle was for second. At first, I paced with Steve (ultimately 4th overall, 1st in age group), but kept thinking in mind to adjust to whomever vies for the 2nd position. Kid wonder, Jeff, stepped up to the plate, passing us both. He lead till mile 2, then I decided to pace side by side with him. Once the opportunity was right, I used my patented master kick to earn that position. Since top 3 overall was not offered, I fell to top master, & he to age group. Runner's depot captured the top titles, which were plaques. Jeffrey got 1st in age group with the 3rd overall slot, earning a trophy. Note that 3rd place in age group received medals.

Saturday afternoon agenda-Miami mile

Due to a conflict last year, I missed this one when it was in the morning on Miami beach. This year, they wisely put it toward the night, plus it was close to home. The course was out & back on the busway! I hated the turn around but they really had no choice. I entered two of the 5 events.

Trivia 1: guess which two I did:
a. fast mile
b. stroller mile
c. master & student mile
d. march madness mile
e. open mile

Trivia 2: guess which ones Brian Sharkey did:
a. fast mile
b. stroller mile
c. master & student mile
d. march madness mile
e. open mile

In the fast mile, runners are supposed to run sub 6, but that didn't happen last year. This year was quite different as the winners of this event (only top 3 overall awards given) all broke 5 minutes!

In the stroller mile (my idea was ripped off), runners had to use a stroller to compete. Only overall (male & female ) was given to those who had a live child inside. No man entered, ruling out both he & I.

In the master & student mile, two generations were mixed, with the young toward the east & the other toward the west. Ramon P showed up to race. The student mile included primary & secondary levels. A master must be at least 40 years old. The top 5 male masters broke 6 minutes! Same occurred with the middle school division. Remarkably, the top 3 in these group beat high school entrants! In the mixed heat, the 2 fastest were 'old' guys.

In the march madness mile, participant dressed according to their selected schools, such as Miami Central High or UM. Amazing, none of those were represented. Only overall given.

In the open mile, age groups were given. This one was another battle. Going up (south) against the wind, I was about 10th place & but on the return trip, I finished in 6th, by passed a couple of kids & masters.

And now the moment you've been waiting for. Trivia 1=c & e. In c, good news & bad news. Bad=I got out sprinted in the last half mile, falling to 2nd. Good=I beat Ramon for the 1st time ever, causing him to drop out of e. In e, I won my age group (40-49). Trivia 2=a, d & e. In the last event, he had to battle back for the victory. Brian was the only person to get 3 golds. Only medals were given.

Sunday agenda-Miami International Triathlon

This was an inaugural event put on by Elite cycling (sponsored 2 of the trilogy races for our team last year) & swim, bike & run. The venue was held at the dilapidated Miami marine stadium, a place I had never been in my entire running career. That did make this intriguing. I had Kevin, a teammate last year in a du relay, on the bike & he hand picked Karla (was 2nd overall out of the water at escape last year) to swim. Mike N picked Cody, a pro, to bike & Felipe to run. Unfortunately, the inexperience of the race directors showed as there were no categories. Mike was smart to form an all male team, as they naturally won. Our team was the top co-ed relay, but since no such title was given, we had to settle for 2nd overall relay. I quickly informed staff as to how unfair this is. An all female team would have no chance, unless they had elites. Most elites don't do relays. They had a pre race dinner but I had to miss that in order to compete. The post race refreshments were good. Top notch were that trophies were given.

Honorable mention

* Freddy got 1st age at miramar
* Berta did the march madness as a Gator & got 3rd in the open.
* George won again at miramar plus at shamrock
* Louis got 2nd (after George)
* Jon placed also at shamrock