Track and Field Blogs - RunDMC

Mammoth Cox is back by popular demand and without the help of Enzyte or any other performance enhancers. Well, at least it was popular with me and the little woman. We are back in Mammoth for a summer of running, biking and hiking. Now a week in, I am feeling pretty good with the altitude. Tuesday I went to the High Sierra Striders workout for some 400s to get ready for the Mammoth Freedom Mile. I was reasonably quick, but definitely feeling the lack of O2. People actually remembered me from last year and didn’t seem annoyed that I had come back.

Saturday morning a friend and I jogged over to the start of the mile race. I pointed out a few of Mammoth’s Olympic runner types as we got there. I felt a little tight in the calf, but did a good warm up with strides to decrease the chances of injury, changed into my racing flats and got to the start. Deena rang the bell and we went flying down the road. I immediately knew I was out too fast and backed off as the lead pack started to gap me. Like a dying comet, pieces started flying off the lead group and it splintered and spread apart. I dodged the cosmic chunks as I hit the halfway mark in 2:31. The next 250m or so is slightly uphill and believe me, at 8000ft you feel it. I thanked God as I crested the rise at Grumpy’s and started the downhill 600m to the finish. I had gone out a bit too hard and could not manage anything resembling a kick but held on for a solid finish of 5:06.6 for 12^th place. My other brother Josh Cox (not really) won with a new course record in 4:21 (Good God!). Ryan Hall’s dog beat me by 25 seconds. Ryan probably took it a little easy to keep from killing the dog and finished in 4:41, only slightly faster than his Marathon pace. I am not a has been. I am a never was, so I am pretty happy with my race. The altitude is worth about 10 sec so I’ll call it a sub 5 minute mile equivalent at age 39. Check out the Freedom Mile Results Here

After the race and several minutes stooped over gasping for something to fill my lungs that would stop the burning in my throat and thighs and the spots in my vision, I regained full consciousness. I watched other people finish, cooled down and went to the Pancake Breakfast of champions. Then the July 4 parade started. It is a blast and everyone in town comes out to line the streets. I hung out with some of my friends and got to meet Meb and talk to him for a few minutes.

For the afternoon we took the bus up to the Horseshoe Lake and biked down the Mammoth Rock Trail. Free downhill mountain biking is hard to beat. A cookout by the pool and fireworks at Lake Crowley filled up the evening. Today I did an easy run that was supposed to be long, but my calf hurt so I cut it short. I saw Josh Cox and Dan Browne (not the author) out running. Seeing an Olympian on your daily run is not unusual while cruising spectacular trails in Mammoth. It’s going to be another great summer.

Feel free to leave comments, advice, insults or jokes below.