Summary 27:10 - 8:45/mi 30/83 OA 2/2 in AG (60-64) I have done the 10K version of this race for several years and it is in a pretty setting at the Bay City State Park. The race starts on paved roads but then goes through woods and wetlands on mostly paved trails. The part that is not paved is in good condition and easy to run on. You cross a couple of wooden bridges and catch a glimpse of the Saginaw Bay near the finish. With the aggravations I have had with my hamstring and knee for the last several weeks, I debated what I should do. I didn't want to skip the race for two reasons. The first is that one of the goals I have is at least one race each calendar month. My streak goes back to Jan 04 and I don't want to start over. The other is the social aspect. Last month I did the Martian Half Marathon in a location away from home and where I only saw a couple of people I knew. I wanted to see my "running buddies" that I hadn't seen in a couple of months. Up until the evening before the race, I debated between limping through the 10K or 5K and decided it would be smarter (less stupid) to do the 5K. I figured that if I ran a 9:00 pace (about 28 min) it would be the best I should expect. I gave myself permission to take it easy and walk if things got too bothersome. The day was beautiful. It was about 60 degrees and clear. There was some wind, but you wouldn't know about it in the woods. About an hour before the race, I took a slow jog for a couple hundred yards in the parking lot. My hamstring was definitely noticeable. A lot of my friends showed up and we got in some good visiting. Shortly before the race, I took another short jog with the same results as the first. When the start signal was given, we were off and, even though I felt my hamstring, it wasn't as bad as the warmup jogs. I ran along with the mob, trying to be conservative. Near the end of the first mile, my hamstring stopped bothering me. At the mile mark, I glanced at my watch and saw I was under 9 minutes but that my GPS didn't have a mile yet. In the second mile, I felt I was running at a comfortable pace. During that mile, the crowd opened up and I was pretty much by myself running through the woods. At the two mile mark, my watch had less than 18 minutes but my GPS said we were over 2 miles. About half way through the last mile, I caught up with and passed a couple of runners which is always good for morale. I did notice my hamstring, but barely, about that time. At the 3 mile mark, my watch was real close to 26 minutes but my GPS had us a little shy of 3 miles. I tried to push a little to the finish and ended up with the aforementioned 27:10 I got to cheer a few of my friends at the finish, a few who were behind me in the 5K and several others who were in the 10K. I got in more visiting while waiting for the awards. Most of my friends got AG awards (it's nice to be at a small race with small AGs). The awards were nice plaques with a picture of a sunset through the trees and reflecting on one of the ponds on the course. A little more visiting and it was time to head for home. Post race, I checked my GPS which gave a distance of 3.199 miles and a pace of 9:29. It showed my pace for the approximate miles and last tenth as 8:55, 7:53, 8:41, and 8:52. I don't know what happened in the second mile but it was a pleasant surpise to find on my GPS. I met my goals of doing my race for the month and getting my "running buddies" fix. My race was faster than I expected and I didn't feel that I had aggravated my problems. It was another good day. TomS

Good race Tom, you met your goals and raced smart No further injury Great Job!

Good job restraining yourself and keeping the streak alive. AG award isn't bad either! huskydon

Nice run Tom. I'm glad the hamstring wasn't too bad. I did the 5k once and I agree that it is a very nice event. The RunMichigan website says there is a 5k in Bad Axe next weekend. Are you doing that one, or will you be traveling out of the area for the holidays?

Good job, Tom. With those splits, it sure doesn't look like you've got an injury problem. But you do have to do something about that last place finish in your AG.

Sometimes we roll the dice and get a better number than we want! Glad you had a good time with the race and with visiting friends.

Nice to see you back in action, Tom, and good to hear that the hamstring held up well. Congrats on keeping the string alive and on another good race.

Hi Tom, No matter where you race, you always seem to get something more out of it than just the competition. Great job of keeping aware of your hamstring and not doing any more damage to it, and of meeting your goals of getting in some quality time with your running buddies, and keeping your most impressive streak going. Congratulations! Jay