Bees 5K Cross Country 2008 – Race Report

The Bees 5K race in Brecksville is back! I ran the inaugural race in 2003. Then again in '04, '05. Skipped '06 because it was the same weekend as the Jim Klett race. The race was not held in '07, so now it is back under different management (apparently) in 2008.

This is a cross country race, using the Brecksville HS cross country course. It is TOUGH! In previous years my main problem was running on a muddy, slippery, trail-like course. That’s before I was running trails. If you want to see the course and “play” my run, go to this link:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/player/6102583

Here is my history of the event:

2003 - 26:27 (8:28 pace) first 2003 RACE - Bees Inaugural 31/118
2004 - 24:25 (7:49 pace) 1st Age Award!!! 13/132
2005 - 22:50 (7:18 pace) dry fast course, 2nd age group
2008 - 22:23 (7:12 pace) 15/130

Somehow I managed to improve my time from last time. I wore trail shoes thinking that this will help handle a slippery course. But the course was mostly dry, despite the heavy rains the past few days (in rained at 6:30 am this morning). The weather cooperated (75F and no rain). I am pleased with my time on a very tough course. Lea struggled a bit (expected) but finished with a respectable time. I am happy and proud of her. Liz (still recovering from Achilles tendon injury) came for support and took pictures.

<- Lea storming ahead. This part of the course was on grass. We later entered the Brecksville HS cross country course, which reminded me of the local trails, but well marked, including markings of roots and other obstacles.

For some reason this year they did not give age awards. I do not personally care since I enter to support a local race for a good cause (the money goes to support resurfacing the Brecksville HS track). But I think age awards are a good idea for a lot of the older folks who enjoy being rewarded for their efforts. Also, it would be nice to see the final results posted in the internet. The only awards went to the top 3 runners (M and F), plus the first Brecksville and first Broadview Hts runners, which essentially means that the same people received two awards, while the rest got nothing. Not a great idea, in my opinion. I hope they will change this next year if they want to attract more runners other than Brecksville students and their families (there were a lot of kids running this race).

The race T-shirt was nice (yellow with black letters with a touch of red – I am wearing it now!) and the refreshments and race organization were first rate. I will definitely enter again next year.