The Old Reliable Run - 2006

Sunday, I ran in The Old Reliable Run, a 10K event in downtown Raleigh. I wanted to do something challenging at age 50, so this was it. There were lots of athletic young people there, but a surprising number of grey haired warriors as well. I chatted with a former co-worker of mine (Paul Greene) from the old Operator Services group at Nortel as we were waiting in line to pick up our "packets". (Paul did a great job in this race, and came in 27th overall.)

It was a cool blustery day, and I told another participant as we were waiting to start that my goal was to run hard enough to keep warm. My other goal was of course to finish the run, and I did in fact achieve both my goals. However, I need to work on my race-time water drinking skills. At the 1.5 mile marker, there was a water station. Someone handed me a cup of water as I jogged by. I took a few gulps as I jogged along. Most people toss their cup on the street, and the volunteers pick them up later. But then before I expected anything, there was someone standing there with an large open plastic trash bag for cups. I didn't want to throw the rest of the water in my cup into the bag too, so I tossed the water out on the street. Unfortunately, I was too close to the volunteer holding the trash bag, and I may have splashed his leg a little. Not too bad, but then to make things worse, as I was jogging by, I threw the cup and missed the bag. Oh well, I'm sure they understand how things go in the heat of competition, even when you are maybe 800th in the race.

It is always easier to run a distance race with someone else. In other races I have always found various people running at about my same pace and stride to run with. This race was no exception. I'd ran with several people in this race for varying distances and you feel a small sense of partnership with them, albeit temporary. Just after we looped around the NCSU bell tower and headed back on Hillsboro Street for the State Capital, a pretty young blonde woman beside me said, "Its all downhill from here!" and I managed to say, "I hope so." We ran together for the rest of the race, at exactly the same pace and cadence, and to tell you the truth, it was a little faster than I would have preferred. As we crossed the finish line simultaneously, she stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Dawn!". I said "I"m Chip...thanks...you helped...I ran a better race... because of you..." and she said, "Thank-you, I ran better because of you!"



I didn't care about an official time, so I didn't pick up a time chip, but since I finished with Dawn and we crossed the line at the same time, I'm borrowing her official time for me!

27 PAUL GREENE M 40 APEX NC 39:41 39:43 6:24
598 DAWN TOOKE F 28 RALEIGH NC 58:36 59:14 9:32
599 CHIP GENTRY M 50 CHAPEL HILL NC 58:36 59:14 9:32