I love this race - it's a perfect way to start off the year, always a popular race but not so crowded that it isn't fun. You get lots of enthusiastic people out there who are starting the year off on the right foot with their first 5k, which is always exciting to see. The swag (long sleeved tech shirts) is always high quality and our Corporate Shield team typically has a strong showing.
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| Most of the Milliken team, pre-race |
It was a cool (mid-50s) and misty/cloudy morning, which is nothing like typical weather for this race. It's usually in the 20s and everyone is freezing! I ran in shorts and a tank top and was comfortable at the end of the race.
I started out with a ~1.5 mile warm-up jog around downtown with a few striders thrown in to warm up the legs. I felt good, but probably warmed up too early (I had 30 mins between when I finished warming up and when the race started).
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| Ready at the starting line! |
This course, overall, is pretty darn flat. The entire thing oscillates within about 100ft of elevation, with a total gain of 148ft from start to finish. Don't let that fool you into thinking it's easy, though!
Mile 1: 7:13 (the "up" mile) - started off feeling good, but very hard to settle into a pace when you know everyone around you is sprinting out of the gate. The very slow and gradual uphill really takes its toll by the time you reach the top, and I was definitely feeling it! I told myself to keep going though, because some nice downhill was coming.
Mile 2: 7:10 (the "down" mile) - turn the corner off of Pendleton Street and then you're into some nice residential neighborhood roads. It's almost all downhill and a great relief after the first mile. I had to hold back the pace and control my stride during the downhills - easy to try to go too fast and end up pounding your legs too hard if the stride gets sloppy.
Mile 3: 7:23 (up then down) - By the time you get down to Broad Street, you have a tough little kick back up to Main Street. It's a bit of a relief and a bit of a kick in the gut - by that point I was tired and pushing the pace was hard.
Final 0.1: 0:41 (5:49/mi!) - The sprint to the finish on this race is, thankfully, downhill. However, after pushing it the rest of the course I found I had very little left in the tank to sprint to the finish... or so I thought! I guess I had a little juice left somewhere.
Results:
Oh, hello 3rd place Age Group finish!! WHAT! I only just found that out when I looked up my results at home. Heck yes, that is exciting!
So yeah, sub-23 was my goal and I'm quite pleased to have nailed it... the AG finish was the icing on the cake.
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