2013 EARTH DAY RUN "5K" RACE REPORT

The beer garden is right next to the finish line. Love it! Have a couple beers and cheer on the finishers.

The 2013 Earth Day Run didn't get off to the best of starts. The night before I went to a Portland Winterhawks hockey game and had a giant Diet Coke at 8pm (we're talking like 32oz). This after waking up that afternoon at 12:30pm and being excited about the race. Needless to say, when I tried to go to bed at midnight it wasn't happening and I spent most the night tossing and turning.

Biscoff Spread was a weird giveaway but I was happy to try
it... made me think of Runs for Cookies.

All told I got at most three hours of sleep. I could tell as I got up that I didn't have that normal "rested" feeling and my legs even felt a little tired from the warm up run the day before. Combine that along with no speed training at all and being the weekend after a record setting half marathon... things weren't looking too bright.

Expectations lowered, I shuffled to my car and drove to the race. I was able to park at Cook Park and get my bib pretty quickly. I ran a couple of laps around the parking lot to try and warm up but my legs didn't feel great at all. Oh well. After killing a little time on Facebook in the car I wandered toward the start line and watched the 5 Milers take off (the race had two events, the 5M and the 5K).

I worked my way toward the front of the 5K corral as the start approached. Eventally I got too far forward and was like second in line with all the fast people. My shorts weren't nearly short enough to be with them, so I scooted back a little into a more comfortable starting spot. I saw last year's winner (recognizable by his dreadlocks) slip into the corral just in time for the gun to go off.

Volunteer Libbie at the finish later.

After the gun went off I tried to settle into a pace that was quick but something I could maintain for three miles. I turned my phone to silent so it wouldn't read out my mile times... I thought that would probably be too depressing given the way I was feeling. The race went along the same exact course as last year, 3/4 of a mile of flat park before ascending a small hill. That hill was nothing to me this year. Honestly. All my hill training really pays off in these situations as I passed a ton of people.

Once we got to the top of the hill I saw Libbie passing out water (she volunteered for this race). I waved at her as I went by but didn't take water. The water made more sense for the five milers, almost three miles in, who merged with us at this point. Unlike last year, there was no weaving required. Only the fastest of the 5 milers had hit this part of the course yet, so whatever they did to fix the traffic jam worked.

Turns out I did the first mile in 7:13. Considering it included that hill, that wasn't bad at all! After that it was another mile straight down Durham road. Flat as can be. Nothing major to note here, I settled into my pace and began to pass a couple of racers that went out a little too fast. Passed last year's female overall winner about 1.5 miles in (she fell off by two minutes from last year's time). I was actually feeling pretty good at this point. My lungs were burning but my legs felt alright. Not great, but alright. I felt like I could keep it up for another mile. Second mile, all flat, was 7:01.

I like this picture... it makes me look fast.
Subtract 15 min from the 5M clock.

We turned off Durham Road into the neighborhoods and then down that steep hill again. It wasn't nearly as slick as last year but I still shuffled down it carefully, no need to be risky. Everybody seemed to be following suit and I didn't get passed like a year ago. Once I hit the bottom I knew it was less than a mile, so I picked up my pace a little. I passed another person or two here. The "mini hills" that were killing me last year weren't so bad this year.

I thought the finish line was a little closer than it actually was, so I picked up into the "final sprint" a little early. I rounded a corner and saw that I had a whole extra 100 yards or so. Crap. I just made myself keep the same speed though, I didn't want to get caught from behind so by the time I crossed the finish line I was pretty damn exhausted. Final mile turned out to be 6:51, the fastest mile I have ever ran. That was before the sprint too, I probably was going 5:45 or so there.

Unlike last year, I didn't dry heave, but I definitely needed some time to cool down. I ended up walking to my car to get my sweatshirt and photo ID for the beer garden. By the time I walked there and back I was almost back to normal. This year they had a clock at the finish line so I was able to see my time of a "high 22" (as I remembered it) as I crossed. Turned out I was done in 22:33, so it was even a little better than that. Second fastest 5k ever.

The Earth Day Run course is long though, clocking in at 3.24 miles. Even the event website acknowledges this. No problem, I would prefer a more precise 5k, but it is what it is. Last year I ran my ass off only to end up 2 seconds higher than my 5k the month before. So the only problem with this course is that you can run a PR time but not get a PR.

The maths.

 If you extrapolate my average pace and adjust it downward from 3.24 miles to 3.11 miles you get an overall time of 21:39, which just so happens to be a PR by six seconds. Gah! Oh well. I ran my buns off and had a great race, so I won't dwell on it. This is not a PR course anyways, it is semi-hilly and long. I need to find a nice flat actual 5k course if I really care about setting a PR.

Official Results: 22:33 over 3.24 miles, 6:58/mile. 18/322 overall, 18/120 male, 4/17 M25-29.
Splits: 7:13, 7:01, 6:58. 5:38 (!) over final .24 miles.