Forever Young 6 miler 2022

Overview

My official time was 47:18.0. That's a pretty big difference from 49:50, which is what my GPS watch recorded. In 2019, my official time was 48:05, which is just a few seconds different from what my GPS watch said.

Looking at my splits, my guess is my GPS watch is closer to the truth than the official time. Using my GPS watch time gives me an 8:17 min/mile average pace.

I chose to race—not merely run—this event, meaning I went as hard as I could, at least until the final mile or so when it was clear that I wasn't going to overtake anyone and nobody was going to overtake me.

Gene Kersh is the only person older than I who finished before I did. However, Gene is 64 and I'm not yet 60 and Gene beat me by over a minute!

Pre Race

I botched my Tatonka 5k recovery in two ways. Saturday morning, I accidentally left my lunch at home, which resulted in me eating different food (and much more food) after Tatonka than I had planned. I also let a toothache get out of control, so I wound up waking up several times in the night between Tatonka and Forever Young.

On Forever Young race day, since my gut had more in it than normal and since I was more tired than I expected to be, I doubled down on caffeine and had both a 12 oz. Michael Thomas light roast coffee as well as a quad espresso before the race. I was hoping the extra caffeine would stimulate my GI system and also lessen the tooth discomfort. I think it did both, but I also suspect it slowed me down by raising my temperature.

At one point I got a very high honor. Glenda asked, on her husband Dennis's behalf, for the recipe to my fortified oatmeal. Dennis and I share a birthday, but in five weeks, when I turn sixty, Dennis will be turning eighty two! I don't know what specifically I do that helps me recover quickly; I just know there are a lot of things I do regularly that I think / hope help me recover, and fortified oatmeal is absolutely my primary recovery food.

Forever Young is named after Charlie Young. Charlie ran without a shirt, even in "cold" weather. I also often run without a shirt, even in "cold" weather and for that reason, an not as a tribute, per-se, I was shirtless pre-race and during the race.

The Race

Not much to say. In general, we spread out fairly quickly and reached our own speeds, so there wasn't much passing or being passed. There was, however, one gentleman who looked like he might be in his fifties that I had my eye on. I tried to stay ahead of him in the beginning, but decided to let him get ahead of me fairly early on because I didn't want to blow up. About two thirds of the way into the race, I passed him and by the time I was running the long downhill toward the finish line, he was nowhere to be seen. Gene, however, was also nowhere to be seen, although he was ahead of me.

Post Race

I had my cooler, some clothes to change into and a chair waiting for me in the shade, so I opened my chair and drank a beer before digging into my oatmeal and rice milk.

Remember this year's 3:45 Duke City Marathon pacer, Andrew Peloquin? He took fifth at Forever Young. Unfortunately, I did not recognize him, so I didn't get a chance to chat with him.

I did, however, get a chance to chat with Gene, but it was only after I was back home and looking at Strava that I realized the Gene I had been talking to was Gene Kersh. Gene has been doing the Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon for years and always finishes long before I do (e.g., in 2015, he finished in 5:36:05 and I finished almost an hour later in 6:32:20). Gene has run the La Luz Trail Run in under two hours in his fifties. I've chatted with him before, so it's embarrassing that even after he told me his first name, I didn't put two and two together.

There were no vegan burritos available, but there were vegetarian ones with green chile. They were served as halves, so I had three. I also had a few vegetarian, but not vegan, chocolate chip cookies. I offered to help with the tear-down, but they had plenty of hands, so I headed home.

Historical

Forever Young is one of the three "entry fee required" races hosted by the Albuquerque Road Runners. ARR also hosts "Perky's Burque Brewery Tour and the Fun Run Freeforall series.

Forever Young:

​​This race is a celebration in memory of our member Charlie Young, an avid runner, cyclist and outdoorsman, who was killed in a bike accident in Colorado in August 2004.

Pre-covid, Forever Young was held in April. It was canceled in 2020. In 2021 and 2022 it was held in October.