St Pats 5Km March 13, 05 @ U of C
70th of 449 overall - 9th of 33 Men 20-29 - official time 30:32 at a 9:19 min/mile pace
Well my day did not start on the right foot. I met a guy Friday night at the Team X Brick night that said he would pick me up at 9:00 to save me from having to take transit. I waited until 9:06 and then ran to the C-Train station to just miss the northbound train. It is a 31-minute trip to UofC on a normal day. When I got off there was another guy also running to get to the start line, it was kind of funny both of us panicking that were late.
I arrived in time to line up and bumped into Pam from work and her husband Todd. I also saw a few people from different groups from Kensington including Julie my learn to run instructor. The organizers had changed the course this year and I think it worked better. You had a bit of a hill to go up right at the start that thinned out everyone. We actually had a lane to run in and I didn’t even see a city bus to get in anyone’s way this year. The Police Recruits were their again, there was a lot more of them, and I beat them all again HA!!
I was shocked to hear one of the last volunteers standing before the last corner saying this is the 5K mark. I looked at my watch and it said 28:30, not bad last year was 27:05. I was pleasantly surprised that my winter of swimming did not have as adverse effect on my training as I thought it might. I crossed the line at 30:52 according to my watch. I even pushed the last few meters in a sprint finish with a lady in a red jacket. It was a downhill to the end and she passed me and was trying to pass a second person. That last little kick I had left I passed both of them. I only had one walk break at the water station so I think it was a vast improvement over last year.
I was worried about the lines for food from last year so Pam Todd and I went inside. The food was ready and easy to get to. They had pre-drawn bib #’s for the prizes and for the second race I was one damned number off of winning something!!! The hall was starting to fill and me thinking I wouldn’t know anyone, I got myself a ride from Pam and we all took off. As we left I ran into Shirley my other instructor from Learn to Run and Christy. As I write this I am kicking myself for not listening to Pam when she said that is why I am still single I should stay and drink beer. Why can’t I ever take a hint???
It was a good run this time!!!
