Ontario Liberty 5k

This is the second race this year that started and finished at Ontario High School which is about half a mile from home.  I love easy logistics.  The course is the same one from the Childhood Cancer 5k back in May.  It was just as tough as that one as the high for the day was just over 90 and the humidity was awful.

My only goal for this one was to place in my age group.  There are a ton of high school kids at this race with most of the Ontario High runners in attendance.  It's one of the more popular races in Richland County and gets around 150 people each year.  I ran it in 2015, posting a sub-20:00, and last year with W. 

I don't have splits for this as my New Balance GPS watch is really acting up.  It was a clear day and I couldn't get a signal.  Time to replace it.

I lined up for the start in the third row, allowing the kids to have space, and planned to stay in that neck of the woods for the remainder.  We started out going north by the high school and I felt ok.  The weather was going to be a factor, but I started out slow enough to know conk out late in the race.  We hit Milligan Road for the long downhill portion of the race.  I passed a couple younger runners right before the first mile marker.  I believe I stayed in that position for the rest of the race.  This downhill portion also allowed some shade if you ran on the left side of the road.  It made a huge difference!  We then headed for the lollipop loop around the east end of Marshall Park which is a dull stretch.  I did look at my watch for a rough update and saw I was around 14 minutes at the two mile mark.  That's right where I wanted to be as I was shooting for something around 21 minutes at this race. 

Then the hills hit.  I train a lot on this course since it's close to home.  It never ceases to amaze me how this hill seems to take FOREVER.  Ever time it seems to flatten out, another incline starts.  It's not steep, it's long.  I simply maintained my position until we finally made it out and back to the high school.  I was able to kick it in for a nice finish with an overall time of 21:10.  This effort was good enough for 9th overall and second in my age group, which included a nice trophy!

I'm still sticking to my plan of racing less.  One a month, on average, is realistic right now.

Next race: Sweetcorn Festival 5k- Mt. Gilead, OH