50 and over 5k and beyond

Hi! (Read 120 times)

rmcj001


    This is my race report for Zoom Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.  Race location was at Hellyer Park, south end of San Jose.  It's mostly flat fast course that follows a creek that runs along highway 101.  Got to the park with plenty of time and proceeded to locate a bathroom while wife went to pick up numbers.  All the restrooms were locked!  Rumor had it that there were some outhouses outside the main park, so ventured off looking for them.  Found it, but there was a major line.  Waited with any eye on watch and with about 15 minutes before race start got in.  Got out and headed back to car to remove excess clothing and check to see if wife left number there.  No number.  Jogged to the finish line with about a minute before the start.  Got number from wife and son (no shirt!).  They blitzed off while I struggled to pin my number on. Got three pins in when the race started and I got stuck in the back.  Tried to be patient as I weaved my way to the start and then through the slow moving crowd. 1/4 mile in caught up with a guy who I though was about my age and asked if he was doing the 1/2 or 10K (10k and 1/2 start was together, son and wife were doing 1/2 and I the 10K).  He answered the 10K, we chatted a bit and commiserated about our slow start as we were moving through the crowd.  At about 3/4 mile I picked up the pace a bit and left him behind.  Just before the 1 mile mark spotted wife and started speeding up to catch up with her and a 30 yo came with me.  Talked to my wife a bit mentioning she might be going a bit fast (~7:35/mi) and she replied she needed to warm up (temp was ~50F).  The 30 yo was right with me the whole time and stayed there.  I started to talk to him, since he was sticking with me.  He was in from Texas visiting his parents for the holiday and decided to do the 1/2.  He liked the pace I was going and was hoping to do a 1:45 for the 1/2.  I thought he might be going out a bit fast, but he thought he could bank some time to get the 1:45.  We chatted until I hit the turn around point.  I counted 10 runners ahead of me and decided to focus on the what I thought was 10th place.  Wife saw me and confirmed that I was currently in 11th.  The 10th place guy was just visible on the longer straighter stretches.  I was very slowly making some ground on him.  Slowly I could see that I was getting closer.  We hit the 5K turn around and I felt I could catch him.  We're both picking off 5K runners pretty quickly at this point and at around 5.75 miles I caught him and passed him.  Now I was working hard to keep my pace up to insure he would catch me and pass me.  I made the turns that lead to the finish and I'm doing my best to sprint and oddly I'm speeding up.  The last 100 yards I was all by myself no one around on either side and as I passed the finish mats and hit the stop button on the GPS watch I see the pace for the last bit at 6:16/mi.  Watch had my time at 46:10, official time was 46:27 (everyone get same start time).  Official result was 11th overall and 3rd in AG.  Son finished his 1/2 in 1:33+ (12th o/a 1st AG) , wife finished in 1:56 (1st in AG).  Guy from Texas came in 1:48+, not quite what he wanted.  Still it was a very good day for everyone involved!


    Ray

     

    WDWRich


      Ray - Thanks for the great race report, and congratulations on the excellent time/finish!  The wife and I experienced a similar situation with port-a-potties at last year's Resolution races.  There were plenty of them lined up near the start line, but someone forgot to unlock them early on race morning.  Fortunately, they were locked with plastic zip ties, so a quick trip back to my car for a knife solved the problem.  Lots of grateful racers that morning!

      Rich

      PRs:  9/1/2012 Disneyland 5K 27:08,  01/06/2013 Resolution 15K 1:30:17, 03/10/2013 San Diego HM 2:18:05, 04/19/2014 ACT! Today 10K  51:54