Happy Birthday Baby - Starbucks Hazel 5k Race Report

We can this about the weather: It could have been worse. On the drive out, there were a few patches of some serious rain, but actually on course, it was a light drizzle, and the cool weather made it fairly nice. What wind there was would be right in our faces for much of the race, but that's always a risk on these point to point races.

Due to a lack of parking by the race finish, we had to bus to the start (and from the finish) from the Cawthra Community Centre. I hopped on one of the first buses, so I would have a chance to warm-up. I got about 3.5km in my legs when I noticed that there was a huge crowd already at the start, 30 minutes before the gun. This is my one complaint with these events, the lack of proper seeding. I think it's fantastic that so many kids come out and participate in the 5k and 10k, but they need to know that there's no reason for them to be right on the line when the gun goes off. So I cut my warm-up short to try to fit in as close as I could.

With today being my little girl's first birthday, and her not able to come watch due to a cold and inclement weather, I made a silent little promise to her to run my best, and maybe bring her home a prize.

Once the gun sounded, there were a bunch of kids taking off like a shot, at a pace they wouldn't be able to hold for more than 400m. I dodged through them as best I could, knowing that I'd be back from any leaders. Once the pace settled, I proceeded to pick through the people who went out too fast. My goal was 18:45, a pace of 3:45/km. Things went well for the first couple of kilometres, but mentally I started to slip through the rest of the race. As the course is generally flat, it shouldn't have been an issue to keep the pressure on, but in my training this spring I don't think I did enough work where I really rode that edge. That will come as I do more work over the summer. All of the turns were the biggest hindrance to a quick time, although it did seem like a feeder for the stragglers. Every corner brought a new opportunity to chase someone down. Even though my pace was slipping, I was still outperforming those around me as I worked my way up the standings.

As the finish line came into view, the clock was showing 18:42. I knew 18:45 was out of reach, but I needed to kick to get sub-19. The distance wasn't closing as quickly as the seconds were ticking by, but with a last effort I hit the timing mat with 18:59 on display.

Official results:
18:59.4 Gun time, 18:56.1 Chip time
8/1141 OA, 1/39 AG

I still haven't quite made my goals for the spring, which was 18:low, or at least 18:45. I'll take another couple of swings over the summer to hit that mark.

But I can't complain too much. I did set a PB for the distance, I held effort a lot better than two weeks ago at Forest City, and I did get my little one a prize. Someday, if she asks, that will be the medal from the race Daddy won on her first birthday.