Notes
Firecracker in east moline. the course is claimed to be a 5k but ive mapped it several times and i did run in the middle of the road and didnt take any tangents because of how they set up the cones so it actually comes out 3.2, which makes the race a lot better for me. i went the first mile and just stay in the front of the pack on the left. i didnt see the mile split but around that time koch made a move and phil young called. i went ahead but just sat about 5-10ish meters back. after the first couple of turns i maintained my position since i knew it was early and they werent that far enough ahead that i couldnt catch them whenever i wanted to. at the first water station koch took one and slowed down to me, which was like the dumbest thing ive ever seen since it was 60 degrees and overcast and he gave up his lead. from that point until kennedy drive i basically sat on phil. once we hit kennedy and went up the small hill i surged and dropped everyone pretty easily. i didnt look back from there. i was out of earshot from anyone's breathing so i wasnt sure how much of a gap i created. i hit 2 miles feeling good and picked it up further. i made the last two turns and i still felt like i was pretty far ahead. roughly 300-400 out all of a sudden i heard heavy breathing approaching me quick. i didnt look but soon i saw out of the corner of my eye osing almost right next to me and i was like fuck i aint trying to lose. i fortunately had a couple more gears left and i blasted him at the end. this was my first firecracker win and it was by about 3 seconds over osing. i felt pretty smooth throughout besides my legs tightening up the last 800 or so. solid race effort though and glad i am actually fit enough and strong enough to win stuff. good way to continue the bday weekend