Ran the Litchfield Road Race in 48:06. My daughter ran it in 1 hr and 1 sec to win her age group...I'll give full race report later. Hot and humid, so we are both satisfied with our results.
Warmed up for yet another hot, humid road race which has been the theme this past year. This is a 7.1 course modelled after the famous Falmouth Road Race and draws numerous Kenyans, "local legends", Olympic hopefuls (women's runner will represent Morocco in this summer's Olympic marathon), and even a celebrity or two ("Kate + 8" this year with a trainer on each side). This course is noteworthy for a killer hill on mile 7 with a 9 percent grade that goes about 1/3 of a mile- causes runners to go out too fast on the way out and crash on the way back in). With a drench-soaked singlet after 1/2 mile warm-up, my goal would be my place of finish vs. pr. In previous Litchfield runs, I believe my highest finish has been 106 and maybe 15-20 in my age group. This year I hoped to break the top 100 (of 1700 runners). My daughter, age-14, hoped to break an hour and finish in the top 3.
At 1pm, 82 degrees and somewhat thick humidity, we were off! Here's my best attempt at the splits (uncertain at the end)...
Mile 1: 5:49 (good, steady pace with the downhill...help back nicely, having completed this in previous year in 5:39)
Mile 2: 6:48 (lost 10-15 seconds due to my shoe lace coming undone- dang!)
Mile 3: 6:38 (Heat is beginning to set in, yet I'm feeling comfortable with the pace)
Mile 4: 7:11 (Significant uphill for about a quarter mile, leading to a trail...very hot, so I stopped and drank 2 waters...from this point until the end, not one single runner passed me)
Mile 5: 6:49 (Held a firm pace and tossed my singlet away by the bridge)
Mile 6: 6:48 (Firm pace on the hottest part of the race, lacking shade and feeling the heat...in fact, 30 seconds behind my time in a training run earlier in the week)
Mile 7: ?? Held my place on "Gallow's Lane" and avoided 3 vomit piles left from the group in front of us
Final .1: Pushed strong and passed a few runners to finish in 48:05 (20 seconds short of my personal pr on this course)
Finished 84 overall and 9th in my age division...most runners my pace were a minute or two slower than their normal times. I came within 40 seconds of a fellow who usually beats me by 3-4 minutes, thus I felt good with the results.
Very proud of my 14-year-old who finished in 1:00:01 for 1st place by 3 minutes, my 12-year-old finished 2nd in the 2.3 mile run, my 9-year-old ran a 6:55 mile for 1st in her age division (her 2nd time running a mile ever), and my 11, 7, and 5 year olds made their presence known in "fun runs" of 200yards or so. Overall, a great day! | 