Ran the Law Day 5K in Salt Lake City this morning. Chad invited me onto his team, and we decided to make a family day out of it, with brunch and the Salt Lake City Zoo afterward. We got up at 4:45AM, ate breakfast, and scooped Seth out of bed and straight into the car seat, still in his PJ's (hoping he would fall back asleep...he didn't). Got to the U of U campus at 7AM, parked, found Chad, got my number, and then warmed up. Ran about a mile with Chad, and then I met up with Sasha and Jeff, and we ran the whole course. I'm glad we did the whole course, because there are lots of little turns, curbs, bumps, and other nuances. I would describe the route as "goofy but fun". The first mile is mostly uphill, and then the last two miles are mostly flat or downhill. And lots of turns, did I mention that? But the course was well-marked, and I never had any issues during the race. This is a team competition between law firms, and Chad had assembled a group of ringers to beat the beat the other law office's group of ringers. It was myself, Jeff McClellan, Josh Stephan, Emily Bates, and Lindsey Dunkley on our team, going against Teren Jameson, Nate Hornok, Albert Wint, Sue Nielson, and Devra Veirkant on the other team (forgive my spelling on all names, or if I missed anyone). We all matched up pretty well, so it would be a toss-up. The winner is based on cumulative time of all 5 team members. Last year's competition was decided by only a few seconds. Obviously, I was most worried about Teren, but was also concerned about Nate Hornok, as he is quite fast at the 5km distance. On my team, I expected to get stiff competition from Jeff. I finished the warmup, and was surprised to see how many other runners were there. Several hundred, a good turnout. Found an empty bathroom inside, and finished up that whole business. Did a few strides, and they were ready to start the race. (after a lot of talking). They started the race with a gavel, and Teren immediately tore off at a mad pace on the initial downhill part. Jeff was hot on his heels. I didn't go out with them...because I couldn't. It was pretty much beyond my full sprint. There was some other guy ahead of me as well, but I passed him after about a quarter mile. The race turned left, and started going uphill. I just tried to keep them both in reach. We wound around campus. All of the turns made it fun, but I had no idea how fast we were going. Seemed too fast though. I managed to make up some ground on Jeff and Teren and got within a second or so of them, but then they extended their lead on a short downhill section. Then we had a fairly long, straight uphill around the one-mile mark (which I missed), and I closed a little bit on them again. At 2km the course turns right and starts going downhill. Teren and Jeff extended their lead again on the downhill and started to gap me pretty good. I was running about as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough. Kind of the story of the race. And I'm not sure why I was running the uphills better than the downhills.
And that's pretty much how the rest of the race went. Teren and Jeff were running up front, and I was chasing, chasing. Lots of twists and turns, lots of downhill, but also some flat stretches and uphill segments. It was kind of a whirlwind. I felt pretty good, never felt like I was tanking or losing my form, but I just couldn't catch them. I never really gave up the idea that I could close the gap, until about 1km left, and by then the lead had gotten pretty big. I finished the race strong, and came in about 20 seconds behind Teren and Jeff. It was actually a pretty good race to watch. Jeff was obviously running with some fire and enthusiasm to try to take down Teren (when you're at the top, you're a marked man). Jeff even made a move and passed him during the last mile, and I thought he might get it. But Teren was able to finish off the race, and ended up a couple seconds ahead of Jeff. But it was a gutsy and strong performance on Jeff's part. Good race by Teren too. The guy definitely knows how to race, and when to turn it on. Jeff and Teren finished a few seconds under 15:00, and I came in at 15:16. Turns out that Nate Hornok was hot my heels, as he finished in 15:20 or so. I think he was probably closing a bit on me, and just ran out of road. Speaking of running out of road, due to these fast times, we all suspected that the course was a bit short. The route is usually certified, but part of the route is in a construction zone this year, so they had to throw something together, and when that happens it's usually not accurate. But better short than long, in my book. Less running.
It was a beautiful morning to run. Perfect weather with clear skies and no wind. I enjoyed this race and felt pretty good. Results are still being sorted out due to a timing issue, but it looks like we won the team competition. The top 2 runners on each team pretty much canceled each other out, but we gained a lot with our first woman finisher, Lindsey. Good race also by Josh, who I think beat Albert for the 3rd male slot. Oh, and splits? I have none. Both miles and kilometers marked, but they were the tiniest little signs ever. Humorous, actually. I like racing splitless, so I'm good with it. But each marker was a little 4"x4" card on stick. The only one I caught was 2km, and I was at 6:25-ish.
Enjoyed brunch and the zoo after the race.
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