UPDATE on March 12, 2009: We just received official word that Julian will start the 2009 Cap10K with the elites!
![[ Photo of Julian, wearing a race bib ]](http://www.danielnorton.com/gojulian/images/_MG_5899_400x600.jpg "Julian, before the ep5K in Houston on January 18, 2009")
This photo is of my younger son, Julian, who just registered for the Statesman Capitol 10,000 (Cap 10K) race, which will be on March 29, 2009. Big races have chips that show your time from the start line to the finish line, but for competition results, the official start time isn't when you cross the start line, it's based on when the race starts, i.e. the "clock time" or the "gun time." At huge races such as the Cap 10K, it can take several minutes for all 11,000 runners to cross the start line, so competitors prefer to start towards the front.
The best competitors, the "elites," are allowed to line up at or near the starting line and they start at the official start time (or within a few seconds). The Cap 10K organizers allow anyone who has completed a recent 10K in under 38 minutes to start with the elites. Julian, however, only just started racing long-distance in September, and he has never raced that distance. But he has made tremendous progress and he's aiming to finish the Cap 10K in under 36 minutes. Even if he doesn't do as well as that, he would likely finish among the top 5 in his division (Men, ages 16-19).
But he can only finish that close to the top if he starts with the elites.
So, the plan is to ask the race organizers to review Julian's progress, which I believe clearly demonstrates that if Julian were to race today, he'd finish in about 37 minutes, considerably faster than the formal 38-minute cutoff.
Julian's Race Results
![[ Graph of Julian's actual races with theoretical 10K times shown crossing lines at 39, 38 and 37 minutes ]](http://www.juliannorton.com/julian_norton_running_history_normal.png "Julian's theoretical 10K race times")
The graph above shows theoretical 10K race times based on results from Julian's actual races. The "Theoretical 10K Time" isn't just a simple multiplication of the the shorter race's time, but it's based on a proportionately slower average pace. Even though he doesn't technically qualify for the elite start, the chart indicates that he could qualify if there were a race today. But more importantly, it shows that he's on a dramatic arc of improvement. His goal of 36 minutes is ambitious, but he has demonstrated that he's capable of working hard at it. For me, not knowing for sure is half the fun, so I'm looking forward to finding out.
The table below shows Julian's actual race results, starting with his first long-distance race in September and ending with a 5K in Houston last Sunday (where he finished 4th in the M16-19 division) and the theoretical 10K race time. These are all competitive races.
I'm convinced that Julian should be able to start with the elites. Let's hope the organizers think so, too!
Julian, starting the ep5K in Houston on January 18, 2009.
(He finished 17th overall, 4th in his age division.)
![[ Screenshot of Google search results ]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M3DObvd7wVM/SYRld4NbxOI/AAAAAAAAVuQ/fzo8NO_3vpw/s400/google_bug.png "Note \"This site may harm your computer\" about its own site.")
This is a screen snapshot of a Google search I did this morning. Google was working fine only moments before, but then all search results started displaying “This site may harm your computer.” The links were directing to a warning page instead of the named site and later the warning page itself wasn't working, instead forwarding to a page that read “Forbidden. Your client does not have permission to get URL ...”
![[ Graph of Julian's actual races with theoretical 10K times shown crossing lines at 39, 38 and 37 minutes ]](http://www.juliannorton.com/running_history.png "Julian's theoretical 10K race times")
