Basabose Bahati and Erica Schramm Finish First at Fat Boy 5K

Basabose and Erica both had to overcome obstacles but prevailed in the February Championship Series event. For Basabose it meant outkicking masters legend Andrew Duncan, who rarely loses when it comes down to a final sprint. For Erica it meant catching the two dozen, or so, women who started three to six minutes ahead of her.

Basabose had the tougher time of it, and he may have been a bit lucky as well. Andrew had overtaken The Gazelle (so named by his Vegas Running Connection teammates) in the final 100 meters but pulled up just short of the finish line, thinking he was past it. Confusion was caused due to cones placed on the path just ahead of the finish clock, which was the official finish line. No matter. It was a great race by both Basabose and Andrew, finishing with a near-identical time of 16:12.

Basabose’s VRC teammate, Freddy Amon, finished 32 seconds back in 16:44. Erica’s finishing time was 17:23, but with a two-minute head start added, her adjusted time of 19:23 she was still well clear. Erica’s nearest challenger, Jennifer Lee, ran from “gun time” and finished in 21:01.  

All this adjusted time/gun time stuff, of course, resulted from the quirkiness of the Fat Boy event. Donuts before the race? Beer and sausages and a roasted pig? Starting times based on how much you weigh and a Noon start? A porterhouse steak and a pound of butter to the winners? You have to be kidding! Who would run in such a race?

Actually, lots of people! Although the numbers were down a bit from past years, there were still 143 finishers plus a dozen or more walkers. This was the 6^th Annual Las Vegas Fat Boy 5K, a spinoff from the event held annually in Baton Rouge, LA, and inaugurated in 2009 by Kobbe Shaw in support of Big Brothers-Big Sisters and the Las Vegas Track Club Scholarship Fund.

Kobbe has moved on from BBBS (although he did make an appearance that this year’s event) and the event now supports the American Cancer Society, in addition to our Scholarship Fund. With a total announced “take” of around $6000, all for worthy causes, what’s not to love about that?

As for being quirky, that’s debatable. Handicap races, be it by age or weight or gender or whatever, are not such a bad idea for a sport that sometimes takes itself too seriously, in my view.  And “adult beverages” after the race have long been popular and were the rage in the 70’s and 80’s. Donuts and sausages: maybe harder to defend, but who doesn’t love um?  

All in all, there were lots of smiles everywhere and few complaints. The weather was perfect for this time of year, and the Noon start is a winner in my view. (If I recall correctly, they start the Boston Marathon at Noon too!)

Finally, big thanks all around to race organizers Charles Gianelloni and his crew of volunteers who provided the food and prepared it. Delicious! The shirts were great too, as were the mugs (this year they were yellow). And it only came off so well because of John Dixon and his Track Stats crew, who did the timing; and our own Tim Kelly and his crew of volunteers, including Mike Reago, Ryan Young, and Gary Campbell.

(Phil Lawton)