Snowman Scamper 5k/2013 Year in Review

My final 2013 race was an evening run in Findlay.  The Snowman Scamper ran through a small neighborhood on the south side of town and was organized pretty well, except for a course snafu midway through.  Overall, I really enjoyed this race.

We started out at the Findlay Evangelical Free Church, which was nice because we could wait inside the church for the start.  It was probably in the mid-high 20s at race start.  The leaders started out at a fast pace...much faster than the previous week's 5k.  I started out pretty fast, too, but had trouble keeping it in such cold conditions.  The first mile clicked off at 6:52.  Way too fast.  I tucked in behind another couple runners and simply tried to hold their pace until the end.  But then we ran into a slight problem.  We came to a crossing and I saw a few runners coming towards us.  But I knew they weren't the leaders and I hadn't seen anyone else go by.  Then we saw a few runners turn right and a few turn left.  There was no one stationed at this intersection to tell runners where to go.  We stopped for a brief moment until someone ran by and told us where the course was going.   I lost a few seconds here but nothing catastrophic.  A bunch of runners did an extra little loop through the neighborhood and the race director fixed the timing issues as best as possible for those runners.  I kept checking my GPS to make sure we were getting the right distance which we did.  I passed a couple runners at the finish and was thrilled to pull a solid 21:04.  This was good enough for first in my age group and 6/134 overall.  Not a bad way to finish 2013.

2013 Review

Here are some of my highlights from 2013:

• Finally broke 20:00 in the 5k.  New PR of 19:42 set at the Run for the Camps in Findlay.
• Set a new PR of 45:35 in the 10k at the Run the Res in Fostoria.
• I ran my longest trail race to date at the Horseshoe Hill 20k in Zanesfield.
• Added a new race distance by running two 10 milers in Westerville and Columbus.
• Placed in my age group in a half marathon for the first time.  This was at the Park2Park Half in Sheffield.
• Added my tenth state (Pennsylvania) at the Presque Isle Half Marathon.
• Ran my third full marathon at the Akron Marathon.
• 17 races total: eight half marathons, four 5ks, two 10 milers, one 10k, one 20k, and a full marathon
• Total race mileage for 2013: 182

Favorite races of the year:

Capital City Half Marathon- I loved it last year and the improvements made for an even better race this year.  Running Columbus is a blast!  I even improved upon last year's time with a 1:45.

Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon- This race is just as gorgeous as advertised.  It's truly a tough race but well worth the challenge.  The post race atmosphere is tremendous.

Akron Marathon- My performance wasn't quite what I wanted, but there's no denying the greatness of this race.  It has the feel of a bigger marathon, but is so well organized that it doesn't include any of the headaches of a big city race.

Buckeye Half Marathon- Well organized race.  Great Columbia jacket for entering.  The Akron area knows how to put on well organized races!

Run Like the Dickens- This will always have a soft spot in my hear since it was my first ever first place finish.