One of the guys in my Wednesday night beer/running group also belongs to the Road Runners Club of Woodbury, and encouraged us to come out to his club's 3rd annual 5k this morning. I decided to take him up on it.
The race started just off the main street in Woodbury on a pleasantly cool morning. Just over a hundred runners tore down Hunter Street and into the surrounding side streets.
Lately, especially with smaller races, I've stopped focusing on running a certain time and started focusing on racing the other runners. I don't really care what my time is in a 5k or 10k these days. All I care about is taking out as many other runners as I can. This is why I didn't wear a watch today. Unfortunately, the race organizers didn't feel the need to mark the miles on their course, and as a result, I had no idea how far along I was on the course. Normally I try to save some energy for a kick in the last half mile. Unfortunately I waited too long today. There were two runners ahead of me, one of whom I figured was in my age group, and I knew I had a chance to outkick them. But suddenly we made a left turn and there was the finish line a tenth of a mile away. I didn't have a chance.
Final stats:
19:36
8th overall (out of 111)
2nd in age group
I heard some other runners mention they thought the course was short, which I can believe. I know I was running hard, like I always do in 5k's, but I just don't think my summer training has been good enough to run a sub 20:00 so easily. There were also a few decent hills on the course, which is unusual for South Jersey races.
After the race we all headed across the street to Charlie Brown's where all runners received a pint of beer and a ticket to a large buffet.
After that, we headed out to the parking lot where they handed out awards.
Happy racing, friends. Hope your summer racing is going well.
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| Post race awards |
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| The start From RRCW's Facebook page |
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| That's me on the far right, next to the Fonz. Original photo from RRCW's Facebook page |
Lately, especially with smaller races, I've stopped focusing on running a certain time and started focusing on racing the other runners. I don't really care what my time is in a 5k or 10k these days. All I care about is taking out as many other runners as I can. This is why I didn't wear a watch today. Unfortunately, the race organizers didn't feel the need to mark the miles on their course, and as a result, I had no idea how far along I was on the course. Normally I try to save some energy for a kick in the last half mile. Unfortunately I waited too long today. There were two runners ahead of me, one of whom I figured was in my age group, and I knew I had a chance to outkick them. But suddenly we made a left turn and there was the finish line a tenth of a mile away. I didn't have a chance.
Final stats:
19:36
8th overall (out of 111)
2nd in age group
I heard some other runners mention they thought the course was short, which I can believe. I know I was running hard, like I always do in 5k's, but I just don't think my summer training has been good enough to run a sub 20:00 so easily. There were also a few decent hills on the course, which is unusual for South Jersey races.
After the race we all headed across the street to Charlie Brown's where all runners received a pint of beer and a ticket to a large buffet.
After that, we headed out to the parking lot where they handed out awards.
I got a ton of swag for such a small race: medal for 2nd in my age group, plus a beer glass/bottle opener/sunglasses for coming in the top 100, plus the usual race T-shirt. I already owned the headband and decided to race in it to hold back my increasingly long flowing locks.
Happy racing, friends. Hope your summer racing is going well.
Wow, congrats on your speedy time! That is a great swag collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cory, and thanks for reading!
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