Notes
This is the race I'd been targeting in my training this summer. Weather could have been better. It was 73 when I left the house this morning and humidity was 98% - oof. It's an out and back course on a dead straight road. Elevation net's flat over the first mile, second mile is a long downhill, accordingly, the third mile is tough. You're not close to the end, the elevation is gaining, etc.
A lot of local high school runners at the start, plus plenty of other fast guys -for a local race - it's a big one, 509 runners.
Gun goes off, a lot of folks blast off, I'm trying to find a comfortable pace, the weather seems to be making that difficult. Through to the end, I never really felt like I was in that "comfortably-hard" place. It just felt all out from the gun. Stuck with Sean, whom I expected to finish behind by a small margin. We make our way past the over-zealous through the first two miles. Hairpin turnaround to start the third mile. Here comes the uphill, Sean falls off my shoulder a bit. I'm thinking he's saving for mile 4. I try to concentrate on keeping decent form, not sure that worked, just kept thinking "you're over halfway there." I wanted to be done.
I gain on a few high schoolers through to the end of 3. I passed maybe five guys through there. Two of them returned the favor in the last mile. Mile 4 flattens, I hear footsteps behind me, pick it up. Attempt a kick with a quarter to go, fizzle a bit until the last 25 yards when I hear another set of feet on my back, pushing with whatever I have, we cross the line shoulder to shoulder, but if there would've been a camera there, he had me by a nose. Good for him - little punk, seriously nice finish for the kid though, he was a ways back with even a quarter to go, so he kicked well and nabbed 20th OA.
My chest was heaving for a good few minutes, my wife had that look on her face like, "are you gonna pass out?" I haven't been that whooped at the finish of any of my other races this summer. So while my form and composure slipped and my time could have been better in more favorable conditions, I do feel like I ran as well as I was capable of at this point in time.
My goal was to be sub 25, which may have been a bit soft based off my recent 5k times, but I knew the weather and the course weren't sub 24 conducive, so I set a more manageable goal for myself.
I took 21 OA, third in my age group. The field was tougher this year than last (which I didn't run). Same time last year would've been good for first in AG, and 13 OA.