UltraBrit: Accelerate Your Life 5K

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Accelerate Your Life 5K - May 17th, 2009

I woke up on Sunday morning to the sound of the rain. The forecast had said that it would be cool with some showers. By the time I got to the race the rain had stopped and it was just a little chilly and windy. I chatted with John and Bob while we waited for others to arrive. Karen and Jim thanked me for promoting the race on facebook, not that it did much good since we was still only had 39 runners. A little later Kellie arrived so we took some pictures and then went out for a quick jog to warm-up. When we got back Jeanette joined us and we dropped off our top layers and headed to the start line.

The first mile was mostly downhill, the middle was mostly flat with a few small hills and then there was a hill before the last turn for the finish. My left leg was still tight from the marathon, especially my hamstring, but the easy downhill start allowed me to relax and let it stretch out a little. John was by my side briefly in the beginning and then I could hear the soothing sound of his breathing behind me for the next half mile or so. After that I pushed ahead a little and saw who I thought to be Luis up ahead (see my Spring Equinox race report). I was eventually able to catch up to him and he said he thought it was me coming up behind him. I told him that I thought I recognized him by his calves! We ran side by side for a little while and I was wondering if I could keep up with him until the end, but I ended up being able to pull ahead. For such a short race I was surprised that I was struggling and constantly looking for that final hill so that I could get to the home stretch. I did pass several guys in the last mile or so and ran pretty hard on that hill. Once the hill was over I knew that I could keep pushing to the end. I managed to finish strong and was very happy with my time.

Also see Luis' race report

Mile One: 7:30
Mile Two: 7:42
Mile Three: 7:52
Last .10: :40 (6:42)
= 23:45
7:40 average pace

Once I finished I cheered for Luis, Kellie, Bob, John, Dawn and Jeanette. We then all had drinks, bagels and chatted until it was time for the awards. I chatted with Luis for a while who told me that he thought is was a 5 mile race! Kellie placed first in her age group and won a gift certificate to Runner Roost. Way to go Kellie!

http://www.clubct.org/Results/09Results/09AYLRes.html

Bob and John