Notes
Canton Fall Classic - 5K Race. I race this race a couple of times in high school. The race has a 5K and a 10K, the 10K usually being the more competitive one although the 5K usually wins with a low 16. Still in recovery mode, I opted for the 5K (I've also done the 10K a couple of times in recent years).
Got to the starting line and saw what looked like a couple of fast guys in the 5K bibs. Gun went off and I jumped out to the usual 5K starting pace (trying to avoid going out in a sprint but also not putting myself in a hole being to slow). For the 5K I usually try to get a fast first mile (5:10) and would love to hold that throughout to get the 16:00 but as expected that never usually happens. Today, within the first half mile I was alone in front. it meant either I was really setting myself up for a blowup or there just wasn't going to be a pack. I was a bit nervous but avoided the temptation to check my watch. I wanted to run today off feel again, only checking my times at the 1 and 2 mile marks. First mile came in at 5:14 on a relatively flat (perhaps slight decline) mile, a few seconds slower than I had hoped but alone and solo in front.
Mile 2 is mainly climbing. The grade of the hills aren't too bad, just a lot of them and pretty steady. Around 1.3 miles in I took a rare glance back after I had made a turn and saw a pretty comfortable cushion of at least 10 seconds but the hard part of the course was still ahead. The rest of the mile wasn't as bad as I thought it would feel over the inclines. I slowed a little but nothing drastic. I wasn't sure how close second place was and had stopped looking back, so I just pushed hoping to avoid another collapse like providence. As a side note, I saw Carlos at the starting line (him, his wife, and two kids - being pushed by mommy in a double stroller were doing the 10K) and I think the last time I race with him was at Providence. I could only hope this wasn't an omen. Mile 2 ticked off at 5:17, which given the course profile I was happy to take.
The third mile is fairly flat, perhaps a little incline towards the start but relatively flat otherwise. The challenge today was a headwind over the last 1.25 miles. On a calm day, this should be a nice fast closing mile. Today, I was feeling it hard and hoping that I wasn't on the verge of being passed. The crowd wasn't much help, the few out there weren't really cheering so I couldn't really base distance off time between cheers. I just tried to grind best I could and hope to ward off attackers. I kept a close watch on the couple of traffic lights ahead knowing that once I got past the second one, it would be a short distance to the driveway entrance and then another 25 yards to the finishing chute.
I was tiring quickly and don't know how much of a kick I would have had if I needed it, but I rounded the corner into the finish line without hearing anyone from behind and came out with a surprise win. I approached the timing mat seeing the clock tick off 16:10...16:11...16:12 and put in a little surge to try to best my PR of 16:16, which in theory the race results had me finishing 16:15.6. A quick look at my watch confirmed the time but unfortunately showed 3.08 as the distance. GPS watches aren't perfect, but mine rarely comes up short on distance. My guess is the course was perhaps 10+ seconds short? I would have believed the results over my watch a little more if mile 3 didn't come in around 5:22 (again assuming the GPS was on target or long). Website notes that the course is accurately measured, but a quick look at the USATF website does not list it on the certified courses in Canton. Still, it's a time I am happy with and the fastest race since coming back from injury. Even if the time needed to be adjusted for distance, it still would have been faster than Bernie's and Paddy's (both 3 milers). Perhaps with some other runners pushing me over the last mile, could have possible had a legitimate 16:16 on a true 5K course.
After crossing the mat, was able to find my parents and James (my parents still live in Canton and we able to relieve Liz of racing with the BOB). I waited and waited for second pace, curious how close he was nipping at my heels. But he never came. Second place finally arrive a solid 1:25 after I crossed the line, which is surprising because there are many years where top 3 are sub 17:00 at this race. The 10K definitely gets the more serious runners but the 5K usually gets a few fast guys. Going against the Mayors Cup doesn't really help either. Overall, it's a really well organized race, definitely directed by people who are runners. It's too bad the competition isn't as tight this year. Some of the course records are pretty good for a local race with some familiar names (5K - Josh Ferenc - 15:22, 10K - Dave Dunham - 30:12, $500 bonus going forward to break Dave's CR). They also had Blue Hills Brewery giving out free beer samples after the race in 12 ounce cups, which I overheard at the end that they had too much left over beer. Granted this isn't your party type of race but was nice to throw back a free beer without a line.
1 CHRISTOPHER KLUCZNIK 780 32 M 1 Top Fin 16:15.6 5:14/M
2 MARK HEWITT 818 24 M 2 Top Fin 17:40.1 5:41/M
3 JIM NORCOTT 743 29 M 3 Top Fin 18:18.6 5:53/M
4 PETER STEINBERG 599 40 M 1 40-49 18:19.7 5:53/M
5 JOSEPH PIKE 696 27 M 1 18-29 18:27.9 5:56/M
43 ELIZABETH KLUCZNIK 781 32 F 4 30-39 24:06.8 7:45/M