Tampabay Lightning 6th Annual Bolt Run (Read 468 times)

6th Annual Bolt Run Today was a beautiful day for a race; mostly sunny, around 65° at the 8am start and low humidity. What a difference between a huge race like Gasparilla and a small race like this one. It seemed a little disorganized, but the start went off without a hitch. It wasn't chip timed, but the field for the 5k was so small that I crossed the start line within 5 seconds of the start. The race begins right in front of the Ice Palace (I'm old school, I still can't bring myself to call it The St. Pete Times Forum), loops around the building under the plaza, hangs a left on Channelside Dr and heads out to Bayshore Blvd. You head out on Bayshore and the turn around point is a couple of kilometers along. Bayshore Blvd is always a great place for a run; you've got cool looking mansions on one side and a great view of Tampa Bay and downtown Tampa on the other. I was able to accomplish my goal of sub 30 minutes. I finished in 28:37, almost 5 minutes faster than my last 5k time. I started out a bit fast I think, but settled into a good race pace in the first mile or so. It was a little difficult to figure out my pacing because I didn't know the course before hand and the splits weren't really marked. They did have volunteers calling out times as we ran past, but the guy at the 2 mile point was the only one that said what distance had been covered. Up to that point, I had no idea how I was doing in relation to my goal. I passed him at 18:16 or so and knew at that point, barring any injury, that I'd be able to meet my goal. It was also a bit of a psychological boost to know that I was 2/3 done with the race. I felt pretty good in the last 1.1 mile and it certainly helped that the last half block to the chute was a downhill slope. All in all, it was a fun race and a different experience than a larger one. I'm very happy with my time and improvement; I can't wait for my next race. I just have to decide what distance I want to do and in which race to do it.

Hi! Nicely done! Count yourself blessed...I do. I lived in Tampa Bay from 1996 til July 2006 when my work took me to Greenville, NC. Last year, I worked at The University of Tampa and got to run Bayshore almost daily....what a most gorgeous running route! If you don't run it alot, please start...for those of us who no longer can. Oh yeah, I did the Gasparilla Half last year and plan to come do the full next year. Has to be done! PS. I was in the RBC Center last night when the Lightning beat the Hurricanes!!! Let's Go Lightning!!! And, yes, it will forever be the Ice Palace!!!

...I was able to accomplish my goal of sub 30 minutes. I finished in 28:37, almost 5 minutes faster than my last 5k time. .

Wow! That is a great improvement! Congrats! Btw, I love animals...They're delicious!

Great race! Way to bust that 30-min barrier. And BTW, at least 3 animals were cooked in the making of my dinner tonight ...