Dave's Day 5k race report (Read 484 times)

This very windy morning I went over to the local park to compete in the Dave's Day 5k. There was also a 1 mile walk scheduled. According to the race form, registration for the 5k was from 8-9 AM, with the race starting at 9:30. The 1 mile walk was to start 15 minutes later. I arrived at 8:30 and quickly registered. I now had almost an hour to go to the bathroom, pin my number on my shirt, retie my shoes and wonder if I should leave my windbreaker on or take it off. Eventually they announced that the start was in 10 minutes, so I headed over there (winbreaker on). It was very, very windy this morning and also very sunny. Luckily, the race was mostly on dirt trails in the park with lots of trees to block the sun and the wind. There were 53 runners. We stood around for a few minutes listening to instructions (the race is 2 laps in the park, there is water somewhere, don't go in the finish shoot the first time around). I recognized a woman who beat me in a race a few months back and we were discussing strategy (run fast, continue running fast) and trying to predict our finish times. She's 12 years older than me and after determining that we weren't in the same age group informed me that I have 10 more years left before my body falls apart. With those cheerful words we were off. I ran fast, I was in the front 10 people and there was only one woman in front of me. Then the pack thinned. The one woman remained in front of me. I realized wearing my jacket was a mistake. I tripped on a rock, but didn't fall. Now there were two women in front of me. I passed the second one by running through a puddle she chose to run around and then I was muddy, but I didn't see her again. I felt like I was slowing down as we ran through the first lap. I tried to run faster. My Garmin told me that I was running an 8:37 pace. But I didn't really know if it was accurate because of all of the turns we had done. I tossed my jacket at the finish shoot and prepared for the final lap. The second lap was a bit more annoying because the walkers were out. Most of them knew to stay to the right (they were told to stay on the right, we were to run on the left). But a lot of them were really young kids - luckily, the parents kept them on the side pretty well. A 13 year old boy (maybe he was 14) was running right in front of me and all of a sudden yelled "cramp" and stopped. He ended up just behind me for the rest of the race. I could still see the woman right in front of me, but try as I might, I couldn't catch her. The race was almost over. I kept running. My lungs were burning. The shoot was in sight. She finished. 11 seconds later I finished. My garmin time is 24:08. If I was 1 second faster I'd have tied my PR (2 seconds faster and I have a new PR). I'm waiting for the results to be posted to find out if I actually was faster than my garmin said (I don't know how quickly I stopped it in the shoot, I'm usually slower than the official time). As expected I took 1st in my age group (I was the second woman, but the awards were 1 deep in each category). I won an excellent prize - a $25 gift card to a local fancy spa. I'm excited to use it! The race was very well organized, but I still don't know why we had to be there so early for the race. It was for a great cause with fantastic prizes and great post race food (water, bananas, oranges, Philly pretzels and cookies). And it was only $15 since I pre-registered. I imagine that I'll run it again next year.

I past the second one by running through a puddle she chose to run around and then I was muddy, but I didn't see her again.

Ha! I laugh at you and your prissy white sneakers silly woman, you are cordially invited to eat my dust. Well done!

I recognized a woman who beat me in a race a few months back and we were discussing strategy (run fast, continue running fast) and trying to predict our finish times. She's 12 years older than me and after determining that we weren't in the same age group informed me that I have 10 more years left before my body falls apart. With those cheerful words we were off.

lol! sounds like great pre-race chit-chat. ha! Congrats on your race - nice job!

great job! (and crap, I only have 3 more years before I fall apart - time to up the ante)

Congrats on a great race! And an AG award is killer too! Great Job

Congrats! Awesome race.