I ran the 5000m, the 1500m, and the 800m at the Tri-State Games in Rahway New Jersey last weekend. I ran these with the goals of a) grabbing qualifying times for the "Hartford Nationals" in July - a national para-athletics championship; b) establishing/setting records in my division for those distances; and c) simply getting experience with para-athletic/adaptive athletic meets, which are similar to traditional meets in some ways, and differ in others.
[Yes, this race report is very late. I have been simply SWAMPED with life/work stuff.]
This was my first time at a para-athletics track meet, and as an adult onset runner I can't say I'm an old hand at track meets either. Several years ago I did a few local track meets, so I'm somewhat familiar with racing on the track. But this meet, run under ATFUSA rules, had a few additional requirements to which I needed to adapt (note the pun). The first two, which I learned pre-race, were:
Requirement 1: My shoes had to have a sole thickness of 25 mm or less (this shifts to 20 mm or less after October). This is because ATFUSA follows World Para-Athletics rules on shoes, and the WPA in turn follows World Athletics rules. So no Vaporflies allowed.
In this era of high stack shoes and super foams it is challenging to find shoes that a) aren't spikes and b) fit this requirement. I picked up a pair of Dragonflies (1/2 off) and gave them a test run before concluding I wasn't ready for them.
Fortunately, I had a collection of shoes from 7-8 years ago that I had stocked up on, and then never used and never gotten around to selling on Ebay. I played with a few of those and confirmed that the Adios Boost 4 was the best option. I also purchased a pair of Adidas Avantis on sale ($40). Those were delivered on Friday, so I took those as well when I drove up to New Jersey on Saturday.
Requirement 2: GPS watches were banned. Fortunately, I caught this one before I left for New Jersey, which gave me enough time to buy a cheap Timex watch.
I race by feel, so I didn't need a watch for that reason. But...I did want my 5000m splits for posterity, and I also wanted to have some way of telling time so that I could know how fast the day was moving (and more importantly, when it was time to take my meds).
With both these adjustments made, I was feeling very retro and classic when I rolled into Rahway River Park on Sunday morning.
***
I should probably take a few paragraphs to describe this meet at this point. This was called the Tri-State Games because it involved multiple sports spread over 3 days - power-lifting (Friday night), archery (Saturday morning), field events (Saturday all day), and track (Sunday all day). It was open to children and adults but skewed 25 and younger - at 50 I was one of the oldest athletes on the track on Sunday.
The track meet was extremely organized and professional - there were at least 6 USATF officials (in uniform) on the track managing the call box, start line, or finish line or standing elsewhere on the track to observe the races. There was also a large screen display at the finish displaying splits and times.
The meet was for both wheelchair and ambulatory athletes, resulting in some interesting tweaks to the track meet format I'm most familiar with. Each distance had multiple heats, with the wheelchairs kept separate from the ambulatory athletes. [The latter category included amputees with prosthetics, visually impaired runners, neurologically impaired runners (hi!), and intellectually impaired runners.] Most heats were also separated by sex, resulting in up to 14 heats for some distances. For each distance, the wheelchair heats were first, followed by the ambulatory heats.
The meet schedule included breaks through the day. Some were familiar: "lunch" or "warm-up." But "compensator setting" was a mystery until a parent explained it to me. Compensators are automatic steering systems used by wheelchair racers on the track. You can set your compensator to go straight or to curve around a bend. But...while straight is the same on every track, the radius of a turn can vary depending on both the track and one's assigned lane on that track. So...during compensator setting breaks, the wheelchair athletes in the upcoming heats practice the curves of the track in their assigned lane to ensure their compensators are set correctly for their next heat.
There is also an etiquette to wheelchair and ambulatory athletes sharing the track during warm-ups. Essentially the wheelchairs get lanes 1-4, and the ambulatory athletes get lanes 6-8. Lane 5 is to be kept empty as a buffer.
All of this was explained to me by wonderful, friendly people who welcomed me and wanted to make sure I was at ease and enjoying the meet. It was really a great crowd of people.
***
I arrived at the meet pretty early - around 6:30 am. This was because I was uncertain of how things were going to go, and I wanted to make sure I had sufficient time to figure out everything and warm-up sufficiently (the track closed to all at 7:35). As it turned out, this was perfect timing.
I jogged about 2.5 miles in a pair of old Sub-twos (chosen as my jogging/warm-up shoe because it was also legal for the track and could be used in an emergency) and then swapped to the Adios 4 to do my warm-up fartlek (3:00 at HM effort, 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, and 4x10 second strides). It had rained overnight and the track was still damp and the air really humid.
I finished my warm-up about 7:30. Which was perfect, since my first race - the 5000m - started at 7:40 am. There were two heats: one for wheelchair racers and the other for ambulatory runners. Since adaptive/para racing seems very biased towards the sprints, there were few takers for the 5000m - just one wheelchair racer in the first heat and me and a guy in his 20s for the ambulatory heat.
