Indy Mini Marathon, short report for now, maybe more later.
Great course, very flat with just a few tiny hills. Weather was perfect, 50 degrees and low humidity, no wind. No rain.
I had about an hour to warm up. The elites got to use the NCAA headquarters to stretch out, stay warm, and use the bathroom. A good early sign was that this was a 3-star race for me.
Went out to the start line about 15 minutes before the start, and listened to the singing of "Back Home Again in Indiana" (a classic), the National Anthem, and the pre-race prayer. The wheelchair racers started, and then the runners started a few minutes later. Before the start, I tried to look back on the 35,000 runners, but couldn't see much.
The race went out slow, first mile was 5:22. I was running with Sean Sundwall and a local guy, about in 10th place. The next 2 miles were 5:08. I decided that was too fast for me, and backed off Sean and the other guy. However, the next mile was 5:08 again, so I guess my strategy of backing off failed. Eventually, I settled into 10th place, according to the spectator feedback, and hit 5:14-5:17 for most of the rest of the way.
Ran alone for the next 8 miles (so not much to say about it), watching Sean and the other guy about 20 seconds ahead of me, and trying to key on them. I also noticed that a Kenyan was very slowly dropping back way out ahead. Around Mile 10, I got passed, which dropped me from the money (not that I really care; money is just gravy). But around Mile 11, Sean and the other guy ate up the Kenyan who had been falling back, and he was coming back to me too. With 600 meters to go, I finally came up along the trail-leg of the Kenyan, but he sensed me and took off, and I could not catch him. So I settled for 11th place, but more importantly I got a 50 second PR, which of course you can't put a price tag on.
5K in 16:15, 10K in 32:25, 15K in 48:45. Mile splits 5:22, 5:08, 5:08, 5:08, 5:14, 5:13, 5:15, 5:17, 5:14, 5:15, 5:12, 5:19, 5:17, 0:27.
Very awesome event, highly recommended. The course was not particularly pretty, but it was fast, fast, fast. There were time clocks at every mile mark, chip splits for 5M and 10M, and also clocks at 5K, 10K, and 15K. Crowd support was good. Although there was never a mob of spectators, it was pretty much continuous the entire way. There were lots of bands and even cheerleaders all over the place. The worst part of the race was probably running around the Indianapolis 500 Speedway. I thought this would be cool, but it was very boring and mentally challenging, and there were no spectators here, other than aid stations and high school cheerleading teams. The straightaways were very long and...straight. The curves were very long too. I thought it would never end.
Positives of my race:
- Feel like I performed to my potential, and close to best possible outcome, in terms of both time and placing.
- Did not slow down much during second half; very even splits, despite aggressive Miles 2-4.
- One of my fastest 10K times in years, as a split
- 15K PR.
- Obviously, a great PR that I am very happy with, and is my best souvenir of the trip (we all collect PR's don't we?)
Negatives of my race:
- Was not able to finish the deal. You never want to come up on someone near the end of the race, after working on the person for miles and miles, and then not beat them. Top 10 would have been really sweet, not for the $100, but because Top 10 is simply cooler than Top 15. I'll reiterate that I'm really happy with my race, but kicking down the 10th place guy would have made it complete.
Here's some coverage from the Indy news station. If you look hard, you can see Sean and I at the start:
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/500_festival/mini_marathon/2009_Mini_Marathon_5
And there's some good footage of me getting outkicked, and some better footage of Sean's finish (late in video, past the 5:00 mark):
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/500_festival/mini_marathon/2009_Mini_Marathon_13
Frank Shorter and Bob Kennedy do commentary of many of the segments, but most are pretty boring. | 