|
|
|
We have all heard of track athletes being forced to take a drug test after a big race but on June 22, Flying Cascadilla Brother Dwight Galbi became the first runner to ever be forced by officials to undergo a weight test after he placed second in the Congress Avenue Mile.
"Thanks to my recent binging on doughnuts and ice cream I was able to enter the Clydesdale division of this race," Dwight explained. "My goal was to win and run under five minutes."
After sizing up the competition Dwight felt confident that even though he had not done much speed work he would still be able to beat all he runners with beer bellies. These runners comprised a majority of the field. "I knew I only had two guys to worry about," explained Dwight.
The start of the race was extremely fast, with the leaders passing the 400 yard mark in 58 seconds. Dwight's pre-race strategy was to run conservatively and he ran the first quarter mile in 70 seconds.
"I wasn't worried about the fast start," Dwight explained. "I figured that no guy over 200 pounds was going to run a sub four minute mile and the leaders would undoubtedly come back to me."
How right Dwight was. In third place after passing 400 yards, he had moved up to second place by the half-way point in the race., which he passed in 2:25. Then, Mother Nature tossed unexpected variables into the race. Just as Dwight was about to reel in the race-leader, a torrential downpour of biblical proportions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
soaked the competitors and ruined his plans.
"I was running with my glasses on and I couldn't see a thing with all that rain," Dwight said. "I pressed on as best I could but needless to say my concentration went astray, as did my sense of pace."
It was here that Dwight started to fade and he passed the three quarters milemark at 3:48. To make matters worse, the runner he had passed at the half passed him back.
"As this guy started to pull away I was left with the decision that every athlete must face at this moment," Dwight explained. "Do I call it quits and jog in? Or do I fight the pain, summon up some of the courage left over from the days when I was a real runner and go after the guy? It was here I thought of my former high school coach and how much he had cared about me. This memory gave me the strength I needed to respond to this crisis and I went after the guy. I caught him 100 yards from the finish line and then we engaged in a fierce head-to head sprint in which I outleaned him at the tape."
(Continued on page 2)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
