Notes
After finishing my 15 mi and Dan S. 13 mi, we headed to the 5K at 8 am which started at 9 am. I had a couple recovery drinks, energy drink, and gel and felt okay, but didn't expect to set any PRs since I had run a challenging 15 mi course at 7:42 pace. Hugh arrived shortly after we got there. He did the sensible thing and didn't run before the 5K. Dan H. was also there and had run the course as a warm-up. I was feeling cold even though it had warmed up at least 10 degrees to about 40F. I often feel cold after a long run so I guess this is normal.
The course started on a sidewalk and I felt pretty good and even like I wanted to go faster, but it was too hard to get around so stayed back. There were 2 guys way in the lead and 4 of us, including Dan, running together. I wasn't sure whether to just stay in the group or pick up the pace. I felt good at this point and decided to pick up a little since there was room to get around, but 2 of them passed me soon. My first mile was 6:25 which was nothing great for me. The trail was a little rough too, but not too bad. At the turn around we see Dan H. and Hugh running together.
Dan S. was near behind at the turn around and passed me shortly. I wasn't feeling great anymore and decided to try to stay behind and keep him in my sights. At mile 2 my split was 6:33. Dan was catching up to another guy and I kept thinking he was going to pass him. There were a couple hills in the last mile that really slowed me down along with already being fatigued. Mile 3 was 7:12. I could see the finish and noticed the guy behind Dan so he had been able to pass near the end and beat him by 2 seconds. My last 0.1 mi was 46 sec and I was happy to be done with a total time of 20:56, about 2 min slower than I normally run a 5K.
Considering running this race at 6:46 pace after running 15 mi, I felt I had accomplished my goal of running a hard 3 miles at the end of a long run. My age group was 30-39 and placed 6th overall and 4th in my age group but they were only giving hardware to 2nd place so even with fresh legs, I doubt I would have had a chance other than a faster time. Hugh and Dan H. both placed 2nd in their age groups. Hugh's name was drawn for a cake or pie from the Skyline cafe and Dan S. won a BBQ set. This was a fun first time event and would definitely do again, but without the 15 mi run first.