I ran the Freezer 5K today in downtown Buffalo, starting near the idle hockey arena, heading to the waterfront, and returning to finish on a very flat and fast course. 

"Freezer" was not in effect, and even "refrigerator" might have been a stretch.  Temps in the mid 40's allowed for shorts and a tech tee.

Pulling into the cobblestone district, I spotted one of the competition, a high school guy named Anthony who has been running 5K's well over a minute faster than he did last year, when I barely out-kicked him at the same race.

After a longish warm up to not start cold in summer gear, we were off with far less ado than normal, which was nice.  Although this is a medium-sized 5K with 5-600 runners, I had room to run right off the line and no traffic to contend with.   An old HS XC teammate of mine took the early lead and no one would touch him; he ended up running a high 15 I believe.  Completely unchallenged and awesomely fast. 

Through mile one I let Anthony set the pace and just rode with him in places 2-3. We picked up maybe 5-6 more runners in a ragged pack as things shook out, including the girl who would go on to take OA female.  Split one was 5:25.

Shortly after that we left the part of the city with buildings and ran a long out-and-back directly on the shore of Lake Erie, where there was a decent breeze.  Anthony and one other guy gradually pulled 30-40 yards ahead of me and wouldn't be caught. Some other folks had dropped back a bit -- I now had a single runner on my shoulder and with the earlier pack dissolved, it would be a battle for 4-5.

Coming back towards downtown, I was very tempted to propose turns at drafting to my shadow, but something told me to show no weakness and just plow though the wind.  As we rounded the last corner in front of the Sabres' arena, he clipped my foot, but immediately apologized and neither of us stumbled much. 

It was now down to a huge flat straightaway to the finish with the wind to our backs.  I really love this part about the course, as the stretch is well over a minute of running but the visual on the chute and clock makes it seem *just... right... there*.

I did not have a blistering kick today, having kept an aggressive pace from the get-go.  But I found enough to hold off my competitor and cross the line in 17:16, setting a new PR in the process, defending my AG title, and getting a box of Cheerios as reward.  (Honey Nut this year, oh yeah! )

As an aside, this morning's beverage was Kenyan tea, just maybe it inspired a bit of extra speed .  (And another aside, I was given a ticket to a video conference with Meb in late February, that should be interesting.)

Dang you're fast! I love reading race reports from speed demons, especially since it's the only way I'll be seeing any speed for some time. So how did the HS guy do? And what place were you over all? Just curious.( EDIT--Oh wait, I just re-read and it looks like you and your shadow dude were 4th and 5th OA? Awesome)

Awesome job keeping up the Age Group win! Was it a full-sized box of Cheerios?

Wow, that's haulin'!  Great job on the PR and AG win!

Congrats on the PR, the AG award, and on defending your title.  Woot!

That is fast.

WOW you are fast! Congrats on the PR, box of Cheerios, and the especially the AG award!!!!!!

Wow, congrats. You are very fast. Was the guy you just beat in your age group? Lucky that neither of you fell when he clipped your foot. I'd love some 40s weather! It's still hot here.