Considering how COVID-19 has drastically limited live racing opportunities, athletes are aware they should make the best out of each event they can get to.
At the start of the pandemic, racing was nowhere to be found. Most events canceled and offered a virtual version of a race instead. Then a few racing minds got together and started thinking about ways to offer their professional athletes outlets for in-person competition.
And then -- no crowds in attendance and allowing only smaller fields -- racing for elites surfaced again here and there.
“Nowadays, with how things are, if you go to a race, you better perform," NAZ Elite head coach Ben Rosario said Wednesday over the phone. "You sacrificed a lot to get there, you took all of the necessary precautions.”
There's another layer of pressure these days for athletes, and it comes in the form of gratitude.
“When we are there, we feel great and we are grateful," Rosario said.
Before the actual race, however, there can be some compunction. Why do some athletes get to race and not others? Why can some conduct business while others can't?
“There’s a level of guilt and a level of concern because, look, we are in this thing just like everybody else," Rosario said. "We see the numbers and know they are going up in a lot of places.”
So NAZ Elite has been making the most of their chances. For instance, Lauren Paquette won the Under Armour Sunset Tour Women’s 5,000-meter run in August, when the team was digging deep to race. In October, the team put together a crew of six total athletes -- three men and as many women -- and won the Michigan Pro Ekiden.
And Matt Baxter bounced back from injuries to win the New Zealand Road Race Championships 10K title less than a week ago.
Now, Paquette and Stephanie Bruce will get a chance to race this weekend when they take on the Sugar Run 5K in Memphis, Tennessee.
Normally the Sugar Run, an annual road race that was created to raise funds for diabetes mellitus research, draws hundreds of fans and runners, but this year it will only offer a live race for elites while offering a virtual version for others.
Bruce is coming off a 2:38:28 NYC Virtual Marathon performance, with her time remaining at the top of the women's list of the event that ended Nov. 1. Just two weeks removed from that 26.2-mile run, she's looking to get a live race in against some tough competition on Saturday morning.
“Steph always finds a way to convince me to let her race," Rosario said. "Even though I don’t love racing too much -- I’d like us to hunker down, train and get ready for the big days -- she really enjoys racing. It’s important to enjoy what you are doing, so it’s good that she will have this opportunity.”
Bruce ran the virtual marathon in Camp Verde, following "specific instructions." Rosario said she was instructed to run the first 10 miles at an easier pace, then pick it up for the next 10 miles and really push for the final 10K or so.
Saturday will be a Homecoming of sorts for Paquette, whose husband still lives in Memphis while she stays and trains in Flagstaff with NAZ Elite. In fact, her husband, Max, according to Rosario, is the athlete coordinator for the event, which since its start has raised a quarter of a million dollars for charity.
Rosario said that Paquette's husband wanted his athletes to be in the race and that they would “be good additions to the field and would get fans excited about the event.” The timing worked out pretty well for NAZ Elite, too.
Moreover, there is a $2,000 prize for first place.
Rosario wants his two runners to be aggressive Saturday no matter how the field goes out and not just cruise to a podium finish.
“I think that if we are going to travel all the way to Memphis in the middle of a pandemic, we better be ready to put our foot on the gas," he said.
Bruce and Paquette will be in a field that consists of the likes of Aisha Praught-Leer, a Jamaican Olympian, and Keira D'amato, who is making a strong return to running after having children.
“It’s not going to be a gimme by any means," Rosario said of the race that will be streamed on the Sugar Run Facebook page Saturday morning.
Then again, nothing really feels that way these days.
Mike Hartman can be reached at 556-2255 or at mhartman@azdailysun.com. Follow him on Twitter @AZDS_Hartman.
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