2009 Schoolhouse Run 4 Fun 5K

We had another rainy run this year for the Schoolhouse Run 4 Fun 5K. Except this year the rain held off until after I was done, but before Heather and Bailey finished. And it picked up considerably after they finished and we got back to the car. I was so wet I was freezing, although the run itself was just fine.

I saw a lot of familiar faces at the starting line this year thanks to being involved in the running club for the past year. There was a nice little club pocket front and center  and we got out quick enough to avoid the worst of the bottleneck congestion at the end of the parking lot. What congestion we did have dispersed quickly once we hit the streets.

I felt good so I just pushed. I saw Bob up ahead of me and tried to keep him in sight for as long as possible. Ladd and Connie, who were right with me, fell back a little, but I just kept pushing. I REALLY wanted a new 5K PR in that race. Once I was pretty much by myself and running down an occasional runner, I just focused on maintaining my form and a high leg turnover, just like at a speed workout on the track. When my breathing became labored, I would back off a bit and recover. Into the wind, I would attempt to minimize my frontal footprint and dig in a bit. I grabbed two swallows of water at the second water station, but I don't think I should have done that. I was starting to get nauseous at the end and that may have had something to do with it.

Everything must have come together for this race because I finished in 19:44, taking a HUGE chunk off my 5K time. That's an average of 6:22 per mile, but they were more varied than that. My mile 1 split was 6:06, with some of that on a sub-6:00 pace. Mile 2 split was 6:29, mile 3 6:37, and the final 10th of a mile was 34 seconds. There was a fellow I was catching heading into the last half mile that would keep speeding up every time I would try to go around him. I wasn't going to duel him, I knew I was going to PR by that point, so I just settled in behind him. It turns out he wasn't in my age group anyway, so it was no big deal.

After finishing and grabbing a cup of Gatorade, Ladd and I started backtracking the course looking for Heather and Bailey. We didn't have to go too far before finding them. They were making pretty good time! We rand them in. I had my name announced as a finisher again. And then the rain started picking up, which is evident in the photo above! We quickly grabbed some grub, said our goodbyes, and headed for the car. They were going to do awards in the gym, but I never place in these short races so we ordered a pizza and left.

As it turns out, I won my age group. My time was decent, but still a couple minutes behind the leaders. I guess it all depends on who shows up at any given event. Bailey and Heather finished in 35:38 and 35:43 respectively. We had a very good club showing and I think everyone had a good night. The Great Potato Ranch Pizza we picked up from Romeo's on the way home tasted really good. As did the bottle of wine it was accompanied with!