Brenda Ladun Cancer Run worth the trip

With the completion of the Brenda Ladun 8K Cancer Run, the 2006 racing season began in earnest. Now, the only event standing between the Cheaha Blast (our 5-person Relay Team) and the Mercedes Marathon is next week’s Rickey Harrison 10K in Tuscaloosa.

I’m planning on sitting out the Rickey Harrison 10K and instead focusing on speed work, hill runs and a long trail run this weekend. Any success I may have in fulfilling my portion of the Mercedes — a 5K leg beginning on Homewood’s Valley Avenue and ending on Woodcrest — will be largely determined by focusing on these training runs over the next two weeks.

I viewed the Brenda Ladun event as the first step in preparing for the upcoming season. I finished the 5-mile course in approximately 40 minutes, 50 seconds, which was on target with my pre-race goal. I’m still grappling with the lingering psychological effects of last year’s leg injury, and I felt my goal pace was one that wouldn’t push me too hard and possibly aggravate the tender muscle tissue that is in the process of healing.

This past Saturday was a breezy, cool morning, but a proper layering of race clothing and the usual pre-race adrenalin surge minimized whatever chills the whipping winds could stir. Also, the encouragement of area runners John Moore, Linda Hearn and Brooke Nelson provided a much needed boost to a shaky psyche.

The course was for the most part relatively flat, with the lone exception being a fairly steep section before turning right on Magnolia. One drawback for me relating to this course was the amount of turns, which I deemed a bit excessive. Also, there were a few intersections not manned by law enforcement, leaving a degree of judgement to motorists that is probably not wise when the roadways are saturated with several hundred runners.

Overall, the event was an enjoyable and a charitable one, with the funds going to support a noble cause, The American Cancer Society. And as a proxy for all the males in attendance, I would dare say the sight of meeting the beautiful Brenda Ladun made the two-hour round-trip journey worthwhile in itself.

• Several local racers fared quite well in Saturday’s event. Linda Hearn placed second overall in the female category, finishing with a time of approximately 35:40. John Moore, the Anniston Runners Club webmaster, ran a blistering pace, finishing the race in approximately 35:00. Also, Brooke Nelson completed the event in a shade over 39:00.

• Another area running stalwart, Frank Bowie, sat out Saturday’s event due to an ankle injury. Never one to sit at home and bemoan his fate, Frank was present to cheer on his area mates and vowed to be off injured reserve and running in the near future.

• The buzz leading up to the Mercedes continue to build. Martha Vandervoort informed me that her daughter, Lucy, is flying home from Wyoming just to compete in the marathon event. Martha also told me that her husband, Buddy, is planning on running the half marathon. I wish good luck and a great race to this athletically gifted father-daughter duo.

• I made a decision last week to sign up for the Mt. Cheaha 50K, but only to run a section of the event. Yours truly will bail out at the aid station situated at the 14-mile mark around Adam’s Gap. Hopefully, I’ll complete a longer section of the 50K scheduled at the end of March inside the Oak Mountain State Park.