Another 5K Race

I went out to Lakefield this morning to run in another 5K race.  The goal this time, on a route I had never run before, was simply to leave it all on the course.  I was determined to not have any ‘That was great, but…’ comments when it was over.  In that aspect and others it was an absolute success.

I showed up at around 7:30am because I thought the start time was 8:15.  Turns out the start was at 8:45.  I got my race kit and wandered around for a bit trying to keep warm as it was a bit chilly, especially when not in the sun.  During my wanderings I spotted my friend Jenna and her daughter that were also racing.  We chatted a bit and shared our hopes for finish times.

Race time was approaching and I edged my way up toward the front of the corral, the race began and I had to manoeuvre my way out of the crowd.  It took a bit of a sprint to do so, but it was worth the effort, especially since by the time I was able to separate a bit the route was on the sidewalk over the bridge.

It turns out a local triathlon training club was using this race as part of their training and I was following one of their girls for a lot of the way.  She was pretty quick, but I stuck nearby as she was running at a pace that kept me pushing myself for more.  The route was fairly flat only two rises over the whole course as we crossed the bridge each way.  By the time we had run down to the point and back I was one the girl’s heels and closing the gap.

At the 4K mark we were about to cross the bridge on the way back again and I over took her, and then another racer as well.  I rounded the last corner and knew she was just behind me so I picked up the pace a bit more.  When there was about 400 metres to go she just passed me far enough that I could see her in my peripheral vision.  I stepped it up again and so did she.  Over the last 200 metres we were both in a full out sprint.  We crossed the line neck and neck and as soon as it was over I patted her on the back and told her awesome job.  Once she had recovered a bit more of her breath she offered me a low five and told me the same.

According to the official time sheet we were a second apart, but I think it only rounded to the nearest second because it was super close, she just had the edge by a step though.  It was a great push to the end and the result was fantastic.

I finished with a time of 21:20.  In this race that was good enough for 4th in my age group.  I take that in stride this time though as the guy that was 3rd was 25 seconds ahead of me and the #1 place was a guy in my age that finished in like 17:30!!!  The 2nd place guy in my age was also under 20 minutes.  When you are Batman, and you are racing against Barry Allen and Wally West (two of the people that have been The Flash) that come 1 & 2, 4th place is none too shabby.  I was the 9th male and the 12th racer overall.

So far I have been in just  three races, in each one I have been in the top 10 males.  In each of the ones divided by age group I have been 4th.  Pretty good considering I just started running last July.

Summer running me is not as ridiculous as winter running me