Race: Alfie Shrubb 8k
Date: June 3, 2012
Result: 4th overall, 29:06.
My Course PB: 29:18 (2010).
Mark this day, June 3. For here we receive first notice from the legendary Johnny Jogger (John Tranter) of the quality he is about to deliver this season. John and I are training once again, and it appears I am his personal good luck charm. Way to go John, a 30:11 effort as a 60 year old good for 5th overall, almost equal to your result of 2010. As we will see, patience and smart training will deliver John some great results over the rest of the year. Most of his efforts will be simply the best performances for all 60 plus males in Ontario and beyond.
The lack of prizing at Shrubb 2011 last year was a bit disappointing. However the website for this year’s race indicated differently, and I was glad to enter once again and support a great local race. Yet here I am, almost three months after the race, with no prize in hand. So what’s up with that?
If you ask me it is a mistake not to have prizing in races. But it is a bigger mistake to advertize prizing and then not deliver. Some would call that fraudulent business. For more on this topic, please read my previous report called Shrubb: To Prize or Not.
Shrubb this year did not offer cash prizes, and that was a good decision made by race director Al Storrie. Al mentioned some local Kenyans had contacted him about elite entry. When they learned there would be no cash prizes, they said sorry maybe next year. It is time to stop this nonsense! Prizing should be made available only to paid entrants. If you want to race for free under the elite banner, go for it, just don’t expect anything more from the race. And if you want to race for cash prize money, pay the entry fee like everyone else.
So with no Kenyans toeing the start line, one thought raced through my mind: forget the prizes. Here is my chance to get my name on the fabulous Shrubb Champions Cup beside other local legends including the aforementioned John Tranter, Danny Kassap, Paul Leduc and Predrag Mladanovic. I knew that Manila farmer John Ingram would be on the start line. Know your competition. He always starts off fast and then hangs in tough. And if it were between Ingram and myself, I intended to sacrifice deeply for a shot at glory.
Unfortunately that tale will not be told. Speedsters BJ Cunliffe and Ian Reid had made their appearance and opened an insurmountable lead right from the gun. John Ingram was quickly ahead into third as expected, and I chased him around from beginning to end. As the race progressed, I whittled the distance between us down, getting close enough to have Ingram looking back over his shoulder as we closed the final km.
The course is not easy, a there-and-back with a nice hill at the 3k/5k marker, about as difficult as the Spring Run-off. By the time Ingram was sending back worried glances, that hill seen twice had taken away my desire to meet him. Although third was there to be taken, I was happy to finish with a decent time, a course PB to boot. Fourth place would once again secure the top masters prize. All thanks to some good competition courtesy of Mr. Ingram with Mr. Tranter not far behind.
I tend to run beside elite women in larger races so I often joke with them that I wished I was a woman too. Preliminary results were posted: Danielle MacKinnon had taken first place female. I would get my name on the Shrubb Cup after all. A quick check under my shorts revealed my wish had not come true (a relief at that) and corrections to the results would be necessary. I reported the issue to ChipTimeResults, and that is likely where the day went south for the award ceremony.
Awards were taking even longer than the usual forever. Finally the chap from ChipTimeResults took the stage to apologize: they had overwritten the 8k results trying to fix something, likely my little problem with gender identity. So sorry about that. Race Director Al Storrie then regretted that the 8k prizes could not be given out, but not to worry, he would mail them out as soon as the data could be recovered. However, once put online the 8k results were still not correct as the indicated 8k winner was a misfile from the 5k race. Further email exchanges eventually corrected the matter. In summary, colossal screw up narrowly avoided.
As to my undelivered master’s prize, emails continue to go unanswered. And it is not just Shrubb. The Toronto Marathon was also to mail out prizes yet they too have not delivered nor responded to my emails and other participant’s emails. For me, for this season, I am up to three races where indicated prizes have not been delivered. Again, I ask, what is up with that?
