I’m back! Sorry for the lack of updates these past couple weeks. I was going to post a race recap of the Seattle Hot Chocolate Run but I ended up missing the race due to issues with my iphone alarm clock being reset when switching cell phone carriers… Yes, I was disappointed but it doesn’t help lingering on unfortunate events that were out of my control. To make up for it, I will be posting a three part blog series introducing the dominant running clubs/teams in the Seattle area, specifically the Brooks Beasts TC, the Oiselle Team, and Club Northwest. I was going to start off with the Brooks Beasts TC but will probably start off with Oiselle so I can discuss the recently announced new addition to their team: Kara Goucher! So keep an eye out for these updates over the next couple weeks!
The Mercer Island Half has three event options (four if you count the walking divison): 5k, 10k, Half Marathon (Half Marathon walk). There were 931 5k finishers, 615 10k finishers, 268 Half Marathon walkers, and 2,028 Half Marathon finishers. 3,842 runners on Mercer Island is a lot of people for such a small area, but every aspect of the event was very well organized and the entire morning seemed to flow very smoothly with the races starting exactly on time. The 5k race start was set for 9:30 a.m. at the Mercer Island Community Center so I arrived a little before 8:00 a.m. to make sure I had plenty of time. The designated parking areas were about half a mile from the Mercer Island Community Center and they had shuttles to and from the parking zones to the start line. I stepped into one of the shuttles and realized I was the only one except for the driver. While we were waiting for a couple more runners to show up, the driver spoke up and said she really liked my Brooks racing flats and that she was a major Brooks fan. My inner voice was like “Hell ya Thunder and Lightning (don’t worry, I haven’t actually named my shoes... yet) are awesome and beautiful!” but I obviously kept my cool and responded with a simple “Thanks!”.
Fast forward half an hour and I was getting my pre-race warm-up on. My left hamstring had been bothering me for the past week so I modified my strides to try and focus on stabilizing the area. I was thankful that the weather was warmer than I thought it would be and I was able to warm up quicker than expected. 9:20 a.m. hits and I head over to the start line. The front is crowded by middle school and high school kids and I don’t feel like squeezing my way to the front so I find a spot a few rows back. The race soon gets under way and the front pack has been decided after about 800 meters in. The first half mile was pure downhill and flew by quickly. At this point I was in the front pack with about six other runners and the course navigator is on his bike just ahead of us. I, however, did not realize that he was an official course navigator (never having noticed one at a 5k race before… possibly because I am never in the front pack) and I am thinking to myself “who the h*** is this guy cutting off the front runners in the middle of the race course?!” Luckily, I didn’t say anything because a couple minutes later it all fell into place... “Oh… you are SUPPOSED to be here… Ooooh! You are making sure the front runner stays on course?” Well ok then, carry on sir. Eternal shame and dishonor avoided? Nice! The first mile split clocked in at 6:20 and we will leave the first mile at that.
The first mile was half downhill and half uphill. The second mile was a painful non-ending uphill along a bike path running parallel to I-90. At the beginning of the second mile, the front pack split even more. Two runners had pulled a ways ahead of me, and another runner and I had pulled ahead of the remaining three. Even with the uphill, I was able to hold a pretty steady pace and at about the halfway mark it was just me and another runner and I realized that I actually had a chance of hitting a top 3 spot. This gave me a mental boost and I pushed the pace up a gear. I could hear footsteps staying close behind me and when I looked down at my watch it showed I had just cleared mile two with a split of 6:31.
The Mercer Island Half has three event options (four if you count the walking divison): 5k, 10k, Half Marathon (Half Marathon walk). There were 931 5k finishers, 615 10k finishers, 268 Half Marathon walkers, and 2,028 Half Marathon finishers. 3,842 runners on Mercer Island is a lot of people for such a small area, but every aspect of the event was very well organized and the entire morning seemed to flow very smoothly with the races starting exactly on time. The 5k race start was set for 9:30 a.m. at the Mercer Island Community Center so I arrived a little before 8:00 a.m. to make sure I had plenty of time. The designated parking areas were about half a mile from the Mercer Island Community Center and they had shuttles to and from the parking zones to the start line. I stepped into one of the shuttles and realized I was the only one except for the driver. While we were waiting for a couple more runners to show up, the driver spoke up and said she really liked my Brooks racing flats and that she was a major Brooks fan. My inner voice was like “Hell ya Thunder and Lightning (don’t worry, I haven’t actually named my shoes... yet) are awesome and beautiful!” but I obviously kept my cool and responded with a simple “Thanks!”.
Fast forward half an hour and I was getting my pre-race warm-up on. My left hamstring had been bothering me for the past week so I modified my strides to try and focus on stabilizing the area. I was thankful that the weather was warmer than I thought it would be and I was able to warm up quicker than expected. 9:20 a.m. hits and I head over to the start line. The front is crowded by middle school and high school kids and I don’t feel like squeezing my way to the front so I find a spot a few rows back. The race soon gets under way and the front pack has been decided after about 800 meters in. The first half mile was pure downhill and flew by quickly. At this point I was in the front pack with about six other runners and the course navigator is on his bike just ahead of us. I, however, did not realize that he was an official course navigator (never having noticed one at a 5k race before… possibly because I am never in the front pack) and I am thinking to myself “who the h*** is this guy cutting off the front runners in the middle of the race course?!” Luckily, I didn’t say anything because a couple minutes later it all fell into place... “Oh… you are SUPPOSED to be here… