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TXU Energy Turkey Trot - 5k - Run5k


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Houston, Texas
United States
Sheltering Arms Senior Services
60F / 16C
Overcast
Total Time = 36m 40s
Overall Rank = 1395/2009
Age Group = Male 40-44
Age Group Rank = 59/81
Pre-race routine:

Ate some peanutbutter crackers and drank coffee and water, huge race so took some time to find parking, think we parked in a restricted area, but no issues.
Event warmup:

Ran a couple of laps around a sidewalk area between two buildings.
Run
  • 36m 40s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 11m 47s  min/mile
Comments:

I ran side by side with my wife for this run. Generally that means I'm running slower than normal, but on this course she picked up speed to evade the crowd, and I slowed down to not over run them.

The first half mile was really crowded and we came to a walk several times. The second half mile we drafted off of a relatively fast, and much more agressive runner who parted the way for us. They slowed down and we started picking up other runners to draft off of.

Of course this was drafting not for aerodynamic benefit, but for crowd control.

We stopped for water at the 2nd water stop around mile 2 and walked the water station, then the crowd started to thin enough that we were able to run the last mile at our own pace.

Out side of the crowds my wife actually ran a good clip, dropping down to around a 10 minute mile pace at times.

This was still a PR for me as last year I walked probably half the race. It was before I started training for Tri's and before I took running seriously.
What would you do differently?:

1) Run the 10k - should be fewer walkers
2) Get near the front of the pack to start. At least in the front 1/4th.
3) For best time Pace with wife for first 1/4th to 1/2 race, then pick up speed.

Post race
Warm down:

Waiting in line to cross the finish was enough of a warm down. Coffee and bannana after that.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Crowds. In addition I have some leg pain I'm nursing and don't want to over do right now.

Event comments:

This race is WAY WAY over crowded. They need to:
1) Open the course up wider Especially the first mile till things thin out.
2) Seperate the start times for the timed, and untimed 5k, or better yet have a corral near the front for those who have completed a 5k in under an hour in the past year.
3) Provide a "stroller division" and seperate start time for those pushing or accompaning a stroller. Nothing against the strollers, but there are a lot of them and they are very easy to trip over in the crowd. Plus I think having a prize for the fastest stroller kid could be fun.





Last updated: 2011-11-24 12:00 AM
Running
00:36:40 | 03.11 miles | 11m 47s  min/mile
Age Group: 81/81
Overall: 1395/2009
Performance: Average
1) 12:33 2) 11:54 3) 10:50 4) 9:24 (.15 miles) Clock time showed 37:23 - but the extra minute was the crowd at the finish line.
Course: Incredibly crowded 5k on the streets around the Houston Galeria. The course is setup to have the runners in the inside lane and turn lane on a number of 4 lane roads. The course was so crowded that despite the efforts of police it expanded to cover all lanes, and still was too crowded to run at times. We started near the back of the pack and it was 2.5 miles before there were more runners than walkers. The 10k starts 30 minutes before the 5k, and rejoins the 5k for the last 1.5 miles. The finish line was so crowded we came to a standstill a good 10 feet from the cross over. It probably added an extra 2 minutes to our time.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Too easy
Organized? No
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 2

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2011-11-24 11:57 AM

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