TarBaby Part 4

The course record was 31:36 and the more and more I got to thinking the more confident I had faith in myself . The following year David Matherne showed up again and I beat him once more . I had a good year that year but wasn't all into it . But I recall the following year I just got engaged to my girlfriend Julie which I met at the Farmers and Merchants bank . Same bank which puts on the race . Ever since I settled down my times have been improving . I gotten in deep on learning how and when to train. Putting in tempo runs and longer intervals into my routine . The year 2000 I ran the TarBaby solo and won again in a time of 32:35 . Dad kept hounding me about that record telling me he'd give me $300 if I broke it . I wasn't wanting any money . Doing it for any other reason would make the effort worthless . 2001 comes around and I've been running great . With my first child on the way , getting married , and new career it was turning out to be a great year . Some sub 15:00 5k's in my book and sub 31:00 10k's . But racing on this course can get yeah. It has it all . The 3 H's . Heat , Hills , and Humidity . And did I mention hills . The fastest miles on this course is 1 and 5 . Mile 1 you had to come back up to the finish .  Others are nothing hills . Not rolling but just long hills . I marked the course every 1/2 mile to know where I had to be if I wanted to break this record. Just to break down the course in 1/2 splits .  I knew how fast to start off due to the fast first mile and challenging second mile with two hills in the mix . A few days before , dad and I came up with this idea to record the entire race . An idea I got from running in the Charles Harris 10k where the recorded the race from the back of a truck and the runners was able to watch the race on TV during the awards presentation . We got with the race director and lead pace car and they said it was ok .
That morning there was no one I recognized that would give me any competition so I had to do it alone . My brother was also running great the past few years . He has been running low 17 5k's . Nervous as always and I do my race day prayer from the script Hebrew 12:1 . Look it up if you don't know . We start out with dad in front on back of the truck and I go through the first mile in 4:53 due the fast mile . I didn't want to go out 4:45 mile like I have done in previous years  . I need a 5:05 pace to break record .Second mile 10:03 after the double hills and then mile 3 in 15:08 , mile 4 in 20:21 then I pass the Church St with the crowd roaring . Everyone knew what I was going for . I believe my mom was he loudest of them all . Mile 5 I hit 25:26. Right on pace . Then the last hill I had to hammer this thing . It's a monster of a climb . Nearly 400 meter climb . I hit 6 in 30:34 and I have slowed alittle but I needed a kick to break the record. I threw down the hammer and floored it with my signature kick .I've won a quit a bit of races with my kick. I take my kick with a lot of pride and arrogant with . I was one of the fastest guys in school in short events when we would race against each other in school for fun .  Once I crossed the finish line it was over . 31:26 !!!!. I but on a :52 second 1/4 mile. Tears from my eyes come out . My pregnant Julie waiting on me at the finish shoot . I try to hug her but she hardly wants any part of it due to the sweat coming from me . She is not a big fan of sweat . Then I go to dad after he gets out of the truck from recording me and give him a hug cause I know how much he wanted me to get that record . Along with my mom . Still today she tells me how much she is proud of me . It's was one of the best races I've ever ran and most rememberable one . As we sit back and wait for the second runner to come in ,  guess who shows up in second place. No one other than my brother Ken . He had been battling for second  with another runner name Rob Blaszkiewicz . He finished in 36:20. We went 1 and 2. A great day for the Black family . And we got it all on tape .
  I tried the next year to break my record again but at mile 6 I stopped and hurled I was on pace but that dang last hill got me . In 2005 Michael Greene came up and handed my butt . He is a real great runner but I wasn't prepared . I ran a crappy race . I wouldn't say I would have beaten him but if I was in great shape like 2001 it would have been a great race.  Some years I've gotten injured and I've won it a few more times . I've had everyone from my aunts to friends I've never seen throughout the year come watch me run .I can remember on my grandmother came once before she past away . Today I can recall what she said to me one day " You might have some skinny legs but they sure get you around fast ". I'll continue to run it as long as I can walk .
Hopefully my hard work and desire will be pass on to my kids in which I have three girls now . Now they run the 1mile fun run every year at the Tar Baby. Just a few good words. What good are goals and you dont tryto achieve them . Always believe in yourself no matter what the situation . It's not how many time you fall , it's how many times you get back up . Hope you enjoyed this and can get a little bit of understanding my background . God Bless and see you on the roads

