This morning Scott (the Red Rooster) picked me up and we went and ran the Race for Ability 5K. This is a 5K/10K fun run that is a fundraiser for Common Ground Outdoor Adventures, a local non-profit that does outdoor recreation with people with disabilities. I was not really looking for a race today, but I like Common Ground (glad to give them $15), and a 5K time trial sounded like a good workout. Plus I wanted to continue breaking in my Saucony Type A's, as I have hopes to wear them for a half marathon.
The event is up on the USU campus, and consists of a 5K loop. 10K runners would run the loop twice, but 10K's are lame, so I don't think anyone elected to do that. People also had to option to bike, roll (wheelchair), or walk. One of Common Ground's main themes is inclusion, and many of the event participants were people with disabilities (most biked or rolled). We warmed up by running the course completely wrong. Plus, they had to change the course at the last minute due to campus construction (imagine that...USU under construction), which made our warmup even more wrong. Backwards too. Registration took forever, and the race started half an hour late, but I was too busy chit-chatting to really notice or care. Ah, the local fun run. Finally they started the race (via PA system powered by a stationary bicycle...no carbon footprint). 5K, 10K, walkers, rollers, and bikers all started at the same time from the same start line. Again, the theme of inclusion. The New York Marathon should take notes. There were probably about 75 people. Myself and a couple other guys sprinted out in front and made it to the first corner, which was only about 50 meters in, due to the course change. We did not want to get cut off by the kids on bikes. There is so much new strategy to this kind of start. The course left the USU HYPER building and entered the cemetary to the north. It was pretty much madness for the first half mile. The route took several 90-degree corners, and two guys on bikes were right there. This kid behind me was shouting and saying "whoo! whoo!" over and over. Finally he passed me on a straightaway, but then took a big digger on a corner when he took it too hard and bumped into the other bike guy. The other bike guy stayed up, yelled at the kid, and then took off for good. The kid was okay. I thought about stopping, but looked back and he was already getting up. I suppose this is why most serious races don't allow kids on bicycles. By this point I had separated myself from the next runner by about 10 seconds, and the first bike guy was about 5-10 seconds ahead of me, where he remained the rest of the race. The route finally spat out of the cemetary, and we headed back toward campus. The first mile was 5:04, according to my garmin, but with all the turns I imagine that was a few seconds fast. There were no mile markers, so this was better than nothing though. After the first mile there were fewer turns and no craziness around me, so I could just focus on running. Mile 2 was 5:01. I felt pretty good, but had no speed, similar to my Top of Utah 5K race last fall. I suppose that comes from doing no speedwork. I was hoping to run somewhere in the low-16's, and I probably would have, except the finish line arrived before the 5K mark. Or even the 3-mile mark. According to my garmin, I ran 14:59 for 2.95 miles. Scott's garmin read 2.85 miles. So I'll split the difference and call the race 2.9 miles. Probably 60-70 seconds short, so I would have had around a 16:00 to 16:10. I'm happy with that. My last "mile" was 5:06-pace. I'm pretty sure the original course was a real 5K, or at least close, but the last-minute detour definitely fell short. But I would rather run shorter than longer (it's easier). Chit-chatted a little bit after the race, and then Scott and I took off pretty quick to get the rest of our miles. We ran from campus to the start of the single-track of the River Trail (which is in great shape right now). 8 miles total for the cooldown, at about 7:45/mile pace.
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