Ok, actually Shoes For the Shelter 5K, put on by Canisius College, with runners encouraged to donate old shoes for the needy.   A small box truck looked to be about 2/3 full afterwards, nice.

It was sunny.  It was well above freezing, perhaps upper 40s by the start.  People were nearly dancing in the street.  I made today a dress rehearsal for Boston, wearing my intended outfit but swapping out Ekidens for Elixirs, because faster.  (2nd Buffalo News Runner of the Year series race, so an extra level of competition.)

I warmed up and even stretched before shedding my sweats, and realized that Frank Shorter short shorts are short.  I also had to pee with not enough time to descend into the bowels of the athletic complex, and luckily found a secluded alley behind a building housing generators or something.

National anthem, siren.  No nonsense, the way it should be.  I got out cleanly and a lead pack of about 15 guys formed.  Looking around, I was hanging with some runners that are well above my level.  "No one wants to kill it yet", I thought, like the comparatively slow opening laps of a track race.  By about a half mile though, the pack slowly dissolved and I only had a couple guys nearby -- one breathing heavily and one running strongly.  5:15 mile split, could this be a sub 17 day?  Run hard and find out.

The course was very flat and fast, but a tight roundabout in front of the Albright-Knox art gallery probably stole a few seconds.  Coming back past the rest of the runners now on an out and back leg, I used a slight incline to surge past Heavy Breather.  A few "go Jay!"s mixed in with a raucous chorus of "go Bean!"s  (Bean being the nickname of one of the fastest ladies around here.  She coaches at Canisius and so was surely going all-out today.)  Still feeling strong and happy to be in flats, I decided that I wouldn't get passed easily (like she did at the Shamrock 8k) and set my sights on the one catchable guy.  Well beyond 2 miles, I started to plan a big kick, but never got a visual on the chute and time clock until it was too close.  So a little kick had to do and I caught no one, but neither was I caught.

17:08 was easily good for 1st AG, and 10th OA got me a single point in the overall ROTY standings, lol.   "Bean" set a course record in 17:20, which must have been super cool to do as the school favorite.

Someone probably used a filter on this, but I love the 1970s look to it.

Love the photo!  You are looking fast and focused!  Congrats on the AG award!  Is that a PR for you?

Thanks! Not a PR, but better than usual.

Jay, you make it look so effortless. Well done, my friend.

GREAT racing, Jay! You have been running so well this season, I can't wait for your Boston RR.

The picture is superb. It does have a retro quality to it. I love it.

Congratulations on a fantastic finish time and 1st place AG award! You definitely are our champion! (And big congrats to Bean as well. Fast woman, yeah!)

Love the pic!  Congrats on a great race and on the AG win!   You're a ROCK STAR, Jay!

great job jay...that pic has a great tone too...great write up, congrats!

You look and are FAST.  Congrats on another great race!  Can't wait to hear how Boston goes.

Great race Jay! Super fast as usual!