Race for Humanity 5k
This makes my fourth consecutive weekend racing, people will soon start mistaking me for the Anglocellerator if I keep this up.
The only reason this race got onto my schedule was that it was put on by some student organizations at USP, where I work, and I felt obligated to school any undergrads who perhaps needed some respect for their elders. Besides, the start was a half mile from my house and the course, a double loop, passed within a half block of my house (twice). Cindy promised a beer stop, but that never materialized.
I really didn't need to do another 5k this weekend, so I tacked on 9 miles beforehandand set out to race the 5k on tired legs. Thus came a pre-race Columbia Bridge loop with the middle miles at a 6:45ish clip. Kevin F. stayed over last night to watch basketball and ran the loop with me, and we ran into Deirdre at about a half mile into the run and she paced us for about half of the run.
The race had a bigger turnout than I expected. Between neighborhood folks, work folks, and running folks, I was a popular guy. Race plan was to hang with the leaders and win with as little effort as possible.
Gun went off. After the rabbits you get at any 5k race (including KJ, who'd end up PR'ing at 19:15) fell back, I was third behind Ian and a USP guy I didn't know. Ian said before the race that his plan was to tuck in behind me so he wouldn't get lost. He should have stuck to his plan, because he took a wrong turn and took #2 with him, and suddenly I was in the lead. I was running easy enough to sneak a look behind me, and Ian had caught back up to 2nd, about 10 meters behind me. I slowed down a bit to run with him. Nick, the best runner on the USP mens XC team, was about 20 meters behind and Kevin F. was a bit behind Nick in fourth.
The rest of the race went according to plan. I ran with Ian at a little below tempo pace, with a comfortable lead over everyone else. Around the second loop we started lapping the walkers, and thanked the cops as they dealt with irate motorists stopped at intersections (yes, this is West Philly). I said hi to neighbors I knew along the way. I yapped at Ian and he didn't yap back, so I knew he was the one in worse shape and I yapped some more at him to make sure he knew this too. We ran past Erin's house and she, Deirdre and Christine were out cheering. Cindy was yelling at us out on Woodland. Some guy was overheard pointing out this was the "5k marathon" that was going on this morning. At about 3 miles Ian and I decided this wasn't the race to continue our rivalry, so we joined hands (a bit too early for Ian's taste) and crossed the finish line together. Somehow the race organizer decided I finished in 17:23.3 and Ian finished in 17:23.6, but it was a tie.
This finish made me look good on my home turf. We posed with Phil Gerbino, USP's President, who chose this time to break the news to me that he'd approved my program to get additional faculty hires (this was better news than winning the race). Ian and I split the victor's spoils, which was donated from some cosmetics store. Since he smelled worse than I, he got the Donald Trump cologne, and since I was dirtier than he, I got the set of Aramis bath soaps.
After the race we went over to KJ's, where he stood on his newly-minted 19 minute legs and cooked us omelettes while the rest of us hung in the living room and idly gossiped. My only regret for the day was that I put alot less effort into the morning than I thought I would. The nine miles took nothing out of my legs, and (not to sound flip) I felt at about 75% effort when I finished the race.
This bodes well for the ongoing taper.
The only reason this race got onto my schedule was that it was put on by some student organizations at USP, where I work, and I felt obligated to school any undergrads who perhaps needed some respect for their elders. Besides, the start was a half mile from my house and the course, a double loop, passed within a half block of my house (twice). Cindy promised a beer stop, but that never materialized.
I really didn't need to do another 5k this weekend, so I tacked on 9 miles beforehandand set out to race the 5k on tired legs. Thus came a pre-race Columbia Bridge loop with the middle miles at a 6:45ish clip. Kevin F. stayed over last night to watch basketball and ran the loop with me, and we ran into Deirdre at about a half mile into the run and she paced us for about half of the run.
The race had a bigger turnout than I expected. Between neighborhood folks, work folks, and running folks, I was a popular guy. Race plan was to hang with the leaders and win with as little effort as possible.
Gun went off. After the rabbits you get at any 5k race (including KJ, who'd end up PR'ing at 19:15) fell back, I was third behind Ian and a USP guy I didn't know. Ian said before the race that his plan was to tuck in behind me so he wouldn't get lost. He should have stuck to his plan, because he took a wrong turn and took #2 with him, and suddenly I was in the lead. I was running easy enough to sneak a look behind me, and Ian had caught back up to 2nd, about 10 meters behind me. I slowed down a bit to run with him. Nick, the best runner on the USP mens XC team, was about 20 meters behind and Kevin F. was a bit behind Nick in fourth.
The rest of the race went according to plan. I ran with Ian at a little below tempo pace, with a comfortable lead over everyone else. Around the second loop we started lapping the walkers, and thanked the cops as they dealt with irate motorists stopped at intersections (yes, this is West Philly). I said hi to neighbors I knew along the way. I yapped at Ian and he didn't yap back, so I knew he was the one in worse shape and I yapped some more at him to make sure he knew this too. We ran past Erin's house and she, Deirdre and Christine were out cheering. Cindy was yelling at us out on Woodland. Some guy was overheard pointing out this was the "5k marathon" that was going on this morning. At about 3 miles Ian and I decided this wasn't the race to continue our rivalry, so we joined hands (a bit too early for Ian's taste) and crossed the finish line together. Somehow the race organizer decided I finished in 17:23.3 and Ian finished in 17:23.6, but it was a tie.
This finish made me look good on my home turf. We posed with Phil Gerbino, USP's President, who chose this time to break the news to me that he'd approved my program to get additional faculty hires (this was better news than winning the race). Ian and I split the victor's spoils, which was donated from some cosmetics store. Since he smelled worse than I, he got the Donald Trump cologne, and since I was dirtier than he, I got the set of Aramis bath soaps.
After the race we went over to KJ's, where he stood on his newly-minted 19 minute legs and cooked us omelettes while the rest of us hung in the living room and idly gossiped. My only regret for the day was that I put alot less effort into the morning than I thought I would. The nine miles took nothing out of my legs, and (not to sound flip) I felt at about 75% effort when I finished the race.
This bodes well for the ongoing taper.
posted by seebo | 8:15 PM
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