6:15 PM - Temperature was 78 and sunny, with high humidity. I was anxious about today's race because it's the first race I've done in 18 months since my New Year's half marathon in 2008. I won't lie. I had butterflies in my stomach as I changed and laced up into my racing attire. Jonny came with me. With an entry fee of $4 (most of which goes to benefit the Wilton Wildlife Conservation effort) how could you NOT go run through a hilly, muddy, obstacle-laden course?! Man I was so looking forward to today! Picked up my friend Jonathan in Saratoga on the way and could tell he was stoked too. The three of us got there about 35 mins before the race started. We went and signed in. Very low key race so we don't have bib numbers or anything. You get your finishing time on an index card and you write your name and age on there afterwards.
Warm up: Did a short .5 mile warm up in 4:33 (9:40 pace) with Jonny and Jonathan. Felt pretty good. Feet were a little sore form two days of being on my feet all day at the Jazz festival. Got back to the starting area and stretched out. Saw my seventh grade English teacher. :). Stretched and got in the back of the back of 65 or so runners I'd estimate. I didn't want to be over zealous. Decided that I would hang in the back, and work my way up.
THE RACE!:
Mile 1: (8:12) - Started dead last right next to Jonathan. We started talking as we jogged off on our adventure. Within 200 m there are two somewhat substantial climbs and people were already dropping back to us and walking up the hill. We pressed on and he told me, "Benn, since you're more experienced with this stuff and since this is my first race I'll let you do the pacing." I tried to step up to the cause. All the miles and hours I've logged on the bike have certainly helped me develop metronome-like cadence when it comes to pacing. After two hills it opened up to a flat and the trail was pretty sandy. I love this course because it has everything: hills, roots, water hazards, dirt, mud, embankments, logs and stumps! Having a blast at this point.
Mile 2: (8:12) - Jonathan and I parted ways. He went off to chase down Jonny and/or several lovely young ladies that had been running in front of us. I tucked into a group of 4 runners. Let them set the pace a bit. Was starting to feel the heat and humidity, especially as mile 2 is predominantly all uphill. Kept cool and collected though. It was nice to be in the moment.
Mile 3: (8:17) - Right before the start of mile 3 the route crosses the road and you enter what I consider the best part of the course. There are a couple more hills, but then the last .5 miles is all downhill. At one point you are literally turning head over heels it's so steep. I saw two runners up ahead and set my eyes on them. I picked off the man first. He seemed to be slowing. Perhaps I was speeding up though. A cheetah on the prowl!. The lady in pink was next. Caught her at the bottom of a downhill. Weaved my way through the woods and got to the last huge downhill section, only it is single track and I got caught behind a guy. Followed him until the dam at the end of mile 3, and sprinted in for the finish. He later apologized for not moving over to which I said, "Hey! You beat me to the top of the trail fair and square. Besides you paced me for the last half mile!" He smiled :).
.12 (:47) 5:38 pace - Kicked it in across the dam, up and to the right, through the flags. A couple people were cheering. Ran all the way to the tape, thinking that someone might come up behind me. Ended up in 21st place (of 66 total runners) in a time of 25:25!!! Going into the race I had hoped 27:00 with a good performance of 26:00. My time was awesome! They say to add 10-20% to your road time for the 5k because it's so hilly and all the obstacles. I had such a blast and am happy that this shows good things are to come!
Total Time: 25:25 Total Distance: 3.12 miles Average Pace: 8:08 / mile
Cool Down: After getting a drink of water I went with Jonny (13th place) and Jonathan (15th place) up to the 2 mile marker via the road so that we could retrieve Jonny's shirt. I joked that Jonny was trying to impress the ladies too by taking his shirt off. He said, "Yeah right. The only people around me were old hairy men!" Jogged back down to the finish line and watched the raffle. They always have cool useful stuff (i.e. pringles, popcorn, lint roller, fly tape, bug spray) stuff that real people need. Had a true blast today! Total cooldown was .72 miles in 7:08 (9:52 pace). | 
