Ken Larsen’s web site - Jogging

 

I’ve been an avid jogger since 1978.  In my early jogging years I ran in numerous 10 kilometer races and three marathons.

 

Personal records:

Distance

Time

Time/mile

Date

Comments

Marathon (26.2 miles)

3:35:29

8:14

Jan 3, 1981

Charlotte Observer Marathon

10 kilometers

40:48

6:34

June 21, 1980

 

5 kilometers

19:38

6:19

June 13, 1980

On a track

1 mile

5:33

5:33

June 29, 1979

On a track

 

After a hiatus of many years I resumed racing to a limited extent in 2002 at the suggestion of a friend, Stacy.  She and I entered that year’s Familias del Pueblo 10K road race in Carrboro, NC.  I finished in 56:19 – 14 minutes slower than my prime racing times and almost six minutes behind Stacy’s 50:37.  That motivated me to enter some more races and improve my training - to recapture my lost youth.  As my 2004 and 2005 times reveal, I’ve improved a bit, but I’ve still got a long ways to go.

 

Races ran in 2002:

Distance

Time

Time/mile

Date

Location

10 kilometers

56:19

9:05

Sept 7

Carrboro, NC

10 kilometers

54:44

8:49

Nov 16

Raleigh, NC

 

Races ran in 2004:

Distance       

Time

Time/mile

Date

Location

5 kilometers     

27:22

8:49

April 17

Chapel Hill, NC

10 kilometers

52:46

8:30

Oct 2

Carrboro, NC

4 kilometers

20:18

8:10

Oct 30

Chapel Hill, NC

4 miles

36:04

9:01

Nov 6

Duke Forest

 

Races ran in 2005:

Distance       

Time

Time/mile

Date

Location

5 kilometers     

26:14*

8:28

April 9

Chapel Hill, NC

4 miles

32:28

8:07

July 4

Carrboro, NC

10 kilometers

51:22

8:16

Oct 1

Carrboro, NC
4 kilometers 20:31 8:14 Oct 30 Chapel Hill, NC
8 kilometers 41:32 8:21** Nov 24 Carrboro, NC
5 kilometers 27:28 8:51*** Dec 11 Chapel Hill, NC

* -wins 2nd place in my age bracket
** -trained by wearing one pound ankle weights during my eight training runs (two at 4.61 miles; last six at 5.44 miles).
*** -Southern Village section of Chapel Hill.  Very steep hills - one uphill had a 7.2% grade; another near the finish had a 5.9% grade.

 

Races ran in 2006:

Distance       

Time

Time/mile

Date

Location
4 kilometers 21:24 8:36 Oct 28 Chapel Hill, NC
10 kilometers 59:54 9:39* Nov 4 Hillsborough, NC
8 kilometers 43:25 8:44 Nov 23 Carrboro, NC
5 kilometers 27:11 8:46 Dec 10 Chapel Hill, NC
5 kilometers 29:17 9:26* Dec 17 Cary, NC
5 kilometers 26:20 8:29 Dec 31 Chapel Hill, NC on a track
* -I ran this race not for personal time but to help pace a friend named Kathy.  She previously had not been able to complete a 10K without the need to do some walking.  Despite a couple of severe hills, we didn't need to stop and walk.  This pleased Kathy.

Amusing anecdotes:

  • As we approached the finish line I let Kathy pass it ahead of me.  Later we found that only 11 runners had entered the race.  Kathy was 10th; I was 11th.  So, "Kathy finished in the top ten, and I finished dead last." 
  • During the race Kathy wore a Garmin Forerunner 301 GPS device.  It did a marvelous job of keep tracking of distance covered, pace, and beeped at each mile marker.  I was so impressed with that device that I bought one for myself and also bought 200 shares in Garmin (stock symbol= GRMN) ... total cost:  almost $ 10K.  So the Hillsborough 10K really was a 10K for me - It cost me $ 10K.

 

Races ran in 2007:

Distance

Time

Time/mile

Date

Location

 Notes

5 kilometers

25:48

8:18

Feb 17

Chapel Hill, NC

 According to my Garmin the course was 0.10 mile short.

5 kilometers

 26:47 8:37 March 24 Carrboro, NC  
5 kilometers 26:27 8:32 April 28 Durham, NC  
5 kilometers 28:30 9:12 June 9 Raleigh, NC  
4 miles 33:42 8:26 July 4 Carrboro, NC  
10 kilometers 54:58 8:51 Oct 6 Carrboro NC  
4 kilometers 20:49 8:23 Oct 27 Chapel Hill, NC I win 2nd place in the 50-59 age bracket.  Overall I placed 105th out of 298 finishers.  I was also the oldest runner by 3 years.
8 kilometers 42:46 8:36 Nov 22 Carrboro, NC  

 

Races ran in 2008:

Distance

Time

Time/mile

Date

Location

 Notes

5 kilometers

27:24

8:50

April 26

Durham, NC

  
4 miles 35:05 8:46 July 4 Carrboro, NC  

 

The erosion of time

Here are my times for various track events in 1979-1980 and 2008:

Distance

1979-1980 best

2008 times

100 meters

14.8

20.1, 20.3, 19.5, 19.6
200 meters 30.2 39.6, 38.78
400 meters 1:07.5 1:33, 1:28:65, 1:28.75, 1:30.13
800 meters 2:30 3:40, 3:24, 3:36
1500 meters 5:20 7:26, 7:04, 6:57, 7:02
mile 5:33 7:56, 7:51, 7:35, 7:59
3000 meters 12:09 16:38, 16:04, 15:54, 16:14
5000 meters 19:38 27:29, 28:14, 28:17

All times were as a participant in the Carolina Godiva Track Club summer track series.  I recently rejoined their club after an absence of 28 years.  They hold a track meet every Wednesday evening through August 6th.  I intend to participate every week.  It'll be interesting to see if I can close the gap between my current times and those of 28 years ago.

 

When I’m not training for a race I usually jog at a 10 minutes/mile pace on a 4.6 mile course near my home and stop to pet a white cat named “Snowball” at the 4 mile mark.  Snowball comes when I whistle for her.

 

In 1980 I averaged 37 miles per week or 5.3 miles per day.

In 2004 I jogged 746 miles – an average of 14.27 miles per week or 2 miles per day.  

In 2005 I jogged 880 miles - an average of 16.88 miles per week or 2.4 miles per day.

In 2006 I jogged 780 miles - an average of 14.96 miles per week or 2.1 miles per day.

In 2007 I jogged 876 miles - an average of 16.80 miles per week or 2.4 miles per day.

 

Ken Larsen’s home page