Strides 5K

Sunday, October 7, 2012

5K - 17:40.  1st overall.  A new PR, by 9 seconds!  Results here.

 

Race start: 
Left:  my boys on either side of me, plus neighbor Jonny in front round out Westerly contingent
Right:  Slowly, but surely, the WTAC singlet clad running team is growing!

Mile 1:  From the gun, a half-dozen or so youngsters sprinted out in front of me.  Put them behind me 200 yards out, and now just had to contend with the guy I could hear right on my heels.  Dang.  About 1/2 mile in, he came right up next to me and then I could see him:  a 20-something runner.  We ran shoulder-to-shoulder through the first mile at 5:40, and then I tried to focus to listen to which of us was breathing harder as the best indicator I could think of.  Good, it was him!

Mile 2:  Into the 2nd mile, there was a slight uphill (more of a speed-bump compared to anything on Nipmuck!) and that was enough for him to drop a few paces behind me.  Kind of like what happens to me when Jonny and I go up a hill!  At a 90-degree angle I glanced back and saw him still hanging about 100 yards behind me now.  Back on to the main road and now 2-way running traffic, it was hard for me to run the tangents with so many runners (200+ field size) coming at me.  Some mangy looking guy was weaving and crashed into me!  The cop car got stuck in traffic, cars and runners, so I went around him until he put on his siren and got back ahead of me to clear a path.  Finished mile 2 in 5:54, kind of normal for me drop a bit slower the 2nd mile, but I also wonder if the traffic-jam added a few seconds for me.

Last turn before the finish
Photo courtesy Beth Eckel

Pouring it on close to finish
(Thanks to Jana for photo)

Mile 3:  Getting tired.  With about 1/2 mile to go, a spectator yells to me that the 2nd runner is 50 yards behind me and closing.  I was hoping for an easier cruise in, but time to kick it in with all I have left.  As I turned into the entrance to Camp Harkness, I wanted to look back but knew I shouldn't waste the effort so I just poured it on.  17:40 finish!  Final mile 5:39; 1/10 portion 5:04 pace. The 2nd guy finished almost a minute back; my guess is I lost him when I kicked it in starting 1/2 mile back.

Final steps before breaking the tape

In 4th place overall, my hero of the day:
Matthew kills his PR and goes SUB-20!!!
(Final time 19:50, overall pace 6:24)

I got the biggest chuckle when I went to see the posted results, and two guys in front of me were looking at the results, as one said to the other, "The guy that won ran 17:40, and check this out, he's 48 years old!".  Ha!  Ha!  I know Father Time is coming to get me one of these days and slow me down, but ...   Today is not that day!