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This is a local 10k I've done the past several years, one of the handful of 10k's in Cincinnati and typically the first race I do after Jan 1. This year it was particularly crowded (probably 30-400 people vs the typical 200 or so) because the local running store had their Flying Pig training groups show up for the race...they even had pace leaders for a small 10k, which is pretty much unheard of.<br><br>
I was hoping for a top 5 finish and a time close to my PR (35:39) - a PR was a possibility but anything close to it would be fine with me. I saw a local running stud before the race but heard he opted for the the 5k - that automatically moved me up a spot because he would have been several minutes ahead of me had he run the 10k!<br><br>
I saw several friends before the race so I didn't mind as much that - once again, as is this RD's habit - the race started a good 10 minutes late. I did a few run-outs to stay loose and warm and chatted with friends, but it was getting a little cold standing there! Anyway, we finally got started and I was immediately in 2nd place behind a younger guy who was running about the same pace I wanted to. We pulled away from the field fairly quickly so I decided to care less about my time and go for the win (especially since it was pretty windy - I was happy to stay right behind the guy in 1st for a while).<br><br>
1st mile felt fairly comfortable at 5:40 - I think it might have been a little short because with no real change in pace mile #2 was 5:57 which felt slow. So I'm guessing we ran 5:50's for those first 2, and 5:51 was mile 3. I had noticed the guy would get up to 10 yards ahead of me and then next thing I knew he would be a few steps in front of me. During the 3rd mile, I wanted to hear how hard he was breathing so I pulled alongside him for a bit and he seemed to be working hard (so was I, but I'm an old guy!) We hit the turnaround at the halfway point in 18:05 so I know a PR isn't happening, but I felt pretty good about a possibility of a win.<br><br>
Shortly after the turnaround, I drew up alongside him and saw his form wasn't looking as smooth. I kept the same pace and was in front of him so I put on a little burst (partially to show off for my friends who were coming in the opposite direction!) Before I knew it I had 10 yards on the guy so now I figured I was on my own. Mile 4 was 5:45 and mile 5 was 5:49 so I'm holding a pretty steady pace at this point and feeling good. I looked back on a turn and saw he was well behind me which was good news to me! I started to push hard in mile 6 and that was a 5:40 so I was finishing well. I came up on a friend who was pushing his kid in a jogging stroller in the 5k and he started sprinting, yelling "You can't catch me!" It was pretty funny - he hit a mud puddle which I think was like quicksand for him because he started slowing down immediately! My finish time was 35:56 - I don't know what the 2nd place guy ran but I'm guessing 45 seconds behind me or so. An older guy ended up catching the kid who had been leading - a small case of the tortoise and the hare!<br><br>
2 of my friends ran really well - bunch of sandbaggers had said "Oh, I just want to run somewhere around 39 minutes" and then they finished 1:20 and :30 seconds ahead of that! I knew a few other folks in there so afterwards I spent some time catching up and doing a cooldown.<br><br>
All in all - a pretty good start to the race season! It was only my 4th overall win so I'm pretty excited about that. The time could have been a little better but I was very pleased to run negative splits in a 10k (18:05, 17:51) and I felt like I could have gone a little faster or longer if necessary.<br><br>
Thanks for reading!
I was hoping for a top 5 finish and a time close to my PR (35:39) - a PR was a possibility but anything close to it would be fine with me. I saw a local running stud before the race but heard he opted for the the 5k - that automatically moved me up a spot because he would have been several minutes ahead of me had he run the 10k!<br><br>
I saw several friends before the race so I didn't mind as much that - once again, as is this RD's habit - the race started a good 10 minutes late. I did a few run-outs to stay loose and warm and chatted with friends, but it was getting a little cold standing there! Anyway, we finally got started and I was immediately in 2nd place behind a younger guy who was running about the same pace I wanted to. We pulled away from the field fairly quickly so I decided to care less about my time and go for the win (especially since it was pretty windy - I was happy to stay right behind the guy in 1st for a while).<br><br>
1st mile felt fairly comfortable at 5:40 - I think it might have been a little short because with no real change in pace mile #2 was 5:57 which felt slow. So I'm guessing we ran 5:50's for those first 2, and 5:51 was mile 3. I had noticed the guy would get up to 10 yards ahead of me and then next thing I knew he would be a few steps in front of me. During the 3rd mile, I wanted to hear how hard he was breathing so I pulled alongside him for a bit and he seemed to be working hard (so was I, but I'm an old guy!) We hit the turnaround at the halfway point in 18:05 so I know a PR isn't happening, but I felt pretty good about a possibility of a win.<br><br>
Shortly after the turnaround, I drew up alongside him and saw his form wasn't looking as smooth. I kept the same pace and was in front of him so I put on a little burst (partially to show off for my friends who were coming in the opposite direction!) Before I knew it I had 10 yards on the guy so now I figured I was on my own. Mile 4 was 5:45 and mile 5 was 5:49 so I'm holding a pretty steady pace at this point and feeling good. I looked back on a turn and saw he was well behind me which was good news to me! I started to push hard in mile 6 and that was a 5:40 so I was finishing well. I came up on a friend who was pushing his kid in a jogging stroller in the 5k and he started sprinting, yelling "You can't catch me!" It was pretty funny - he hit a mud puddle which I think was like quicksand for him because he started slowing down immediately! My finish time was 35:56 - I don't know what the 2nd place guy ran but I'm guessing 45 seconds behind me or so. An older guy ended up catching the kid who had been leading - a small case of the tortoise and the hare!<br><br>
2 of my friends ran really well - bunch of sandbaggers had said "Oh, I just want to run somewhere around 39 minutes" and then they finished 1:20 and :30 seconds ahead of that! I knew a few other folks in there so afterwards I spent some time catching up and doing a cooldown.<br><br>
All in all - a pretty good start to the race season! It was only my 4th overall win so I'm pretty excited about that. The time could have been a little better but I was very pleased to run negative splits in a 10k (18:05, 17:51) and I felt like I could have gone a little faster or longer if necessary.<br><br>
Thanks for reading!
