Over 900 participants showed up this morning for Haddon Township's 8th annual Turkey Trot, including a few of my students and some guys from my Wednesday night running club.
The chance to show up all of my teenage students and get a free breakfast afterwards?! It doesn't get better than that.
It was 28 degrees when I got to the Pour House around 8:30am to meet my dad, and after much deliberation decided to wear just a long sleeved shirt for the race. Only my hands suffered; the rest of my body was ok.
This was only my second race of the fall season and my first 5k in almost four months, so I told myself I would be happy just breaking 20 minutes. I didn't bring my Garmin, and there weren't any clocks on the course, so I had no idea what my pace was throughout. I was just trying to run hard and pick off runners ahead of me, which is usually my strategy for shorter races.
Around mile 2, I heard someone approaching over my left shoulder. As he sidled up next me, I glanced over and made eye contact with a 12-year-old boy. His breathing was erratic and heavy, and I inwardly grinned. Time to make him really hurt, I thought. I picked up the pace, which he matched, but it wasn't long until he fell behind again. I took out a few more runners in the homestretch, and finished gasping for breath.
Final stats:
19:56
28th overall
5/30 in my age group
I inhaled a bottle of water, a breakfast sandwich and a donut and then stood by the finish waiting for my dad. He finished in roughly 41 minutes after a recurring injury in his lower leg forced him to walk the majority of the course.
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| With my dad after the race. |
After the race I headed back home to resume fatherhood duties.
I had my Garmin along, and it measured the course at 3.21 miles. My time was a bit slow for my usual 5k (particularly since that course was pretty flat), so I checked it on Google Maps and WalkJogRun, and they both came out around 3.19 miles. If that distance is right, it put my pace about at my recent 5k race pace.
ReplyDeleteAh, I hate it when they're not properly measured, including when the distance is short. I guess I should be happy I still came in under 20!
DeleteHahah good job Scott! Hope to see you at a couple more of these 5ks next time I'm in the area. I need a rematch
ReplyDeleteYes, let me know the next time you're racing in South Jersey and I'll be there. I'm about to start going HARD for Boston, so hopefully that will translate to faster 5k times as well.
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