A great day for the city of Flint once again. Not even mother nature, with four confirmed tornados the night before, no power for much of the downtown area, and the collapse of a building near the finish line on Wednesday morning, could dampen the spirit of the Crim. 14,700 runners and walkers were registered as of Friday night. The day dawn cloudy with some showers and 70 degrees, with the humidty it made for a very sticky day. Met with Rochester and MarkGuy at the clock and hoped to meet others but with power outages and traffic problems, no such luck.

To the race, hit start line at about 5:00 minutes after start. Didn't get very far before I hit a wall of walkers 4 lanes wide and 10 people deep. I ended up shooting and scooting for the 1st two miles, running on the sidewalk, curbs, and peoples lawn. Was able to stay on an even pace of about 9 min. per mile. At just after 2 miles we turned on to 3rd Ave which takes to the Old Chevy in the hole area. This stretch of road was just redone in the last few weeks, as apart of Carriagetown makeover. I was able stay at about 9 min. mile
through the 4 mile mark coming through at 36:30, shortly later at Sunset and Nolan the Bristol Rd Church of Christ sang hymns to the runners , for I believe 13th year, as we prepare for the Bradley hills. It is not that the coarse is flat, up till the Bradley's, it isn't, but the elevation change is so intense so quickly. You go from one of the lowest elevations to the highest in less than a mile. The 3 quick steep hills followed by a long steady hill, then followed by rollers for the next 2 miles, it takes a toll on the body. I was able to hit the 5 mile mark at 45:48, slower than I had hoped but better than I had ever done to this point. At mile 6-8 we run through the nicest area in city of Flint houses in the 400 thousand- to near one million dollars. At mile 7 I have slowed to 64:38, I know I have to pickup the pace to come in anywhere near my goal 90 min. I began to pickup my pace but it doesn't look good. I hit 9 miles 82 :08, I need to run 7:52 the last mile,so it is possible, I press on. The Crim finishes with a beautiful downhill with a huge banner and clocks that you can .3 miles from the end. I pickup the pace going into a sprint with a1/4 mile to go. About 100 meters from the end as prepare to pass a young lady, a spectator jumps the barricade and she swerves to avoid him tripping me slightly, I break stride for a second but as I accelerate around her I begin to cramp in my hamms I slow slightly, and push on. I cross the tape in 90:01, missing my goal by 1 second. I finish 282 out of 609 in my age group, and 2400 out 7000 or so. The best thing about the race was that for the first time I run a negative split running the second half in 44:13. A great day for a great race, in great town, on a bad day to run. Marathon Derrick


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