TarBaby . Part 3

As we was about to start the race I try to visualize what I wanna do through each mile . No one knows this course better than I do . I've trained on this course nearly every week . I lived right off the course about half a mile from the 5 mile mark . Growing up I can recall days I wake up ready to go to the Dairy Festival and looking out the door was runners passing by . I knew there was some sort of event but didnt have a clue of what .as we start out the race we go stride for stride . Just me and David . I remember after about the 2 1/2 mile he puts on this kick and jumped out in front of me about :10 seconds ahead of me . Just enough to keep me pushing . He lead like that for a good while . I couldn't gain nothing on him . We pass the crowd with my family and locals cheering for me . I cant recall how many times people have asked me if I was gonna win it this year . I reply as always "Heck yeah ". Coming to mile 5 his led continues to grow and when we come to the last brutal hill past the bank to the finish that's when I realized I wasnt gonna win . David finished in 32:30 the same time as Ken did the year before . I finished slower than last year with a 32:48 . I wasnt happy .Very disappointed   . I thought I put in the training . Maybe again to many races . I won 23 that year . I think I raced in 35 that year . Way too many for a serious runner . But I didnt know that then . I coached myself . Thats all I had .. After the race was over David introduced me into joining the Atlanta Track Club Competitive team  and I have been a member since I think  .
 Through the year I continue to race and train and in 1998 the usually preparation for the race . I heard David was coming back to defend his title and on top of that Ken McLeod was coming to . Just great !!! That left me one thing to do was to train harder . I wrote David's name on my mirror to remind me why I need to do that extra mile , interval , hill repeat . I heard Ken wasn't in his best shape at time but would be nice to beat both . For sure that morning both were there and we lined up . From the start we was neck and neck again . Not sure where Ken was but wasn't with us . But here we go again . I remembered what he did last year to me and I was waiting for him to do the same . I told myself if he is plan on doing that little sprint like he did last year I was plan on going with him . We come up on the 2 1/2 mile again where he did his move and I be dang if he didn't try it again this year . I said heck no . Not this time . I went with him . He wasn't shake me that easily . We are battling mile after mile . Coming back to Church St. with the crowd he has a :05 or so lead on me .Crowd yelling like crazy for me to hang on . I had a plan to just sit back and let him think he has me . After mile 5 he has a :10 second lead on me . I can tell this by counting off seconds from land markings . At this point I'm laboring to hang on but still behind him . coming up on 5 1/2 I'm pulling up behind him on the dreadful hill . Soon as we top the hill I'm on him , then 1/4 mile to go I told myself " Feet don't fail me know "!!! I but on this sprint to the finish and I never looked back . Final after the years of hard work and trying to figure out this sport I have finally won my hometown race . Crowd at finish goes wild . Dad and mom has tears in their eyes from seeing their little 130 lb son be the center of attention throughout the day . I finished in 32:12 and David finished 32:30 . An :18 second margin exactly by which he beat me the previous year .I never been congratulated by so many people in my life as I walk around the festival through town with my stain glass award . My family threw an party for me at their house to celebrate . The paper had just about a whole page dedicated to me . As things calmed down for me the past few weeks I got to thinking that I wanted to do more with this race . I wanted the course record set by Jeff Milliman from mid 1980's .I think it was in 84 .
  To be continued ......
 

