Niantic Jingle Bell 5K 2022

 

Niantic (East Lyme), CT

Saturday, December 10, 2022

This was my 2nd straight year running the Niantic Jingle Bell 5K.  Last year I ran it in a PR-tying 17:32.  Thus my singular goal of this race would be to run 17:31 or less.  Matthew offered to pace me and use this as a workout for him.  I thought the best course of action for me would be to attempt 5:35/5:35/5:45 splits, for a target of about 17:28 including the last 0.11 miles.

Santa and Mrs Claus were at the start,
while I was running a few strides
(Note the electronic tolling kind of chip readers overhead at
start, instead of the more common timing mats on ground.)

It's not a pancake flat course at about 140' of elevation, as there are several 30' hill climbs, but nothing more.  The overall winner, a polite 15-year old kid, led from wire to wire and was quickly out of our way.  There was another 20-something right around us for most of the race, and for the first mile I'd sometimes be next to him or just behind him.  

And we're off.  The winner is on far left in
white singlet, but the first few rows are filled
with a number of overexuberant kids who
will fade out in the first 1/4 mile or so.

For the first mile, and the first mile only, I was able to keep up with Matthew's pacing.  Mile 1 split 5:28.  So far, so good.

Mile 2 is where the wheels came off the wagon.  Matthew was consistent in his pacing, but I could not hold the pace.  The toughest was the 1/4 mile along the water leading to the cone turnaround.  We headed into a 15 mph headwind and although Matthew said to tuck in behind him, I really needed a much fatter pacer than him.  I could feel myself slowing in the headwind.  At the cone turnaround, I need a wide space to negotiate and typically come in on the far right side of the road, go CCW around the cone, and exit on the far right side returning.  Only this time there was a water stop and tables adjacent to the cone, further reducing the radius of the circle I could make.  Probably lost five seconds there.  Mile 2 split 5:46.  Not good.  Can I run a 5:35 final mile to make up for it?  With a 30' final uphill and mostly into the wind?  Not happening.

Just before finish

While resolved to my fate of not getting a PR, I still pushed as fast I could on the 3rd mile, but the results were even more disappointing, as that final split was a 5:53.

Final result:  17:44.3, 4th overall of 1,114, 1st of 92 in age group.  Full results here.

Well, I did not get my PR, not even close.  But unlike the Big Steps 5K, I knew a PR wouldn't be happening halfway into the race, whereas at Big Steps, at Mile 2 I falsely assumed it was "in the bag".  There is also a decent chance that this is a slightly short course.  It's not a certified course, and many got less than 3.11 on GPS.  Last year I got 3.08 and this 3.11, but for a road course with 15 90-degree turns and one cone turnaround, I really should be getting 3.14 or more.  How could I really possibly run the tangents perfectly?  So maybe it's better I didn't PR?

Brady with my age group award.  Or maybe Matthew's.
He doesn't seem very impressed.

The winner came through in 16:34.  I was really impressed that after I finished over a minute later and three places back, he came up to me and congratulated me.  I don't think a lot of 15-year olds would come up to someone almost four times their age to congratulate them.

Team WTAC today

This ends my road racing for the year.  Likely the next 5K I will run is the PLR Shamrock 5K, a certified course with about 50' of total elevation gain, 7 90-degree turns, and no cone turnarounds, in New Haven on March 5.