243rd Place Never Felt So Good

For eight years the Campbell Family 10K record of 51:19 has stood. Robin set that mark at the 1997 Turkey Trot in Fort Worth. For 8 years she has held that over my head. She has tormented me at family gatherings, mocking me as she proudly proclaimed my annual Thanksgiving Day failure. My children were embarassed to be seen with their father in public, and would ritually deny accusations that the chicken-legged man with the pot belly running around the ACU campus was a member of their family. My mother and father had even boarded up the door to my old bedroom, unable to cope with their son's repeated failure.

But on the morning of November 24, 2005, my children were once again able to look their father in the eye...and my parents proudly found their crowbar. For this past Thursday that large Kong-like monkey was removed from my back. I, Chris Campbell, am now the proud Campbell Family 10K record holder...with a "blazing" time of 49:32.

Robin was standing about 50 yards in front of the finish line. Earlier that morning she had run the 5K (a tremendous feat for a mother of three who just 9-weeks earlier had given birth and has to make time to workout around the pandemonium in our house). She stepped off the curb and yelled at me as though she was going to trip me in an attempt to maintain her record. But being the true competitor she is, she conceded the Campbell Family title.

After the race, when I was able to stand up, she raced over to congratulate me...then proceeded to tell me about the 242 people who finished in front of me. The list included...

-188 Men

-54 Women

-32 of the Men were 50 or older...including a 66-year (45:37) and a 68-year old (49:09)

-6 of the Women were 50 or older...including a 68-year old woman that ran in 41:48!

-A 13-year old girl (45:30) and a 13-year old boy (47:23)

Another 50-year old lady almost beat me...but I kicked her legs out from under her right at the 6-mile mark. That'll teach her!

Now if they'd just come up with a medal or a trophy for 243rd place I could die happy!