When most people look at past results before signing up for a race, I suspect they are looking to see if they have a chance of winning. When I do it, I’m trying to see if there’s a chance I’ll finish last.
In Roanoke, I found a race where nobody comes in last to anybody except themselves. The idea behind the Mmmove ment race is that you pick your own time goal. If you meet or exceed it, you win and are entered in the prize raffle. If you don’t, then, well, better luck next time.
And while I have plunked down as much as $40 in the past to have someone time me running around for 3 miles, Mmmove looked to break down barriers to entry by charging $0.
The format encouraged non-runners and families to participate. But it was more challenging than you might expect. Of the 79 participants, 65 put down a goal time. Of those, 25 didn’t make their goal; seven by 2 minutes, 15 seconds or less.
Of the 40 that did make their goal, nine came within three minutes of going over their limit. And just seven people went the total weenie route of putting down the maximum allowed time of 90 minutes.
I aimed for 40 minutes. While not exactly up to Olympic standards, I knew I would need to keep a steady pace. I ended up finishing with a respectable time (for me) of 33 minutes, 47 seconds. I also signed up Col and she was a bit alarmed when she saw what time I put down for her. She beat it by nearly 14 minutes.
While in the Roanoke area, I got in two other runs – one in the county of Roanoke and the other in the neighboring city of Salem.
Roanoke is the 10th largest city in Virginia with a population of about 100,000. The area, which includes both the county and the city of the Salem, has a population of around 300,000. Roanoke thrived as a railroad town from the 1880s until the 1960s, mainly revolving around the transport of coal. The Norfolk and Western Railway built steam locomotives here until the early 1960s. Some manufacturing related to railroads still takes place here today.
Salem, with a population of about 24,000, has the nickname of Virginia’s Championship City. It has hosted a number of college national championship games and tournaments. It also has a minor league baseball team. Roanoke College has an enrollment of about 2,000.
53 runs down, 81 to go.
View City of Roanoke in a larger map
View Roanoke County in a larger map
View Salem Va in a larger map
