Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 9, 1993 TAG: 9305090067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Should I start fast and try to maintain a steady pace? Should I hang back and surge to the finish line? Should I call Ben Johnson?
But when I found out I was covering the race for the newspaper, my strategy became exceedingly clear: Win.
Yes, and win handily. To cover this event properly, I would need time, after breaking the tape, to stretch out my hamstrings and kiss a few babies before awaiting the rest of the straggling field for results and interviews from the afterlife.
\ (ME: "Congratulations on a strong finish."
\ SECOND-PLACE CHUMP: "Thank you."
\ ME: "How does it feel to get beat like that?")
Bang! The starter's pistol fired at 9 a.m. and I tore off with a smile and a plan.
But something went terribly wrong.
"Something is going terribly wrong," I said, in a rare midrace interview.
I'll make a long race short (I should have thought of that Saturday): Somehow, on a four-mile course viciously advertised as "flat," no fewer than 72 runners slipped past and finished ahead of me.
Foremost in this uncooperative throng were Brian Walter and Sue Given, the men's and women's overall winners.
According to postrace rumor, Walter had entered and won another 4-miler before I made my decidedly uncomfortable finish. This, of course, was a bit far-fetched. It was a 5K.
Driving back to the office after the race (No, it wasn't dark yet), I was trying to invent an award that I might have won.
Sweatiest Male? Best Young Cramper? Coma Look-Alike Contest?
I didn't win the media race, though I certainly might have taken second if my cohorts had abided by my lone rule: Namely, that each competitor carry a unit of the medium he or she represents.
Heck, even toting our Sunday paper, I think I could have overtaken Channel 10's Sean Hennessey with a 19-inch Zenith strapped to his back.
But alas, the unencumbered Hennessey took second. And as for the Roanoker's Kurt Rheinheimer - well, he smoked all of us media types, and he would have with or without a May issue.
But this race was not without its small moment of glory. Though it is against company policy to gloat, I feel it is my duty to report that the Roanoke Times & World-News media team unseated three-time defending champ WSLS-TV in the fourth annual media race.
And it would be shoddy journalism if I failed to mention that in edging Channel 10 by 34 seconds, we - I mean, the Roanoke Times & World-News team - set a record in the tradition-rich media event.
Now I'm mighty proud of that effort, but remember, I had set out to win this thing.
Maybe I should have listened to my doubters. When I told my boss I was running and covering the race, he grimaced and said, "You do know that you have a 10 p.m. deadline?"
When I told my mom I was running a 4-miler Saturday morning, she was upset because she didn't think I'd make it home to Blacksburg by Mother's Day.
I'm still trying to figure out what happened. Surely I had the best plan.
I've just got to face it: I'm a better strategist than competitive racer.
by CNB