STROLLER DERBY: Payne, 6-month-old son win Crazy Socks 8K
Jun. 15—INOLA — If it is a small-town road race in the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, you can usually bet on Brandon Payne finishing on top.
That was the case Saturday morning when he won the Crazy Socks 8K Run for St. Jude Children's Hospital for a second-consecutive year, but this time he wasn't alone. Payne and his 6-month-old son Brady, who was snuggly buckled in a jogging stroller, crossed the finish line together in 29 minutes, 18 seconds to win the 40th edition of the 4.97-mile race that started and finished at Inola Elementary.
The father-son duo gapped second-place finisher Thomas Ehrnleitner of Austria by nearly five minutes (34:12).
Despite pushing a baby in a stroller, Payne's time was only 1:22 slower than his dominating performance in 2021 (27:56).
"Thankfully, Brady most of the time — unless he's hungry — does pretty good," said Payne, who registered under his son's name before topping the 48-runner field. "I don't think he said hardly one word the whole time. He either fell asleep or just looked around, so it was good. I got a little view here that I can roll up and see him, and he's got sunglasses, and sometimes when he gets antsy he tries to take them off and eat them, so I had to watch that. He did pretty good, so I was thankful. I didn't know if I'd have to stop and tend to him or anything.
"We saw a turtle, and I said, 'Look, Brady, a turtle!' But I don't think it fazes him yet."
Prior to Saturday's race, Payne had run only four times with his son. The first outing was a 5-miler on May 29 in their Owasso neighborhood, though they have gone as far as 9 miles together since then.
The Paynes logged their final race-week workout last Wednesday, covering 4 miles at a tempo effort of 6:18 per mile.
"We've dedicated Sundays as family 'easy' days, so I'll do an easy 5 miles with him, and my wife bikes alongside of us in case something is wrong," Payne said. "We've done that the past couple of weeks; he's just now old enough to actually get in the stroller. He has good neck muscles, so I'm not like hurting him or anything."
Payne planned to run the race conservatively, but as many young parents learn, plans often change when babies are involved.
Luckily for the Rogers State University cross-country and track alum, this change was a welcome one.
His goal was to average 6:30s, but after running through Mile 1 in 5:53, he decided to continue pushing the pace. Ehrnleitner matched the move but eventually succumbed to the heat and humidity, allowing Payne to pull away for another easy victory.
"It wasn't really windy, and (the course) was relatively straight," Payne said. "With stroller running, turning really takes it out of you. We were able to keep it straight, and that was the good part. We did have a pretty bad railroad track I had to slow down on twice, and obviously the turnaround. At the turnaround I was 15 seconds under (goal pace), so I was like, 'OK, it's possible. We'll pick it up a little bit.' I just felt good and kept going.
"(Ehrnleitner) was relatively close, but I try not to look back and just focus and act like he's right there. When I got to the turn, I had a little bit of a gap on him."
