Run4Fun 5k

I wasn't sure if I wanted to race this week, but was feeling really strong by mid-week so on to Amesbury.  My shoulder is still tender but not bad for running, so I'm not letting it bother me.  Sleep is overated anyway.

Cath and I headed up to Amesbury and met up with the rest of the DRC gang (Rose, Greg, Denise, and John) then made our way over to the race.  We were pre-registered so we just gathered up our numbers and got ready to race. 

I checked out the course for a warm-up and was happy to see they had placed flags all along the road.  The first 1.2 miles was on road, then you headed into Woodsom farm for a .9 tour of the fields of Woodsom.  The rain from last night left this part wet but not really muddy.  After the farm you return to the road for .7 miles then do an interesting little loop in a park (including going through a frisbee golf course) then back onto the road for a final .1 uphill on the road.  I was glad I checked out the course it was a bit rolling and always a good idea to know where the course goes (and especially how much remains).

I only saw a couple of people warming up, that and the fact that the race was a first year effort probably meant the field wouldn't be very strong.  I thought I might have a shot at a "W".  A good sized group headed over to the line and we were off.  After about 200m I moved ahead of a high school runner who'd taken it out hard and moved into the lead.  I tried to keep the pace honest but didn't feel all that great.  I could hear a couple of guys right on my tail so I tried to keep the pace honest.  We hit the "mile" in 5:54.  I was not discouraged, my warm-up had the first mile marked wrong and the second pretty close to accurate.  I wanted to check out the competition at the turn (1.2m) onto the trail but didn't want to let them know I was hurting.  At least one of the guys was still right on me and I thought he was going to pass me on the tough little climb up the hill in Woodsom.

I pushed on the downhill through 2 miles and tried to be aggresive on the road.  From the warm-up I knew the intersection was about 1/2 mile from the finish so I tried to push that part of the road.  I could hear the footsteps slowly falling behind.  I snuck a peak when we entered the park and had about 10 seconds lead, so into the final kick up the hill and across in 17:17.

Not a bad effort for me and I was quite pleased to get a rare win.  Results here.

Next up: I'm planning on running the Wakefield 5km next weekend.  That was my first post-stress fracture race last year.  I'd like to run a minute faster than last year (18:02), actually if the weather is good I'll be aiming to break 17.  Only a few opportunities left this year!

Finish chute pic above from Rick Bayko