Short version: 

Cold and windy conditions!  The Pine Belt Pacers had a great performance.  Leonard Vergunst was 55^th overall being the top Grand Masters in 36:29.  Jim Coll finished 226^th in 41:37, Nestor Raul Anzola 412^th in 44:13 and Aquilino Garcia 635^th in 47:05.  Raul and Kily got personal bests for the 10K distance.

 

Long Version:

Over 15,000 entries were received from runners and walkers to participate in the 2007’s edition of the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans on Saturday, April 7.   Hot temperatures and elevated humidity were not an issue this year for the participants in the race.  In fact, it was the coldest weather ever in the 29 editions of the CCC with temperatures in the middle 40s and steady winds at 10mph with gust up to 20.   The race started in Jackson Square, traveled to the Central Business District, along Esplanade Avenue, and ended in City Park for 6.2 miles of a flat course. 

 

The cold gusty wind and brisk conditions was not obstacle for the elite runners who ran in New Orleans.  George Misoi from Kenya and Teyba Erkesso from Ethiopia captured the 2007 CCC titles.  The four top male runners stayed side by side until the end when Misoi pushed for the win in 28:15.  Two seconds behind finished fellow Kenyans Nicholas Kamakya and Linus Maiyo.  Tadessa Tola from Ethiopia was fourth in 28:19.  In the women’s race Erkesso (32:08) was followed by Emily Chebet from Kenya in 32:14 and Tatyana Petrova from Russia in 32:31.  The first American was Kevin Castille from Louisiana who finished ten overall in 30:32.

 

What about us?  The day began very early!  Kily was a little worried about going “late” to NOLA since there were so many participants, and the buses that take the runners from the parking area in Gormley Stadium at City Park to the start area near Jackson Square go so slow.  There was a possibility that we could not even do any warm up before the 10K.  On the other hand, you guys know how relaxed I am sometimes about going to the races!  Anyway, I followed Kily’s advice, and we left Hattiesburg early at 4:30am.  We arrived to New Orleans even before the sun came up. 

 

There we met with a fellow friend and runner from the area, Roberto Muñoz, who gave us the race t-shirt, running chips, and other stuff he pick for us at the Expo.   It was cold and windy!  We were ready to go to the buses when Roberto’s brother offered to take us in his car to the French Quarter.  After a quick ride we were right there in downtown in front of Angeline and Brat’s home.  We were expecting Angeline to show in the window and wis us good luck, but it never happened.  I am not going to talk to her in a while!  Anyway…. we arrived so early to the French Quarter that I had to take a number 1 and the portapots were still extremely clean and even smelling good (can you believe it?).

 

We walked to Jackson Square, arrived before 7:15am and stayed right in front of the Cafe Du Monde for a long time.  The cold and windy conditions were killing us.  Roberto, Kily, and I checked for some money in our packets to buy some coffee, but nobody brought any single coin!  We were freezing and then praying to find a friend (with money!) among the crowd, even thinking about singing, dancing, jumping, eating fire or begging for a couple of bucks to buy a cup of coffee.  Finally, our prayers were answered, and someone known showed up in the place.  Yes! It was the former PBP president, the Cool Jim Coll.   He got some coffee, bought some for us, and then we were ready for the race!!!

 

We lined up in Jackson Square.  Well… in fact, there was not any clear line up since many, many, many people with green and pink tag numbers (over 50 and over 1 hour estimated-finish-time) were hanging in the area.  At 8:29am we were still waiting for the Marine Corps Band to play the National Anthem when suddenly the starting gun sounded.  We were off and due to the excitement of the start, I went out fast, just trying to find a good running pace and stride.  I was up near the front, so not a lot of jockeying as it happened to Kily in the first mile.  It was cold and windy, but I felt well hydrated all along.  I didn’t go to the aid station and just got a sip of water in mile 4.  I came across mile1 in 6:40; M2 in 13:40; M3 in 21:00; M4 in 28:15; M5 in 35:21; and M6.2 in 44:13 (yeah, I sped up a little bit at the end for the official picture!).  I cut almost 2 minutes from last year’s run, and the time was a personal best by more than 40 seconds.  Kily crossed the finish line in 47:05, breaking his previous CCC time for more than 9 minutes and setting a new PR for the distance.

 

As it was said before, the Pine Belt Pacers Club was well represented.  Leonard finished in 36:29 and Jim in 41:37.  It seems that there were more PB Pacers running great in the race, but their times were not listed in the official results, and I did not see them in the post-race party.  They did not rent a chip at the Expo, and when they finished, they did not attend the party or if they did… they never came close to the jambalaya and beer stations (place where we hanged all the time, saw nobody else, and stayed until they kick us out at the end of the party J). © Pijume Diwesi    See: Race results

 

Addendum by the Fantastic Five