GT350H
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Athens Duck & Run 5K
Exercise: A cool, drizzly morning upon rising bode pretty well for temps at this race put on by Tanjie Scrimsher in Athens, AL. A new course (soon to be certified) added one extra turn. My GPS measured 3.14 miles, so it was within the "fudge factor" range. I was feeling pretty good about my chances based on the pre-registration list. But on race, day Brandon Black showed up (he passed me and Carl Smith in the last mile of the Lexington race few weeks ago), and 15 minutes before race time perennial winner Tyrone Harris showed up (having already ran 5+ mile just to get to the start). Tyrone has been doing 90 mile weeks in marathon training, so I knew he would probably dominate the race.
The race starts out acroos the street from Athens State University, then makes a right as it heads into the business district (Jefferson Street). I tried to be very conservative in the first mile, which I hit in 6:02. At this point Tyrone and another Master's runner visiting from SC were well ahead (Tyrone said he hit the first mile in 5:05). I was right with Brandon at the one mile mark. just beyond the mark was a slight incline at which point I passed Brandon and kept him at bay for the next 1.5 miles. I hit the 2 mile mark at 12:20 (6:18 split). We made our way through the old downtown portion of Athens and then headed back east, up a hill under the railroad track. Traffic control was pretty poor at this point - we had to swerve from side to side to miss the oncoming cars. Going up this hill Brandon passed me back and opened up a slight gap that I was not able to cover. I finished in 19:18, 4th overall (out of 112) and 1st in my age group. I was 19 seconds slower than last year, but then Brandon was about 24 seconds slower than his Lexington run. Results are here.
Fellow blogger Eric Patterson also won his age group in just his 4th race ever! (20:39)
That elusive sub 19 minute 5K for this year is still just out of my grasp. This was my 12th 5K this year with finished time between 19:00 and 19:30. Somehwere I've got to find 5 seconds per mile or the ability to hurt a little more...
Total mileage for week : 6.62
Total mileage for month : 77.35
The race starts out acroos the street from Athens State University, then makes a right as it heads into the business district (Jefferson Street). I tried to be very conservative in the first mile, which I hit in 6:02. At this point Tyrone and another Master's runner visiting from SC were well ahead (Tyrone said he hit the first mile in 5:05). I was right with Brandon at the one mile mark. just beyond the mark was a slight incline at which point I passed Brandon and kept him at bay for the next 1.5 miles. I hit the 2 mile mark at 12:20 (6:18 split). We made our way through the old downtown portion of Athens and then headed back east, up a hill under the railroad track. Traffic control was pretty poor at this point - we had to swerve from side to side to miss the oncoming cars. Going up this hill Brandon passed me back and opened up a slight gap that I was not able to cover. I finished in 19:18, 4th overall (out of 112) and 1st in my age group. I was 19 seconds slower than last year, but then Brandon was about 24 seconds slower than his Lexington run. Results are here.
Fellow blogger Eric Patterson also won his age group in just his 4th race ever! (20:39)
That elusive sub 19 minute 5K for this year is still just out of my grasp. This was my 12th 5K this year with finished time between 19:00 and 19:30. Somehwere I've got to find 5 seconds per mile or the ability to hurt a little more...
Total mileage for week : 6.62
Total mileage for month : 77.35
posted by mgreene at 4:42 PM
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