2018 Race Recap #12: Celtic 5k

I haven’t been “into” 5k’s very much in some time – I run my running club’s weekly 5k races, but other than that I haven’t been seeking them out. I’m trying to be more of a longer distance runner — I’ll choose a longer distance over the shorter most times.  I was asked to run with the primary sponsor, Sneakerama, so why wouldn’t I do that?

As an aside, Sneakerama is a small, local business that just does some really great running centric stuff: Steve sponsors a lot of local races, does a free weekly “fun run” from the store, packet pick ups for races.  Things like that.  And look at the Yelp and Google reviews. Steve conducts his business the way you would hope a business owner would: he gives back to the community, and doing good by the community is always good business.

The Celtic 5k is part of a trifecta of “St. Patricks Day” races in the area, and there’s usually a pretty big turn out so they do a nice job of swag.  It’s a fun take.  The best part of the day was that the family got involved too: the kids both registered and my wife volunteered giving out the Celtic FC stylized shirts.

 

It’s a very simple, flat(ish) and fast, out-and-back course.  As a large race, it caters to runners of all skill levels and abilities: it’s more about the party than the race itself, and that’s fine.  As I said earlier, it’s a good time. When you’re finished, you get some finisher swag, a bottle of water, perhaps a banana or a slice or two of pizza if you want it.  Beer? Hell, yeah. This is Worcester.  There are no less than 15 official after-parties and a beer garden.

A quick warm-up around Worcester’s Elm Park and I was ready to go.  Good as clockwork, the National Anthem played, and at 11 AM sharp, the horn sounded.

The first mile was smooth.  I thought it would be more difficult getting past some of the slower folks that some how decided it was a good idea to crowd the finish line, but it didn’t play out that way.  Dodged and weaved, ultimately finding some clear running room.  When my watch buzzed after a mile, I couldn’t believe how fast a pace I was running: 6:58. Mile 2 was a little less speedy, about 7:2.  I was struggling a bit as the first mile and a half or so was a slow ride down hill, a turn around to start the out and back meant that the distance we’d been running slightly downhill was now slightly uphill…although when I’m going up, it always seems far more significantly up than it was going down.  #Perception.

Now into mile 3, I was definitely feeling it and were I not racing I would have slowed, walked, or maybe even paused the Garmin, today I pushed through. Where yesterday I emotionally gave up, today I doubled down.  I was angry with myself after the race yesterday and I was determined not to be that guy again today. I was far too close to a personal record that I was not going to give it up.

Over that last mile, I went back and forth with one of the guys from my running club. He usually bests me and the fact that I was even close to him was exciting (and yes, he’s in his 60’s and crushing it on a regular basis. He went by me at the turn, I went by him a little before the second mile marker, he came up behind me and offered some encouragement as he went by, and just past the Mile 3 marker, the finish line in sight, I pushed through, passed him, and crossed the line in a personal best 22:46.  My goal was to beat yesterday’s time, and get as close to 23-Minutes as possible.  I was suffering at the end, I mean it took a LOT to push that last 0.1 mile, but it happened for me today.  Who knows if I’ll ever run another 5k that fast, it’s not easy for a squat guy with stubby legs to move that quickly – a runners’ build I do not have – so I will cherish the feeling of today.

Results:

Overall: 91/2054
M: 77/825
M 40-49: 16/203