09/03/2012 - Warwick 5 Mile Race

Race Date: Monday September 3rd, 2012
Race Name: 21st Annual Warwick Lions Club 5 Mile Race
Race Price: $20
Race Description: A loop starting at the Warwick Middle School on local roads with some small hills.
Race Location: Warwick Middle School - 225 West Street, Warwick, NY

  

Race Distance: 5 miles
Distance Traveled: 46.2 miles

Race Time: 9:00am
Weather: Cloudy and around 70

Swag: T-Shirt, Pencil, Flower Seed Packets
Food & Drink: Water | Fruit | Bagels | Cookies
Number of Participants: 87
Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/12/ny/Sep3_21stAn_set2.shtml

My Results

Time: 35:53.8
Pace: 7:11
Place: 8 of 87
Men (Age 30-39): 1 of 1






Personal Race Info
Pre-Run: 2 Tums
                 Salt Stick Plus Pill
                 Gatorade w/ Chia Seeds
                 Hammer Gel

During-Run: N/A

    I woke up feeling tired but also feeling pretty good. I had a homemade fresh juice slushie for breakfast and that just really helps to start the day off good. The hour ride to the race was tough cause I was feeling pretty tired. It was a nice morning for a drive though and much better than driving to work.
    Arrived at the school, parked and picked up my bag w/ my t-shirt. Warmed up a bit around the school and again was feeling pretty good about the race. I was really happy to see that they had a timing reader at the start. This meant that I didn't need to make sure I was at the front of the starting pack. There was a ton of people at this race but most of them were doing the 5k. While I was waiting for the race to start I made some chit chat with another racer who was very nice.
    The race started and since I was so far back the initial couple hundred feet were really slow. Then I did my best to sprint around people so I could make up some time and not get stuck. Luckily about 3/4 of a mile in the 5 mile racers split from the 5k racers and things definitely sped up. The guy I was talking to before the start had another racer he trained with head up to the front of the starting line and I knew my goal was to catch and pass him. After I made it through the initial group of 5k'ers I spotted him out in front by a couple hundred yards. It took me about 3 miles to catch up to him but I finally overtook him on a hill.
    Something happened in the last mile I have never experienced before. As I was coming up to pass another runner she tripped on her foot and fell face first to the pavement. It seemed like it happened in slow motion and there was nothing I could do about it. She was an older lady and I wasn't sure what to do but stop and try to comfort her. Luckily there were other people around to help out and once they took over I headed back on my run. It probably cost me about 30 seconds off my overall time but did somewhat kill my focus.

    Coming into the last quarter mile I passed a few more people that had been keeping up with my pace but I really pushed to the end. Again, I think I could probably push a bit harder during the race since I usually have energy left at the end. It was a nice sprint to the end though. I always feel bad when I pass young kids right at the end of the race but I wanted the best time I could get.
     The food and music was pretty good at the end. I ate some watermelon, a bagel with pb&j and a local apple which was delicious. I'm so happy it's apple picking season. Gonna have to go picking so I can have some fresh apples to juice and eat during the day.

    I took a few pictures around the school but there wasn't too much scenery.

    Overall this was a really well run race. I guess with 20 years of experience they know what they are doing now. I'm happy to say I won my first age group! Of course there may have only been 1 person in my age group but a win is a win. It's surprising that there was no one else in my age group since normally it's a tough group. Nice to bring home a gold medal. I also met someone at the end of the race who is doing the Wineglass Marathon coming up at the end of the month so that was kinda cool. Next weekends races are going to be tough...look forward to those posts.