Race morning and it wasn’t quite cold enough to snow, so instead we were welcomed with rain. Personally I would take light snow over cold rain, but once the gun went off even the rain didn’t seem too bad.
The start was for both the 5k and 10k runners. Most of the top runners that I knew of were entered into the 10k, however I had spotted Christian Reed with a 5k number so I knew at best I could get 2nd place, he’s in a different league when it comes to running. Initially I led for the first 200 meters or so, and then Christian Reed went off the front. Knowing it was pointless to try and match his pace, I settled into my own rhythm. Derek Eisenbrei pulled even with me and we ran together briefly and then started to pull ahead. He was doing the 10k so I held back. Andy Emerson who was also doing the 5k passed me around the same time so I picked up my pace to keep him close. Several other 10k runners passed me but for the most part they all remained close, while Christian Reed was well ahead of us all.
At the 5k turn around the 10k runners continued on while I followed Andy back towards the rest of the oncoming runners. The next half mile or so was a little dicey as we had to weave amongst the oncoming runners, many of whom seemed unaware of the surroundings.
After we crossed back under Stadium, we crested a small incline and I decided to forge on ahead of Andy, we had about a mile left and I felt I could pick up the pace some. One of these days I’m going to stop playing the tactical game I play where I wait and pace off someone before I push myself into the “red zone”. Anyways, I moved into second position and ended with a strong final mile, finishing with a time of 18:30. Not quite as fast as I wanted to run, but progression in the right direction. 6:14 pace in February, 6:05 pace in March, 5:58 pace in April…