Good race today, challenging course. 40:14 was good enough for1st place age group. Ever since we started running the Turkey Trot here, I've always wanted to do this race but was never able to for various reasons. So, today I finally was able to run it. I was hoping to break 40 minutes and maybe even PR. The race was very well put together and organized. Lots of volunteers, good food at the end and even a bit tent for the pancake breakfast.
Splits (garmin): 6:28, 6:19, 6:20, 6:30, 6:29, 6:34, 1:34 (0.27 @ 5:54)
Called out times : mile 2 - 12:50,mile 3 - 19:13, mile 5 - 32:10, mile 6 - 38:55, mile 6.1 - 39:39 Warmed up with a little bit over 3 miles of easy running and a few strides. About 30 minutes before the race, the rain started. Not very hard, just a sprinkle. I waited in my truck for a bit to stay warm. Got out and re-warmed up a little bit before lining up. The course starts in Coachman park and immediately goes up a short climb, turn right, go straight for a while and then up the Clearwater Memorial Bridge over the intracoastal waterway. My friend Pat was there, so we were running together for the first couple of miles. Pace was bouncing around 6:15 and 6:20 until we hit the bridge, then slowed down a little bit as we hit the peak. Picked up speed on the way down the bridge. Tried to stay smooth and not get carried away. Was happy with the second mile but didn't want to get too used to the downhill. Mile 3 was still feeling pretty good. Shortly after 3 was the turn around. I had been trailing several people and slowly caught up and passed them after the turnaround. However, I had slowed down a little bit, but passing people made me feel like I had sped up. Mile 4 was in 6:30, I think I lost some focus. For mile 5 I kept telling myself to stay smooth and relaxed. I was able to bring my pace closer to where I wanted it, recovering from mid 6:30's to just under 6:30. The mile 5 marker was at the base of the bridge. Time to go back up (about a 75 foot climb). Pace slowed but I was passing some more people. Hung on until the peak as best I could. Back down the other side, but then the course turns off onto the helix. It was pretty thick with 5K walkers, but they did a pretty good job of staying to one side. However, going down the helix, fast runners had to stay to the left, which meant you had to cover a little more distance since you couldn't hug the railing. At the bottom of the helix, you go back up again, maybe about a 30 or 40 foot climb. Around this point a 17 year old male passed me going at a pretty good clip. Got to the top of the street and went through an intersection where they had police directing traffic. An older lady with white hair nearly strolled into me while crossing the street. A police officer yelled at her to watch out, to which she replied "he can go around me". That may be true, however I would have hated to find out what would have happened if I didn't successfully dodge her. Finally, approaching the end of the 6th mile. A volunteer called out the time - 38:55, ok, very slight chance of making sub 40:00, let's see what I can do. The last 0.1 is back down the same hill we started up. As I was running down as fast as I could, a lady (maybe mid 20's) jumped out of the crowd, and ran with a friend of hers doing the 5K, but instead of finishing, ran back to the outside and nearly ran into me, missing by inches. So, it was at least a small improvement over my last 10K time of 40:33, although that one was done at midnight on July 4th, this course had its challenges too. Had some pancakes, and stayed for the awards. My running friend Eudair from the Striders, took the female masters award, and another one of the Striders, Marcia took 1st place age group (35-39). Several other Striders were there also, but I don't remember all the times and awards. So, the only complaint, at all, was they ran out of coffee before I was able to get any. Everything else was perfect, and the coffee would have been a non-issue if it wasn't feeling chilly out (mid 50's with rain while wearing running clothes starts feeling cold once you stop running)
| 