Jingle All the Way 5k

Thus starts three straight weekends of races.  W and I are going to the Hot Chocolate 5k in Columbus this weekend, but first I had this fun little race in nearby Ashland.  

The race kicked off Ashland County's Salvation Army Kettle Season, a great cause.  It was a small race at around 40 people or so.  I just stumbled upon this one from RunningintheUSA.com and decided to do it while W had other morning plans.  

We started out from the Kroc Center in Ashland and headed out to one of the main roads.  We stuck with sidewalks throughout most of the race.  That's definitely different than most 5ks but it worked.  A younger runner who looked like he was in junior high or high school took off really fast.  He ran a steady pace the entire way, so I just ran hard to maintain second place.  We made a loop around the Kroc facility on some side streets.  I didn't wear my GPS watch and just ran on feel.  No splits for this one.

I certainly felt the colder air in this one as it was in the high 30s.  We have had a very warm fall and my lungs were protesting the cooler temperature.  Regardless, I felt good and ran hard.  There were just a few hills sprinkled throughout the course with the main one coming roughly halfway through the race.  I dared to look behind me and saw the next group of runners were about 100 meters behind.  I still felt pretty comfortable and let off the gas a bit before flying downhill and back to the main road.  I did indeed finish in second place with a terrific time of 20:00.  

I'm not really taking that time too seriously, as I'm very sure the course was short and came in closer to three miles even.  That still would make for a sub-21:00 for me which is great.  This race served as a nice low-key warm-up for my 60th half marathon, coming up in two weeks.

Next race: Hot Chocolate 5k- Columbus, OH

Wooster Brick Run 25k

This was a fun, low-key race in nearby Wooster.  It has a long history, but is just coming back after a multi-year absence.  I was a bit nervous as I have not run much past 13.1 miles in over three years.  This was a great way to get over the hump due to the friendly folks and low-key style.

The race started at Vertical Runner, a terrific running store.  Oh, and this race was dirt cheap.  $10 got you in (they were also selling race shirts) and you got a $10 gift card to Vertical Runner and $5 to a local restaurant.  Amazing!  We also received a great finisher's medal.  Great organization!  The organizers were looking for runners to finish around the same time so we had a staggered start.  The big "attraction" would be Flickinger Hill, located roughly halfway through the course.  I took off with about half a dozen other runners and began the trek through Wooster.  It's been almost a month since the race, so I'll keep it short.

Miles 1-5: We headed north through town and wound through several city parks.  The weather was absolutely beautiful with temps in the low 50s.  I felt great and headed toward the front of the pack, though this wasn't really a race per se.  There were some hills during this first section but nothing major.  There was a nice long straightaway as we headed outside of town onto some country highways.  The scenery from miles 3-5 was spectacular!  Around the 4 mile mark we passed a small pond in the middle of a wooded area.  I turned my headphones off for a bit and just enjoyed the sights.  There was also a small water stop here, which even included free GU gels for the runners.  Again, this race only cost $10 and they took very good care of us!  I was feeling great and chipping off 8:30 miles pretty easily.  Here are the splits for the first five: (1) 8:30, (2) 7:30, (3) 7:54, (4) 7:29, (5) 8:08.

Miles 6-10: We continued on country roads, but Flickinger Hill was coming quick.  I've definitely grown as a runner, as I no longer try to power up these huge hills.  I now mix running with light jogging when tacking one of these because it's just as fast as trying to run up the dang thing.  And this particular hill went on forever.  We made our way down for a much faster eighth mile and then headed to a nice city park for a couple miles.  Here are the splits: (6) 7:20, (7) 10:46, (8) 7:32, (9) 9:08, (10) 7:59.

Miles 11-16.2:  We wound back into town and hit an interesting wooded area for a bit of trail running.  The course was very well marked until this point at which I'm thinking a sign got knocked over or something.  I kept running straight but got nervous when I didn't see any signs.  I double backed and found some other runners having the same issue.  We went back and forth a bit until someone realized we were supposed to go up this small hill back to another path.  There were a few very small red flags, but they were very unlike what we had been seeing.  This led to me running a bit more than 25 kilometers, which was fine as I enjoyed getting the extra mileage.  We headed out of this area and went south toward the College of Wooster.  Again, I got nervous when I didn't see any signs for close to a mile and finally saw one leading to the campus.  This was a very pretty section that I really enjoyed.  We ran through the middle of campus and continued heading south the the finish.  I was still feeling incredibly good and came across the finish in 2:13:11.  This was good enough for 24/106 overall, though I did get a bit of extra mileage out there.  Here are the final splits: (11) 8:02, (12) 9:38, (13) 8:04, (14) 7:36, (15) 7:43, (16) 8:27.

Averaging 8:34 per mile while running 16.2 miles is pretty darn good for me.  Factor in the slow section in the woods and Flickinger Hill and I ran a very solid race.  Another ten miles would be a lot, but I feel like I could run a solid marathon if training goes well.  I'm considering this for next year.

W really enjoyed herself at this race.  Wooster is a small town but it has some really cool stores and restaurants.  She enjoyed the Sure House Coffee Roasting Company located next to the running store.  I got a latte there after the race and it was fantastic!  She also took in some local shops and a small farmer's market.  This isn't the best race to watch the runners but it's excellent for shopping.

Next race: Jingle All The Way 5k- Ashland, OH