Monday 24 March 2014

Race Report: St. Patrick's Day 5k | Vancouver

Garmin splits
Chip Time - 18:38
Mile Time - 05:57
Overall - 96 / 1,715
Div M45-49 - 3 / 52
Shoes - Brooks Pure Connect 2 (Green, of course)


St Patrick’s 5km was my first official 5km race. I’ve done a few 5km “time trials” along False Creek in my marathon clinics (and last year managed to get just under 20 minutes). I’ve been running well and seeing some good progress on my tempo runs but I was curious to see what I could pull off. I figured I might try a stretch goal of sub-19 and see what happens. 


Sunday started rainy as I ran the 7km’s from VCC down to the start line at Stanley Park. It was about 15 minutes from race time as I got finished up at bag check and I followed the crowd over to the start line on Pipeline Road. There was quite a crowd already but I managed to spot Jan up close to the front near the Elite corral.


It wasn’t too long until the Maserati pace car revved up and we were counting down.


There was a good crowd to start but fortunately the road was wide enough and it thinned out pretty quickly. The downhill section to start really gets you moving quickly and I did a 3:39 first km.  I’m not used to seeing a mile marker but snuck in under 6 minutes. Second kilometer I knocked down another 3:39 and still feeling pretty good, though the course started to undulate a bit more. 3rd kilometer was still a respectable 3:45. I think I could’ve pushed the 4th kilometer a bit more but there was a downhill section that I found almost as tough as the climbing section, especially at that speed. Just heading into the 5th km I actually spotted Jan ahead and tried mightily to find more in my legs to chase him down. Unfortunately the last km is mostly climbing and it was a tough slog.

I crossed the finish line, chip time, in 18:38, which was much better than I expected. I definitely think the extra mileage I’m running, with the challenging Wednesday tempos and hill work are all adding up well.  

All in all a really fun race with lots of great costumes and energy! Unfortunately I couldn’t stick around for the green beer afterwards.

[update] Check out James' race report here: http://james.wanless.info/2014/03/24/2014-st-patricks-day-5k

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