Notes
16:27 off the gun. There was a lot of pushing at the start, it was poorly designed in that the line itself was wider than the first 100m. I think they wanted to be able to bring in more spectators, which was fun, but it really had a negative impact on the start and getting the field off the line quickly (not just the leaders, there were people who hadn't barely started when I finished).
As far as the race went it was well spectated and there was really good energy on the course, better than most of our races because there were so many people watching. It also helped that someone was playing the Rocky Theme on loudspeaker about .75 in (and .75 from the finish - out and back).
Course was really fast... a little up and down, but the closest thing to a hill was a quarter mile maybe 20 foot ascent, maybe 15. Also no real turns to speak of except for the turnaround, that was really tight, took it pretty wide to try and maintain momentum as much as possible - passed a lot of people on or immediately after the turn (including Jeff).
Otherwise race went very well. I went out too fast (like always, really need to start getting that under control) and spent the race hanging on. There was a lot of jostling at the gun and I was pushed a couple of times before I got to the line, I stayed somewhat in control for the first hundred, but then I started moving past people by the dozen to go out in 5:07. Then the pack started to thin and I mostly maintained my place for the next mile moving up maybe another 10-12 spots into tenth by the two mile. At about 800 to go a pack of four caught me and I tried to use them to catch the next runner ahead of me, but the pack put on a surge at 600 that I was unable to match, they overtook the guy who was in 9th as well and then in the last 100, someone else came flying past with huge sprint kick that I could not even come close too.
Based on how the race went, I think I am in a good place going forward. I feel like the 5:07 was not way too fast, just too fast for today, and I think I can avoid losing as much time later in the races after I build up and maintain mileage and work in some longer workouts - tempos especially. Looking forward to Track already.