Part of the 50th anniversary celebration of Tumwater High School. Race put on by coach Rich Brown and Club Oly. $15 preregistered with my Club Oly discount. Cotton T-Shirt. Flat course on the streets, finishing on the track. Unfortunately we have a fairly heavy rain coming down. It is a little breezy and feels cold. It is a short race so I am in my shorts and singlet.Get in almost two miles of warm up and my legs feel ready, but my right hand is slightly numb.
Small event. The entire cross country team and the girl's volleyball team is running so it seems like mostly kids. Hey now there is a surprise; my new arch nemesis is here! In my previous two races Mark and I finished with no runners between us. He beat me by a few seconds at the Run Like a Dog 5K and I beat him by a few steps at the Narrows 10 miler. Nice that we get to talk a bit before the race.
Start - Just a few minutes late. I would like to get going with this cold rain. We are off soon enough. Big group of High School runners charges forth. I get boxed in a little but am not concerned, there will be plenty of time to sort out.
Mile 1 - 6:46. Feeling great and am even with Mark. But now it gets tougher and I slow some. He gradually pulls away and soon I doubt that I will catch back up to him. Turned into the wind, dodging some puddles and just not feeling my best. I did run 57 miles last week which is a lot for me. I have PRd at the half and 10 miles recently but it looks like that is not going to translate into a faster 5K time. Losing steam but grinding along.
Mile 2 - 7:04 average pace. Catch a HS runner who is barely breathing hard at all. I mention that he does not seem to be working as hard as me and he says that Coach told them to take this as a tempo run, but most of his team seems to be racing it. Now Mark is directly in front of me and it looks like he is not gaining any more distance. It is early but I decide to really push it now and see if I can catch him. I gain some ground but not enough.
Mile 3.1 - For the third race in a row we will come in directly after one another. Turn on to the track finish and sprint as best I can. I managed to run the third mile faster than the second but my finish time is a little disappointing. GPS reads 3.1. Watch some finishers then jog a little with Tammy. Raffles (but I do not win) and medals to the top in each age group. I am second in my age group, behind Mark. We do not know when we will face off again but I look forward to that day when it comes. Thanks Rich, Erin, Billy, Shannon, Sabrina, Terra and others for putting this event on. If only it had not been raining and if I could have run just a little faster, I would have enjoyed it even more.
21:54
13th of ??
Race #249, 5K#64
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