R and J in the USA

June 8, 2024

The second 5K of our trip was the Boxer Brief 5k, which took place on a sunny Saturday morning in Richmond, Virginia. The race began and ended at City Stadium, with some city roads and mild hills in between. Julie beat Ryan for the second race in a row, finishing 4th out of 41 in her age group and 66th of 364 overall. Ryan finished 11th of 38 in his age group and 84th overall. As a post-race bonus, we got to see our Richmond-based niece Ali and her husband Trey, who were celebrating their two-week wedding anniversary.

One of the neat things about running 5Ks is they often support good causes, which provides the double benefit of having fun while helping to advance a worthy goal. This was one such race.

Affectionately known as the Run to Save Buns, the Boxer Brief 5K is organized by Hitting Cancer Below the Belt (HCB2). HCB2 was founded in 2012 by Mindy Conklin in honor of her husband, Rich Conklin, who succumbed to colorectal cancer in 2011. Since then, HCB2 has funded colorectal cancer screening for over 6,500 patients, delivered healing baskets and gut health information to over 280 patients, educated tens of thousands of people about colorectal cancer, and offered events for over 9,200 attendees, among other things.

This year’s Boxer Brief 5K raised $67,000 to help fund HCB2’s efforts. It also raised awareness, as there were multiple tables staffed with multiple people providing information about screening for and dealing with colorectal cancer.

An impressive element of this event was the enthusiasm organizers and participants showed for their cause. Organizers and staff gave attention to raising awareness even as they tended to the logistics of the event. They continually thanked people, asked people if they’d been screened, and pointed them to the information tables.

In addition to a staff dedicated to the cause, many of the participants and spectators were colorectal cancer survivors, colorectal cancer patients, or family, friends, or neighbors of people impacted by colorectal cancer. And their focus was on the joy of so many people coming together to address a disease that affected them, rather than on the pain the disease sent their way.

The enthusiasm of the organizers and those affected by the disease turned what could have been a somber occasion into a happy, forward-looking event. It was inspiring.

Detailed Race Report for Running Nerds

Julie came into our Virginia 5K with the same “I have no idea what kind of race I’ll run” attitude as our prior race in DC. Since that first run had been way faster than she expected, her “I have no idea” attitude had a slight optimism to it that perhaps a repeat performance was in there. It wasn’t a flat course like the first one and the morning heat and unshaded race course promised more sun-drenched strain, so she figured she wasn’t likely to see FASTER results. What she didn’t realize was how much that extremely high-heart-rate run in DC plus a first full week of the trip that was jam-packed every single minute had taken its toll. It wasn’t long into the race that Julie realized that whatever surprise pep had been in her step the prior week was sitting this one out.

Julie started out the first mile trying to find that sweet spot in her pace – that feeling that says this is your comfortable pace for this race. It’s always the same feeling. It just happens to show up at different paces depending on different levels of conditioning. She found it and was surprised to look down at her watch and see that she had settled into a pace a FULL MINUTE slower than last week’s race. She accepted this was going to have more of a recovery tone than she had originally thought. As the race continued on, she pushed it a little bit to turn in negative splits and was surprised to find herself already in severe strain by the beginning of mile 3, even though running at what would usually be a casual 8:45 pace! “This is way harder than it should be,” she was thinking as she finished the race at a chip time of 26:56 to the unexpected and welcomed cheers of Ali and Trey waiting at the finish line . “Well, at least I still beat Ryan.” She thought. When Ryan came through the finish line not even a full 2 minutes later, Julie got nervous. I’m getting slower and he’s getting faster. This is not good. Not only did Ryan come through much sooner than Julie expected, he came through looking like a cool breeze. Julie could sense what the future held and decided to enjoy the temporary taste of marital competitive victory while it lasted. It was already quite clear – Ryan was just getting warmed up, and he was coming for her.

As for Ryan’s race, once again he went out there with the intention to keep shaking off the cobwebs. He stopped for a full minute at the water station, as per his plan heading into the race. Knowing that it had been a while since he’d run 3 full miles prior to the DC race a week before, Ryan was keeping an eye on his long term fitness and just enjoying the miles.

He ran at a comfortable pace and felt pretty good the whole way, just as his cool breezy demeanor at the finish line suggested.

Enjoy it while it lasts, Julie. The way Ryan is looking, it won’t last long.