I just ran <a href="http://www.oymp.net/Raceinfo/dw5k.html" target="_blank">this 5k</a> this evening. I had run a 5k on Saturday as well, the <a href="http://www.teterboroairport5k.org/Teterboro/default.htm" target="_blank">Teterboro Airport 5k</a>, in <a href="http://www.compuscore.com/cs2007/july/teterbo1.htm" target="_blank">22:52</a>. I didn't post a race report for that race, but I did post a few pics on <a href="http://kickrunners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7897&page=2" target="_blank">this page</a> of the 30s daily thread over the weekend.<br><br>
Tonight's 5k had easily the largest field I've been involved with for a 5k. The previous largest one was a Turkey Trot last November, which also happened to be where I got my PR, <a href="http://www.hmrrc.com/View/PDFs/Results/06cardiac.htm" target="_blank">22:23</a>. That one had 894 people. This one had an announced field of 2200!! I had gone into this race hoping for a PR, but when I saw how crowded the field was, I thought it might be difficult.<br><br>
Sure enough, it was slow going at the beginning. That's always a bit frustrating. According to my Garmin, I finished the first mile in 7:22. Not terrible, but slow enough that it would be hard to PR. Second mile had a teeny little hill, but nothing too bad. Still, I only managed to increase my pace to 7:16. Seeing that kinda surprised me, because I felt like I ran much faster in that second mile once I was mostly free from the crowd, but I guess not. Finally, I did the third mile in 7:06, which is really where I wanted to be all along.<br><br>
So bottom line... 22:51 (according to the sheet printed out at the race and stuck to the wall). Official results will be online soon, I suppose. But if that time holds up, that means I was <b>one second</b> faster than on Saturday. Well, at least I'm consistent.<br><br>
ETA: Final results are in <a href="http://www.compuscore.com/cs2007/july/westnit1.htm" target="_blank">here</a>, and yup, it's a 22:51. Also, <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=3448928" target="_blank">here's</a> the Google map of the course, just for fun.<br><br>
Anyway, this was billed as a "5k and pizza extravaganza", so I made sure to partake of the free pizza. Well, "free" after paying the registration fee. I didn't take any BobCam shots during the race, but I took a few before and after. Here we go...<br><br>
Here's the crowd before the race. And these are just the people behind me. As I said, largest crowd I've seen at a 5k.<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00232.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br><b>Fort hose</b> who were with me at the New Jersey Marathon weekend this year, there might be a familiar "face" in this shot:<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00229.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
Here I am sampling the 'za after the race. Thankfully I finished in the top 15 or 20% of runners, which meant I was able to get my 4 slices before the lines got too long. This pic is reminiscent of the ones I took during my July 4th bike ride thru New York City, <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Manhattan%20Ride%20July%204%202007/06-CentralParkHotDog.jpg" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Manhattan%20Ride%20July%204%202007/13-SouthStHotDog.jpg" target="_blank">here</a>, only with pizza instead of hot dogs.<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00236.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
They annoucned that they served 600 pizzas. That's a lot of pizzas...<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00239.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
I like the T-shirt they gave out...<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00226.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
Anyway bottom line, no PR. But I felt good, and I think that if the crowd wasn't so dense, I might have been able to go just fast enough to get it. Maybe I just need to enter a smaller race next time. Oh well, I'll take it...<br><br>
.
Tonight's 5k had easily the largest field I've been involved with for a 5k. The previous largest one was a Turkey Trot last November, which also happened to be where I got my PR, <a href="http://www.hmrrc.com/View/PDFs/Results/06cardiac.htm" target="_blank">22:23</a>. That one had 894 people. This one had an announced field of 2200!! I had gone into this race hoping for a PR, but when I saw how crowded the field was, I thought it might be difficult.<br><br>
Sure enough, it was slow going at the beginning. That's always a bit frustrating. According to my Garmin, I finished the first mile in 7:22. Not terrible, but slow enough that it would be hard to PR. Second mile had a teeny little hill, but nothing too bad. Still, I only managed to increase my pace to 7:16. Seeing that kinda surprised me, because I felt like I ran much faster in that second mile once I was mostly free from the crowd, but I guess not. Finally, I did the third mile in 7:06, which is really where I wanted to be all along.<br><br>
So bottom line... 22:51 (according to the sheet printed out at the race and stuck to the wall). Official results will be online soon, I suppose. But if that time holds up, that means I was <b>one second</b> faster than on Saturday. Well, at least I'm consistent.<br><br>
ETA: Final results are in <a href="http://www.compuscore.com/cs2007/july/westnit1.htm" target="_blank">here</a>, and yup, it's a 22:51. Also, <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=3448928" target="_blank">here's</a> the Google map of the course, just for fun.<br><br>
Anyway, this was billed as a "5k and pizza extravaganza", so I made sure to partake of the free pizza. Well, "free" after paying the registration fee. I didn't take any BobCam shots during the race, but I took a few before and after. Here we go...<br><br>
Here's the crowd before the race. And these are just the people behind me. As I said, largest crowd I've seen at a 5k.<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00232.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br><b>Fort hose</b> who were with me at the New Jersey Marathon weekend this year, there might be a familiar "face" in this shot:<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00229.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
Here I am sampling the 'za after the race. Thankfully I finished in the top 15 or 20% of runners, which meant I was able to get my 4 slices before the lines got too long. This pic is reminiscent of the ones I took during my July 4th bike ride thru New York City, <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Manhattan%20Ride%20July%204%202007/06-CentralParkHotDog.jpg" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Manhattan%20Ride%20July%204%202007/13-SouthStHotDog.jpg" target="_blank">here</a>, only with pizza instead of hot dogs.<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00236.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
They annoucned that they served 600 pizzas. That's a lot of pizzas...<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00239.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
I like the T-shirt they gave out...<br><img alt="" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/bobmann/Running_General/DSC00226.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
Anyway bottom line, no PR. But I felt good, and I think that if the crowd wasn't so dense, I might have been able to go just fast enough to get it. Maybe I just need to enter a smaller race next time. Oh well, I'll take it...<br><br>
.