The rules were that we had to report to the "call room" (actually a tent at one end of the track) when called for our heat - which was generally 10-15 minutes before the first heat of any distance. For each distance the wheelchair racers went first, followed by the ambulatory runners - meaning that I spent a lot of my day in the call room area.
In the call area ambulatory runners were given sticky numbers for hip and chest (the wheelchair racers placed them on their helmets). Once I had my sticky numbers placed correctly I watched the single wheelchair racer time-trial a sub-16:00 5000m to get his qualifier, and then it was my turn.
***
The other runner and I were escorted across the infield to the 5000m start line. The sun had emerged from the clouds and was clearing the fog; however, the humidity lingered. It was steamy, but I was a marathoner from Virginia. I wasn't that worried about the heat during a ~3 mile track race 200 miles north of home.
Since I had been standing for 20 minutes at this point, I asked if I could do two strides in the long jump runway and was granted permission. I was stiff during the strides, but much better for them.
Then we lined up. I had number 1, so I was on the inside, while the other runner started to my right. As soon as the gun went off our lane assignments were irrelevant. He exploded off the line and I didn't and so he was almost instantly a full 20m ahead of me.
That was fine. He was in a different division, and what I really cared about was qualifying, setting the national 5000m record for my division, and ideally leaving a little in the tank for later races. So I eased into a tempo rhythm, noting how odd and awkward the old Adios shoes felt after doing all my track workouts in vaporflies. As I turned onto the straightaway towards the finish line for the first time, I noted that there was a display counting down laps. That was nice - I didn't need to keep track myself.
A lap or so later, I began to reel in the other runner. Pretty soon I was on his shoulder. He surged and I didn't - both because it was early in the race and I wanted to hold a steady effort and because I really couldn't. He pulled away but then faded, and I was back next to him. This happened twice more in the next two laps, and then I was pulling ahead.
From there on, I simply held my rhythm and counted down the laps, trying to ignore how uncomfortable my feet felt. By the time I hit 6 laps left, I was feeling the heat and humidity and appreciating my conservative start The last 3 laps were a major slog (so much for that whole "marathoner from Virginia" thing), but I managed to hold pace. And then I was done and trying to catch my breath. The trackside clock showed 22:31 - much slower than I had hoped I'd run - but I had hit my qualifying time (sub-27:00, so not a huge reach) and established the national record for the 5000m for my division (Women's T36) so it was all good.
***
Next up was the 1500m, scheduled for around 10:15 am.
When I had registered for this meet, I had signed up for the 5000m, 1500m, and 800m. Since I'm a marathoner runner who gets faster the longer she runs, my hope was that all three distances would go fairly close to each other in time, so that I could knock them all out and be on my way home (I'd treat it like a cutdown track workout). But no such luck - the 5000m was the first race of the morning, the 1500m was scheduled for 10:15 am, and the 800m for 3:10 pm.
So I hung out for a while after my race, before jogging a mile plus some strides at 9:50 to loosen up for the 1500m. According to the heat sheet, I was the only ambulatory woman in the 1500m, so this would be a solo time trial. Being by myself was fine with me - I've certainly done enough solo workouts, and I wouldn't have to worry about race tactics or similar.
However, after I finished my warm-up, I was told that they had decided to combine the men's and women's heats, meaning that I would be running around 10:45 instead, during the men's ambulatory heat. I was a bit surprised - I thought the rules required separate heats for the sexes at any distance under 3000m - but I was reassured by the officials that the heat would be legal and any records set during it would be valid. I honestly would have preferred the earlier heat and running by myself, but it wasn't my call. And I'm sure that combining the two heats helped the meet stay on schedule.
So, I waited through both the women's and men's wheelchair 1500m heats (3 total) and then headed towards the 1500m start when directed. Since we were crossing the field to the start line I took the opportunity to do a stride on the field, only to get yelled at. I'm not sure why the stride was allowed for the 5000m but not the 1500m, but oh well. At least I hadn't been DQed.
We lined up (I was lane 1, again). There were 6 runners total in this heat - me and 5 males, ranging in age between 14 and 23. None were in my T36 division - four of the five were T37s (another neurological division - with one bad side instead of two) and the fifth was a T20 (intellectually impaired).
The starter gave us our final instructions, with a surprise twist. Because we were effectively running two separate heats for the two sexes simultaneously, there could be no drafting between sexes. I could not run in the same lane immediately behind any male, and they couldn't run behind me. Honestly, it was the first I had ever heard of a no-drafting rule anywhere in running, but...this was also my first para-meet, so there you go.
Then the starter stepped back, barked "on your mark," and fired the pistol.
***
Unsurprisingly, I was once again dropped by everyone in the field. The men all exploded off the line, but then started fading as early as 100m into the race. This wouldn't have been an issue except for the no-drafting rule, which meant that I couldn't tuck in behind someone on a turn and then swing out wide on the straightaway to pass. If they were in lane 1, I couldn't be behind them in lane 1.