TarBaby 10k . Part 2

With some races I've been traveling to I started to pack on a lot of wins . I've ran my first sub 16 5k and winning 11 road races in 1995 . I started reading a lot of books and magazines on training and workouts . I met this one guy who guided me into doing speedwork on the track . His name was Eddie Carriolli . He was and good runner but a nut . Collected scrap metal for a living and all he wanted to do is smoke weed . I think is in jail now for armed robbery but if anyone from the day ran races in the area they would know who I'm talking about. A real character . 1996 Tar Baby rolls around . Ready has I have ever been and nervous as ever . I think I hurled before the race due to nerves. At the start I recognized Ken McLeod . A local elite from Macon . I've run against him some and he dusted me quite a bit . I knew I had to run my best race to beat him . The race starts and we went 4:45 for first mile cause of the elevation drop at the first mile but whatever goes down usually has to come back up . We ran neck and neck the whole race . After 4 miles we come back to where the start of the race was and make a run by the crowd waiting at the finish . I never seen so many people on that side of the street and most of them was cheering for me . Adrenaline kicks in and I just try to pull away from him going up Church St. I couldn't shake him . Well coming back up that hill we ran 4:45 on I tend to struggle but i was on him like a tick on a dog . Coming up to the 6 mile I'm hurting and no kick what so ever . He beat me by :03 seconds . I was happy and dissappointed at the same time . Just a weird feeling I suppose . I was happy about that I ran a PR of 32:33 but the losing part you can understand . With the local paper coming out that week I saw my picture in it running side by side with Ken that gotten me excited and more pumped up for next year . I finished out with 14 road race wins that year but not the one I wanted . 1997 came around and running races nearly ever weekend . But my times wasn't getting any better . Was it too much racing and not enough training?? I look back now and say Yes . And then again TarBay comes around. My yearly World Championship . My nerves all gone once again . And I be dang if I notice this one runner with an Atlanta Track Club singlet on . Those guys were known for fast competitive running . I had no idea who he was at the time but David Matherne was his name . An elite from Cartersville , Ga.
To be continued ......

TarBaby 10k . Where my passion began . Part 1

For so long I've been wanting to share my little story that got me started into running and never giving up on goals . I've got to share my story today with a couple of friends today and got alittle choked up about it .
Back in 1993 when me and my brother graduated school together my dad told us that we needed a hobby , something to do on our spare time . He mentioned that we can try the Tar Baby 10k out in town. When I was younger we use to love to go to the Dairy Festival for the games and rides they had and I can recall seeing runners go by just 1/4 up the road where they run pass our neighborhood where we lived at. If I only knew what was about to happen several years later. The Tar baby 10k was a well known and popular event back in the 80s for the tough course and when there was only a hand full of races instead of the 100+ a month you have now . People would come to little ole Eatonton to get in a test race in before Peachtree . A few greats have came through this town to run this race . Craig Virgin, Jeff Milliman , Kim Bird , etc . Now today it's known as the Torture Trail 10k cause they changed the name of it due to complaints from the cult " Newabians " of being a racial name for the race . They were threating to boycott if not changed . But so Ken and I trained running around in our neighborhood . I can remember sitting on the front porch after a few beers yelling at me that Ken was going to kick my butt. We had no idea how to train for this let alone how far a 10k was.  Starting in the back of the race that morning we headed out . I don't recall much of the race but only knowing that after 4 miles and seeing the finish line ahead I thought the race was over with but I noticed everyone was turning right ahead of the finish line . Another two miles !!!! I remember coming up the last hill throwing my guts out and finishing in around 46:23. Ken finished ahead of me in around 43:49 . Still today that's the only time he has ever beaten me . He won an age group award and I didn't . It didn't sit right with me cause I trained more than he did and my work didn't pay off . The next few days I went to the Farmer And Merchants Bank where they organize the race . One lady I know well told me how great I did and that I should take up running because I have the body for it . I took up the complement and headed off for some training . I entered a 10k in Monticello and ended up winning it in a sub 40:00 performance with unbelief that I won only running my second race . My dad was there to watch me and I remember him with a tear in his eye as I finished. Well I started hitting some local races but few and I had no idea how to train . The next year came around and was getting ready for TarBaby again . With my whole family there and mom at finish line taking pictures as I crossed . I finished the race in 37:08 and 10th overall and didn't realize till later on that I was off the Putnam County residents course record by :04 seconds. I told myself the record will be mine next year and had my family especially my dad behind me on this . I trained alittle more the next following year but still haven't found my place into what was lying ahead for me . 1995 rolls around with more experience from racing . That year set out to get that record I shattered that by running a 35:18 and getting 3rd Overall !!!!! I was excited about the record but couldn't believe I was 3rd and only 1:30 something from winning . My dad said it would be awesome if I could win this thing . That put the spark in me . My goal was to win this thing and be the first PC resident to win this brutal race .
To be continued ....