Short Version:

Great flat course, nice weather conditions (but a little hot & humid), very well organized race, and good overall PBP performance.  Fifteen Pine Belt Pacers participated in the event.  Leonard Vergunst and Vicky Copeland won their age groups.

 

Longer Version:

Keith, Deborah, Chrissy, Vicky, and I met at the USM Gateway at 5:00am.  Ten minutes later we picked Jim at the gas station in Hwy 49 close to Hwy 98.  Then we drove down to Mobile in the middle of some foggy conditions.  We got downtown at 7:00am, picked up the race packets, took some pictures, met Jeff Hathorn, and some other local folks, and then went out and warmed up for about 10-20 minutes.  The sun was out, the sky was completely clear and a crystal blue, and it was warming up quickly.

 

My goals were very easy to follow:
1. Run sub 30:00 (a very quick pace!)
2. Beat Leonard Vergunst, Jim Coll, Keith Barrett, Bill Gasparrini, Steve Ulery, Phillip Wedgeworth, and any other fast Pacer present at the race J

 

I lined up reasonably close to the start line, a few yards back of some fast runners from Kenya.  At the gun I immediately stayed next to a runner called Samuel Ndereba for the first 10 feet.  He took off, and I tried to follow him but got boxed in and lost contact. I finally was able to break free after a 1/2 mile but couldn't see the Kenyans, Leonard or Jim ahead of me anymore. In fact, right at that point, I also saw Keith, Phillip, and Steve passing me like rockets. I tried to keep them in range but was an impossible task.  I hit the first mile in a decent 6:40, but I really knew at that point that this was not going to be the day to accomplish my two “easy” goals.  I also noticed I was not passing any other runners.  I was starting to lose some ground.  I reached the 2 mile mark in 13:40 and the 5K point in 22:30.  The heat and humidity got me, and I lost focus during the mile 3 to mile 5 stretch. I was fading early in the sun; I ran mile four in a 8:20 pace and mile 5 in a 8:50.  In the last 1.2 miles, I tried to kick myself some for being so slow and tired and focused on speeding up and passing some runners at the end.  Mile six was not disappointing!  I was able to recover a little and run back to a 6:40 pace.  About marker six I could see the finish line, so I picked up the pace, passed more people, and closed to some others.  I tried to finish strong.  Even with that, a youngster kicked up beside me in a stealth mode and made his move in the final 3 meters.  Not, it was not Charles Jackson!  He was running in New Orleans with Audrey.  I was not able to respond fast enough but managed to finish in 46:39.  It was not even close to my PR or the time I did last month in the Run Thru History at Vicksburg, but I was still happy with my performance.

 

After the race I met with the other Pine Belt Pacers in front of the Ramada Inn where we talked a lot, discussed about sports, politics, and music, fixed the social problems of the country and the World, shared our running strategies and plans for the future, and of course took a couple of group pictures.  There I met some fellow pacers I did not know before such as Jim and Julie Ford and Terry Ingram.  Then we went to the Civic Center where the event had the post-race activities.  The goodies were great; fruit, rice, bean and sausages, coke, beer and water.  There was also free skin cancer screen tests, shoes vendors, live music, etc.  The Port City Pacers did a great job!  The race was incredible and very well organized.  Thanks so much to the organizers and the volunteers! © Piwesi Dujume

 

Here are the times of the Pine Belt Pacers: 

Leonard Vergunst  35:14

Jim Coll  40:42

Keith Barrett  41:59

Steve Ulery  43:27

Bill Gasparrini  43:43

Phillip Wedgeworth  44:09

Jim Ford  45:59

Nestor Raul Anzola  46:39

Terry Ingram  47:48

Vicky Copeland  50:10

Eric Weill  52:26

Chrissy Herrington  52:50

Ginny Dufrene  52:51

Julie Ford  55:03

Deborah Barrett  1:02:49

 

Other runners from the Pine Belt Area 

Jeff Hathorn,  Bassfield  35:58

Justin Bynum, Laurel  47:04

Robert Jarrell, Hattiesburg  53:37

Eric Enger, Hattiesburg  55:19

La Von Jones, Hattiesburg  56:19

Todd Coffin, Laurel  56:25

George Van, Hattiesburg  58:07

Jennifer Tyler, Hattiesburg  58:21

Jennifer Goodwin, Hattiesburg  58:25

Lee Downing, Laurel  59:21

Lynda Weathersby, Hattiesburg  1:00:58

Kim Jarrell, Hattiesburg  1:04:15

James Denham, Hattiesburg  1:05:53

Angie Vann, Hattiesburg  1:07:16

Winnie Hollingsworth, Laurel  1:13:18

Robbie Headrick, Laurel  1:17:45

Ken Headrick, Laurel  1:18:06

Sherri Dykes, Laurel  1:20:45

Gary Dykes, Laurel  1:21:08

Valerie Cagle, Hattiesburg  1:25:03

Christopher Cagle, Hattiesburg  1:25:11

Tammy Denham, Hattiesburg  1:30:29

Anita Matheny  1:33:44

 

Pic 1: The Pine Belt Pacers after the race
Pic 2: Deborah, Vicky and Chrissy
Pic 3: Ladys  & the tramps
Pic 4: Raul, Jim and Keith
Pic 5: Pacers sharing some time after the 10K
Pic 6: Ginny Dufrene with Jim & Julie Ford
Pic 7: Steve and Merry Ulery
Pic 8: A Pine Belt Pacer coaster, Bill Gasparrini
Pic 9: Pine Belt Pacer and GCRC race director, Leonard Vergunst
Pic 10: The fittest and healthiest grannies in Hattiesburg
Pic 11: Terry Ingram discussing running strategies with Jim Coll
Pic 12: Vicky and Chrissy talking with a Baton Rouge fellow runner

Pic 13: Another group picture