Bradford VDay Race Report (Read 337 times)

Race was scheduled for 10 AM start in Bradford, MA. I arrived at about 9:30, parked and jogged to the church to pick up race timer (a nice velcro ankle strap device), bib, flower, box of chocolates, and shirt. Jogged back to car to put stuff away. Conditions were about 30F, relatively clear, with snow and slush covered roads. I took off my insulated nylon pants and headed back down to the starting area. I went to the bathroom, then headed to the starting area. Did a few strides to warmup the legs. Looking around I noticed that I was one of only a handful of runners wearing shorts, everyone had on tights,and there were alot of running club singlets, pretty intimidating for a novice runner. The race is unique in that there is a 6k and a 5 mile course, and teams can enter, like Hus/wife, father/daughter, mother/son, or M/F. Both courses start out the same, then split at the 1 mile mark where the 5 mile course loops out and rejoins then rejoins the 6k course at about the 1.5-2 mile mark. Based on my training and trial run I did at a 7:28 pace last wkend, my goal was between a 7:00 to 7:20 pace. But I really wanted to finish ahead of the 5 mile winner, which based on previous results means under 7:00 pace. Well, they called us to the line, and I got in the third row. The first half mile felt surreal as I just cruised along in step with the front pack of runners. I then realized that I didn't start my chrono. I fumbled with it a bit, and got it reset and started, oh well. The course is flat to slight downhill for the first 1/2 mile, then slight uphill to the 3/4m+ point, where it branches off for the 6k runners. As I approached the turn, I was surprised that I could still see the 6k leaders. The first significant hill leads up to the 1 mile mark. I tried to relax and spring up the hill, passed the 1 mile mark feeling pretty good. I got into a pretty good rhythm, concentrating on cadence and form. Now it's time for the second hill, I tell myself if I get up this one, I'm almost home free. I cross the 2 mile mark, my breathing is getting a little bit labored. Oh no! another hill that I forgot about. I can feel myself slowing down and really have to concentrate on counting my strides to keep up my pace. Made it, now just one more hill to go and its flat and downhill for the last 1.5 miles. A high school kid passes me going up the last hill. Good, I'll have someone to pace off of for awhile. I focus on keeping up with him and counting my strides. We head down a straignt flat street before the turn to the 3 mile mark. I can see 4 runners ahead of me spaced out pretty evenly. We take the turn for the final 3/4 mile, it's flat to a good downhill for the last 1/4 mile. I maintain the spacing with the runner in front of me, a twenty something female. As we make the turn for the final downhill, I feel OK and have been practicing speeding up for the last 1/4's of my training runs, so I pick up the pace to see if I can move up a position. I'm gaining on her pretty fast and pass her about 200 ft from the finish and sprint (at least it felt like that in my mind) through the finish. I look at the clock - 25:33. Holy crap! Wait a second, nobody flew by me at the end, I must have beat the 5 mile winner. I go get a water, then spot my wife who lovingly came to see me finish. She says there weren't that many people in front of me, maybe 15-20, and the winner finished in 19:06. She videotaped the finish and we watched it - it looks like I'm running so slow!...and boy do I have really short strides. I tell her I'm going to hang out for the raffles, soup, bread, and other food so she heads home. I go inside the big church function room and eat and drink and eat and drink some more. I noticed the race results are posted on the wall, so I go check them out. I finished 15th with a gun time of 25:27. I'm second in the 40-40 age group, the first guy is an elite runner and was 2nd in the race! I hang around anyway to cheer for the winners, and much to my chagrin, I'm awarded the 1st place age group medal!!! What a pleasant surprise. I figured that since the other runner came in 2nd and got that award, they must go to the next in line. I'm so psyched that I came in under 7's! I can't wait to run my next 5k in a month or two and try to go under 20 minutes! The race was very well organized and I recommend it to anyone in the area that's looking for something to do on a brisk Feb morning.