This small race was held in Mt. Gilead which is about a half hour from home. It featured a 10k with prize money, but I knew I wasn't fast enough to compete with the folks running that one. I simply wanted a good, hard 5k.
I got to the race in plenty of time and saw off and on rain in the forecast. It was a bit cooler so I figured this might be a better race than the last few. We headed out to the meager start line and I made my way to the third line of people. There were certainly some fast looking runners and I assumed most were after the prize money, which was more than you would think for a small town race. My GPS watch has been giving me fits and I kept it on the watch function to at least get a sense of my pace. The cloudy day wasn't helping it any.
We headed north before making a turn west about a quarter mile into the race. A lot of people took off at a fast clip and I just tried to maintain what felt good. I figured I started in about tenth place overall, but that's with the 10k runners so I figured I was in the top five for the 5k. We went up some residential streets and into the country for a bit before heading back north for the loop. My first mile clocked in around 6:15-6:20 which was faster than I wanted. But I felt good and tried to maintain that pace.
We continued through residential areas before heading east past the high school. There were two younger runners in front of me and I worked on closing the 50 meter gap between us. My pace was solid and I'm guessing I was around 6:30 or so for the last mile. I was also pretty sure the course was going to be slightly short. Still, I felt really good and was enjoying myself for a change. We made it past the school and started south toward another residential area and the finish. I finally caught the two runners in front of me and made it past them with a half mile or so left. I then turned expecting to see the finish further away and was shocked to see it so close. I guessed the course measured 3 miles even rather than 3.1. I was able to finish strong and hit the finish line in a surprising time of 20:08.
I did go to MapMyRun later to chart the course and it came up to 3.1 miles. For some reason it felt short so I take that as a good sign. I can count it as my fastest 5k for the year and it came on very little training. I did finish 3/34 overall and first in my age group. The only complaint I have is the handling of the awards. Many of us were hanging around after the race. I finally heard, after almost an hour, that awards were going to be mailed out. That's all well and good (and preferred) but better notice would have been appreciated.
My next race will be my 70th half marathon, unless I decide to do a 5k next weekend.
Next race: Heart and Sole Half Marathon- Wooster, OH
No comments:
Post a Comment