Stopping to smell the wildflowers

I was visiting the small town of Hughes Springs in Northeast Texas a couple of weeks ago. There is a Wild Flower Festival in the town that is a fun event to attend. Along with the Festival there is a 5K race. The race is called the Wild Flower Trails 5K. Since the area has a forest of loblolly pines around I assumed a trail run would be run through some of the trails in those tall pine trees. I thought it would be a fun race to take some photos of at the start/finish line. Upon checking about the race I was told it is a point to point race. That meant the start was 3.1 miles from the finish and my chances of some photos was going to be a problem. The race started up on a hill on Highway 161. I drove up to highway 161 and tried to figure the direction runners would take to run on a trail. It was a major highway and could not figure how this could be the starting point. I took several side roads that looked promising through some wooded neighborhoods. I found out the race followed highway 161 back into town and then turned up the town’s main street back to City Hall. Why it was called a trail run while following a major highway had me a little confused.

To get a better understanding of the race I entered the race. I have not entered a race is over 20+ years and what could have possibly made me think I should enter this race I still do not comprehend my motive. I have been walking on a regular basis and thought I could walk the 3.1 miles without much trouble. The local runners said the course has a lot of downhill stretches in it that helped my efforts. Fortunately I had brought a pair of running shoes along and some sweat pants to run in. Not the best on a warm day but it worked out well for the last minute decision. I hoped I would at least finish in less than an hour. The race had 150 runners bused up to the starting line on highway 161. Fortunately at the early morning hour the traffic was not heavy. I still wonder about the safety of running on a major highway and also about calling the race a trail run. And the last one-half of a mile was a slight uphill to the finish. Since that was the major street through the town with big trucks carrying logs passing by on occasion it was coned off for safety.

I finished in just under one hour and was happy about that. I even got a second place award in the over 70 year age category for my efforts. There were only two of us in that category and the other entrant was an actual runner versus my walking level of participation. I received a small wooden circle cut out of plywood with a shoe carved out in the middle and the “32nd Annual Wild Flower Trail 5K” printed on it. I look at the medal hanging off my neck with a ribbon as any medal is a good medal at my age. There is no indication of age or place so every runner received the same award. The age group awards were somewhat unusual. The awards started with the 9 years and under; 10 – 11 years; 12 – 13 years; 14 – 15 years; 16 – 19 years, and then the 20 – 29 years, etc. up to over 70 years. It was good to see the number of young age categories to encourage youngsters to run.

The Overall Male and Female of the race received an award and a $100 bill. If a runner broke the 5K Trail record they would receive $1,000. This sounds like a real incentive for fast runners. The record for a male is 14:43 minutes back in 2017 by Alfred Kiplagat. That fast time would be a top place finish in National Championships. He ran under a 5: minute mile the entire race that I attribute to the amount of downhill sections in the route. The female record is 18:00 in 2002 by Katie Lesauvage which is also impressive. The female record is over 20 years old and some top female runner might find out about the $1,000 award for breaking the record and give it a try. I don’t think the male record will be broken any time soon.

My time was slow and I was a little tired at the finish but it encouraged me to do a little more training for next year. I don’t think I will get to the point of actually running the 5K distance but maybe a few jogs on the downhill sections should bring my time down to a respectable level. The race is not until next April so that will give me time to get in better condition.

I did not get any photos with my intentions of getting some runners following a forest trail but entering a race after all these years was a better option for me anyway.