Battle of Stonington 5K 2021

Stonington, CT

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

The 2020 edition of Battle of Stonington 5K was one of many casualties lost to COVID-19.  But even before last year, it was a few years before I had toed the start line in Wadawanuck Square.  (Yes, that's spelled correctly, and was the site of the Wadawanuck Hotel built in 1837, which I stayed in during the pre-Civil War years of the race.)  

Pre-race, Jana (who was volunteering and in charge of the water stop) asked me when was the last time I ran Battle.  I had to look that up.  It was in 2017, when I ran an 18:13.  My fastest time here was a 17:58.  I was under no illusions that I could run 17:58, but with a very recent 18:15 under my belt at the final Tom McCoy Family Fun Run of this summer, I thought 18:13 was very possible.  Unfortunately, it was still over 80° at 6:15pm when I toed the line, and as I don't fare well in the heat, that is where I shall assign my blame.

After a warm-up running the 1.55 mile course (it's two loops, plus a few feet) with teammates Nick and Dave, I got into the second row of a sizeable field of about 200.  I lined up directly behind "Money", a young kid with images of currency on his short shorts.  The way he was belting out strides pre-race, I figured it was between he and Nick Migani, who won that last Battle I ran in '17 in a time of 16:48.

Lined up behind "Money", with my WTAC teammates to
my right.  None of us looks happy.  It must be the work that lies 
ahead of us.

Dave gets out early, with Nick Migani to his right.
(The tall guy in white t-shirt in upper left of this pic apparently didn't 
seem to get the word that the race has started and he should go!)
I'm on right in blue cap, partially obscured.

The gun went off and it was a "battle" to keep myself from going out too fast.  Dave went out real hard and Nick just behind him, so I tried at least to keep them both in sight.  As we went down the first slight hill, I remarked to myself on two very young kids ahead of me sprinting out and staying up real close to the leaders.  This cannot last.  Sure enough, by the short time it took to reach Mathew Park, they dropped quickly back.  (A post race inspection shows they were 10 years old and finished 176th.  They are young, hopefully they stay with it and learn the art of pacing.)

A few seconds after race start.
(You can see me about in middle in light blue cap and yellow shoes.)

While it went by fast, I almost already huffing and puffing pretty hard the first mile.  Mile 1 split was 5:34, which is very fast for me at any given 5K, but in retrospect probably TOO fast for me in this heat.  And I just got slower and slower from there out.

I'm guessing the heat was affecting Dave as well, as when we completed the first loop I was gaining on him and Nick was already ahead of him.  I'm not a fan of multi-loop courses as you have to go past the finish and "start all over again" or so it seems to me.

Gaining on Dave towards the end of first loop.
(Pic by Jana, as are all here,
unless otherwise noted)

Now just past him as we start our 2nd loop
(Race provided pic)

I still have a full loop to go,
and my form is already breaking down
(Race provided pic)

The second loop I was really feeling it and my brain was suggesting to me that I cut down side roads and cut the course or just drop out.  Obviously neither would happen, but the fact that I was being enticed was not helpful.  My second mile was 6:06, not terrible on its own merit and I recognize that my second mile is usually my slowest mile of a 5K, but it's still 32 seconds slower than Mile 1!  

Returning past the library near the start of the 3rd mile, I easily pass two kids.  They seem to really be fading.  It's not that I've managed to pick it up in the 3rd mile, but rather, that they are slowing even more than me.  As we round the southern most point on Omega Street, I start to run into the back-of-the-packers.  They have every right to be out there too, of course, but as I try very hard to run tangents in a short race, at a couple of 90-degree turns, I come closer to a couple of them than they would likely have preferred, and one jumps a bit as she says, "Oh!".

I can see the finish line in sight (how's that for redundancy?) as the same two kids I passed a mile back now sprint past me.  Not sure how they have the energy now, but I'm sure not catching them and they're obviously not in my age group anyway.  What's more awkward is I have to run between cars to get to the other side of the street and go through the finishing chute.  Done.  Race over.  It will take me a while before I can catch my breath and actually talk.  Oh yeah, that 3rd mile?  Ugly.  6:21.

Final result:  18:45, 8th overall out of 201, 1st in age group.  Full results here.

I think if I state 6:03 average pace instead of 18:45 finishing time, it somehow sounds more palatable.  But no matter how you slice it, I didn't run a good race and am not happy with the results.  Yes, it was hot, and no, I don't do well in the heat.  But my splits truly reflect just how much I fell apart:  5:34, 6:02. 6:21.

After running an 18:15 5K just a few weeks back, I'd almost like to try another 5K road race this fall to have a shot of redemption.  But my race schedule is pretty busy already.

Ran a cool-down with Nick before getting a couple of slices of pizza while awaiting the awards ceremony.  On a positive note, WTAC really cleaned up on age group awards today!  I miss the old days where age group winners got a bottle of wine, and then everyone got a free drink on the docks of the Dogwatch, but times change and kudos to Jeff Anderson for keeping the race going (all the profits go to charity, not to him or his running store).  Chin up, no sulking on my race results.  Not every race goes well.  I'll be back at this one.

Some of the WTAC team running tonight

Just a few of our age group award 
winners tonight.  At least Dave is smiling here!