My favorite race of the year. W and I weren't sure we would make it to Xenia this year, but we were able to move some things around and come for the race and our annual trip to nearby Yellow Springs. I'll keep it short since you've seen five other reviews for this race. As I always say, it's well organized, inexpensive ($35), and just a lot of fun. The weather cooperated this year, as we had temps in the mid to high 40s and sunny skies. Perfect running weather.
Let's get to my report:
Miles 1-5: I started out slower than the '15 and '16 races. We headed out from the YMCA through some nearby neighborhoods for a quick mile and a half loop. I felt good and was simply thrilled to be running this one again. I sped up as we got a half mile in or so as I wanted to see what I could do. As I usually say, I had no designs of running a PR. This time I stuck with that strategy and just enjoyed the race. We headed back past the Y for our first look at the bike path. After maybe a half mile on there, we turn back south to run a semi-circle on some country roads. I felt great on the few hills and was knocking out sub-8:00 miles easily. We hit the final downhill as we finished with roads and then headed northeast on the bike path. Here are the splits: 7:29, 7:15, 7:23, 7:15, 7:22. You'll see throughout my review that I ran very consistent times.
Miles 6-10: Not everyone will enjoy this section of the race as it's just bike path, trees, and not much crowd support. I actually enjoy it as it's a great place to just zone out and run. I also feel like the cap size (1,500, I believe) is perfect for this race. I was still feeling good and knocking out consistent splits here. I wasn't passing as many people as last year but I was still passing a lot. We made our way to the turnaround portion near Central State University for about .75 mile before turning around and heading back. This is a great point in the race to see where you are in relation to other runners. I knew I was in a good position as I didn't see many people heading back as I was still heading out. We finally turned back to the original portion of the path for our trip back to Xenia. Here are the splits: 7:33, 7:12, 7:15, 7:17, 7:25.
I actually remember more from this portion than the past two years. I was really straining to get a PR in both '15 and '16 and was half dead when I hit the finish. This year I was running hard but not overexerting myself. The crowd had thinned out and I just enjoyed the run. I might have passed four or five runners during the final 5k. We hit the end of the path and ran back up a city street to the Y for the finish. This last portion is difficult for several reasons. The first is that this street has quite a few potholes. The second is that it's all uphill. It's a difficult stretch. I saw W near the finish and gave her a high five! Then I hit the finish line for a very solid 1:36:57. This was good enough for 60/732 overall. Here are the final splits: 7:25, 7:25, 7:20.
This race never disappoints. W and I had a great time and I hope we can go again next year. I haven't decided on my next race. I'm signed up for the Capital City Half Marathon on the 29th, but I might run a local 5k a week before. My training has been very solid the last few weeks, as Spring is in full bloom.
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