Since I was running this race primarily for a qualifying time (sub 10:20) and to break the current national record for my division (7:40.40) I really didn't want to be DQed. In a slight excess of caution, I ran most of this race in either lane 2 or 3 to be super careful (I was unclear on exactly what distance between two runners qualified as drafting).
Running wide, I reeled in 4 of the 5 men over the next three laps (all the T37s) but wasn't ever able to catch the T20 - he beat me by 30 seconds. But I had achieved what I needed to. Two races down, one to go.
***
The 800m was several hours away, so I found some shade and had lunch (gluten free bagel, bananas, and some dates - nothing heavy with a race a few hours away). The track was open for a mid-day break, and so I jogged back over and did some strides in first my Adios 4s and then a brand new pair of Adidas Avanti spikes (without the actual spikes) that had been delivered on Friday afternoon. The Avantis felt a bit better than the Adios during the strides, so I decided to try them in the 800m. It was only two laps, so how bad could it be?
Then I hung out for a few more hours (the host team - the North Jersey Navigators - generously invited me to hang out under their tents) before jogging another mile plus some strides in preparation for my last race.
***
There were four heats of the women's 800m, and once again the ambulatory athletes were in the last heat. Since all heats were ordered to the call box area 15 minutes before the start of the first heat, this meant that I stood (or did leg swings or marched in place to try to stay limber) for about 30 minutes before being called to the start line (WALKING ONLY this time). My legs felt like they were made of iron, and not in a good way.
But hey, at least I had the Avantis on - perhaps they would be magic. Only one way to find out.
We took our assigned lanes - the orders were to stay in lane until we ran past some cones. At that point we could break to the inside lane. I had been assigned lane 7, which I appreciated - the wider turn would be more comfortable.
Another "on your mark" and then the pistol. And I lurched off the start line. I stayed in my lane until I passed the cones, and then I gradually eased my way to the inside lane, hitting it just before the next turn (My coach had warned me not to cut in too quickly - you just add extra distance that way).
Three of the women were ahead of me at that point. My legs felt utterly awful and clumsy, but even so I managed to pass one woman (a T37) and hang right off the shoulder of another (a T62 - aka a double amputee). The T62 and I were together for about 500m - I tried to pass her but was honestly doing well just to stay on my feet at this point. Then we hit the home stretch and she kicked, and I just watched her pull away while I ground my way to the finish, trying not to trip and fall over my Avantis.
I ran 3:43 for the 800m - literally a slower pace than I had held for the 5000m or 1500m. I was more amused than upset, though. I knew the 800m was very much outside my wheelhouse, and I only needed to break 4:50 to qualify for nationals at that distance. As it turned out, the 3:43 was a national record for my division for the 800m as well (too bad they couldn't count one of the middle 800s of my 5000m from that morning), so the race was still a productive one, if ugly.
I was amused, though - post race - by the comments I received post-race on how obviously tired I was from having run the 5000m and 1500m first. Honestly, fatigue was about 10% responsible for my bad race; the other 90% was having to stand for 30 minutes before running.
Nevertheless, I was done. Finally. I walked around a bit to say goodby to various friends I had made, cleaned up as best I could in a park bathroom, ate a belated box lunch (or two), and then jumped in the car for the three and a half hour drive home. It had been a long day, but a fun and fulfilling one.
***
Splits for the three races, as noted by the timing system:
5000m: - the first 200m was 54 seconds, and then I split 1:49, 1:51, 1:50, 1:49, 1:48, 1:47, 1:47, 1:47, 1:48, 1:48, 1:48, 1:46
1500m: the first 300m was 1:18, and then I split 1:50, 1:47, 1:46
800m: splits were 1:50/1:53.
Other notes:
- The weather was pretty good for a track meet, but definitely warm. It was 68 degrees with a matching dew point for the 5000m, 75 degrees with a dew point of 70 for the 1500m, and 81 degrees with a dew point of 70 for the 800m. I felt the weather substantially affected me for the 5000m but wasn't really an issue for the 1500m or the 800m - such are the benefits of shorter races.
- I was really struck by how well managed this meet was. Officials were everywhere, including various locations on the track, watching each race carefully for possible infractions. The names of all athletes and their clubs (nearly 100 athletes) were listed in a paper program distributed on race day. Free water and Gatorade were available to everyone and continually restocked. Announcements and instructions were timely, clear, and easy to follow. The results from each race were posted within 10 minutes of the race's completion. It was just a high quality event.
- I think what I most enjoyed about this meet was how pure it was. In recent years, it seems that races have become this weird carnival of selfie sticks and influencer meet ups and people printing up bibs with their own names on them and/or bitching about really trivial things like the composition of a race medal or jacket. The bigger the race, the worse the circus.
This meet had none of that. It was simply athletes toeing the line and racing as hard as they could, and then congratulating each other at the finish line, before taking to the sidelines to cheer for others. No influencing or "inspiration" - just competition in a completely whining-free venue, where everyone was welcomed as an athlete and a fellow competitor. It was utterly refreshing.
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