Pretty big crowd (about 700) for the alley start so I got near the front for the cannon shot to start the race. First mile was good, right at 6:00. Was doing well until the turn around when I apparently crawled around the cone and lost 4 seconds off my pace *AGH*. Mile 2 was 6:15 but that was somewhat expected with the slow turn around. Felt pretty good so picked up the pace a little bit in the third mile. Passed 3-4 folks in the last 1/4 mile but had one *youngster* come from behind and pass me in the last 200 yards. Tried to catch him as I love a good chase but my legs disagreed. Was pretty pissed watching my garmin distance climb to 3.2 miles which really screwed with my pace that I had set out for. I must have taken the corners terribly wide as my watch pace was 6:05/m but my race pace was 6:14/m. Oh well. Still a PR but slightly over my *best case* senerio of breaking 19:00. Then again, considering I was in vacation mode for eating/drinking, I will take it.



I was in week 4 of marathon training and haven't done anything resembling speedwork in months. Also wouldn't run 13 miles at a good clip before the race either.

Downed a gatorade and jogged back the course to bring in my wife who was also racing. With a four year old, we hardly ever get to do races together, so it was fun runner her in (she also PR'ed). After the race we hung a bit to see if I placed in my AG since I figured I was close. Results came out and saw I got 2nd in my AG so we hung around until the awards ceremony. Free, unlimited beer, sure kept a lot of people around for the awards! ;-) I have never seen an awards ceremony so crowded! Got my AG medal and headed home. After getting back, the official results had changed and I went from 2nd in AG to 3rd (not sure how that happened, but anywho).


Lack of speedwork and in the middle of marathon training.


Most everything was great except the lack of porta potties. Everyone had to use the JImmy's Grill bathrooms which was not equiped for 700 runners. Guys line was fine, womens was a mile long. Post race was fantastic. Free beer, decent food, shade, and a decent medal for AG awards. Will probably race again next year.

I picked this race because I was looking for a cool, flat, and fast summer 5k to try and PR. I don't like 5k's too much anymore as I haven't really trained for them (mostly HIM training this year) and this one fit the bill.