Race Report: A Most Excellent Race 10K
This morning, I went out and ran a 10K race in Cleveland Heights called A Most Excellent Race. It is a great race that benefits a camp run for children with disabilities. For me, it was a sort of milestone as one year ago tommorrow, I ran the previous year's version of this race, and it was the first race I ever ran.
A lot has changed in a year. The best thing that changed between the two races is the weather. Last year's 90 degree temperatures were replaced by 70s. And for the first time, my girlfriend Kristy was also running the race (the 5K version). So those two things alone made me feel pretty good about things before the race even started.
Once it did start, it was a pretty crazy first mile or so as the 10K people had to pass the 5K people & walkers (for some reason, they start the 10K people slightly behind). Once past most of the log jam, I was able to break into a good pace. The course is kind of weird in that it started with about a 1/4 mi moderate hill, followed by gradual downhills for the next 2 miles, before going back uphill again before repeating.
I felt pretty good at the halfway point, though it is always tempting on a setup like that to give up at the halfway point and just finish the 5K. But I kept going. I felt pretty good for the next two miles before the one mile or so climb back up to the finish. I was getting tired then. But I managed to keep going, and was able to pick off another runner, and then one more in the sprint to the finish. I was very happy to come in at 46:54. Almost a 15 minute improvement on last year's time!
Here are the numbers:
Time: 46:54
Pace: 7:32/mi
Overall: 44 of 201
Division (Male 25-29): 4 of 10
I had really hoped to make the top 3 in my division, but alas it was not to be. Interestingly enough, I would have won my division in the 5K if I had been able to repeat last weekend's performance, as the winning time was only 22:57, over a minute and a half slower than my 5K time from last weekend's Ohio City 5K. Oh well. Someday I will place.
Weekly Total: 17.4 miles
Yearly Total: 405.6 miles
A lot has changed in a year. The best thing that changed between the two races is the weather. Last year's 90 degree temperatures were replaced by 70s. And for the first time, my girlfriend Kristy was also running the race (the 5K version). So those two things alone made me feel pretty good about things before the race even started.
Once it did start, it was a pretty crazy first mile or so as the 10K people had to pass the 5K people & walkers (for some reason, they start the 10K people slightly behind). Once past most of the log jam, I was able to break into a good pace. The course is kind of weird in that it started with about a 1/4 mi moderate hill, followed by gradual downhills for the next 2 miles, before going back uphill again before repeating.
I felt pretty good at the halfway point, though it is always tempting on a setup like that to give up at the halfway point and just finish the 5K. But I kept going. I felt pretty good for the next two miles before the one mile or so climb back up to the finish. I was getting tired then. But I managed to keep going, and was able to pick off another runner, and then one more in the sprint to the finish. I was very happy to come in at 46:54. Almost a 15 minute improvement on last year's time!
Here are the numbers:
Time: 46:54
Pace: 7:32/mi
Overall: 44 of 201
Division (Male 25-29): 4 of 10
I had really hoped to make the top 3 in my division, but alas it was not to be. Interestingly enough, I would have won my division in the 5K if I had been able to repeat last weekend's performance, as the winning time was only 22:57, over a minute and a half slower than my 5K time from last weekend's Ohio City 5K. Oh well. Someday I will place.
Weekly Total: 17.4 miles
Yearly Total: 405.6 miles
posted by Brad at 2:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home