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Pre-Race       

Temperatures in the mid-60s. Sunny. A light breeze. The perfect running conditions on a Saturday morning.

A crowd of about 45 gathers outside the Union and Buchanan Hall for the Music in Motion 5k. Around 15 of them are volunteers, while the other 30 are dressed in running attire and do last minute preparations before they embark on a 3.1 mile trek around the OU campus.

Their reasons for coming differ. Some want to prepare for the marathon next weekend in Oklahoma City. Others just like running.

Although their motives differ, they all share one thing: they each paid $30 to run in the race.

According to heyevent.com, the money will go to the music programs at three Moore elementary schools affected by the May 2013 tornado.

One of the runners to pay the $30 to race is Michael Chausses. Wearing sunglasses, a red shirt and black shorts, he stands at the top of the cul-de-sac marking where Asp Avenues ends.

Chausses’ motive for running the race isn’t in the present that day, but rather in the future.

“I ran a 50k last weekend,” says Chausses. “So this is just something to do before the marathon next weekend.”

He patiently waits for the clock to strike 8:30 and the race to start. He explains how he has already stretched and prepared for the race.

“I always get here early,” says Chausses. “I was here at 7:45 and I warmed up for about 10 minutes and stretched, but if there were a lot more people here I would have done more stretching, but I’m just going to stretch out and warm up on the actual course.”

Another runner patiently waiting is OU freshman Luke Zabasky. Zabasky was a cross-country runner in high school and the 5k is his first race since a 15k over winter break.

Like Chausses, Zabasky did not do anything special when stretching and warming up, but according to him he did “do a few sprints to stay warmed up.”

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.

The Union clock tells the runners what they’ve been waiting for. 8:30. Race time.

The Race

BANG

The loud noise signals the start of the race, and the runners are off, heading north on the sidewalk of Asp Avenue.

For experienced runners, the course is a familiar one.

“Every time they have a 5k on campus they use the same course,” said Chausses. “So this is like my home course.”

Reaching Boyd Street, the runners are clustered together as they turn left and make their way towards the north oval. Once they reach the North Oval, it becomes clear that the North Oval doesn’t like clustered groups. Slowly, the pack of runners stretches out.

Chausses is running in the front of the group. He sees only one runner in front of him: Zabasky.

“The first mile is really important because that’s what your positioning is,” says Zabasky.

By the time they turn left, and head south on Elm Street, Zabasky showed that he had a great first mile and holds a nice cushion over Chausses. But a 5k is 3.1 miles long, not one.

“Probably like after a mile I started to hit the wall,” says Zabasky.

The race winds throughout the campus of OU. They pass by the east side of the library. Zabasky leads. They pass by Dale Hall. Zabasky leads. They wind their way around the football stadium. Zabasky leads. But as they reach the 4k marker on the north side of the football stadium, Zabasky says that’s when he noticed Chausses catching up to him. It was going to be a close ending.

Finally they make it back to the street where they started. Running south on Asp Avenue, either Chausses or Zabasky will take first place.

Members of the Pride of Oklahoma stand to the side of the finish line, about to play their instruments.

Meanwhile, Chausses and Zabasky can see the finish line. The run turns into a sprint.

“Boomer Sooner. Boomer Sooner. Boomer Sooner.” Members of the band have started playing.

Zabasky sees only the white tape marking the finish line in front of him. Chausses sees the white tape and Zabasky.

“Oklahoma! Oklahoma! Oklahoma! Oklahoma!”

Zabasky’s lead is only down to a second over Chausses.

“I was Sooner born and Sooner bred, and when I die I’ll be Sooner dead.”

Zabasky crosses the finish line. First place.

Post Race

“Haven’t sprinted in a while,” a panting Zabasky says.

Zabasky isn’t overly excited about the win. He isn’t acting like he just won the New York Marathon.

Meanwhile, Chausses seems happier at running a good race rather than being disappointed at being so close to first.

“I ran a 50k last weekend last weekend so I wasn’t going to be running my best. So I just wanted to come out and check everything out before I ran the marathon,” Chausses says. “So it was just a tune-up.”

Chausses’ feelings could also be because the race wasn’t put on for competitive purposes. Instead, the race was a chance to raise money for schools, while giving runners the opportunity to enjoy themselves.