Race Results

I just got in from the MLB 5K Charity run and checked my results. I continue to be amazed at how accurate the timing mechanisms are for these events. I keep my own time on my watch and the comparison is within a couple of seconds.

I was mildly disappointed by my time - 27:28. This is just 8 seconds below my previous PR. I mean, yeah, it's still a PR but I was excited and, I thought, ready to blow the top off this thing. I've got all sorts of excuses for my "failure." Way too many people who were walking started at the beginning of the pack. Where's the race etiquette here? I guess I could've figured this much since it is billed as a Charity Run. And, there were no directions to runners about how to line up. Being charitable here, I could say that many of those folks didn't understand how things work. I spent the first mile (for real) dodging slowly walking individuals, and worse, groups. I can't for the life of me figure out how some people who were so slow got that far in front of me. Usually you get past those people fairly quickly, but not today.

The start area was very narrow even after we went through the starting gate. For about two blocks we only had the width of a two lane street to work with so the crowd couldn't thin out at all.

The route was okay. I knew where the hills were and attacked them where I could. My training is in a hilly park so I can practice this aspect of racing. The downhills came at the appropriate times and I feel like I maxed out the downhill glide to my benefit. My third mile was 8:39.32 which was below my projected time of 8:45 per mile, by the way. I missed the mile one marker. I guess I was distracted by the water station and positioning myself to be out of the flow of that traffic and blew by it. So, at mile two I hit 18 minutes even. This was 30 seconds off the pace I wanted to maintain. Usually, my racing starts moderate, speeds up for the end of mile one and then rolls for the duration.

Other victories today would include the fact that I placed 27th (of 109) in my age group. I was the 902nd of 2436 men and 1218th overall (of 5151).

I seem to moving in a direction that will allow me to complete the 1/2 marathon in September in under 2 hours. These, after all, I times I have never achieved, splits that have previously been unthinkable for me. I really have no reason to be disappointed. The progress is what I'm after here.

My next race is undetermined. I'm looking for a 10K for the August 2nd weekend. Anybody know of a good one within one day travel distance from St. Louis?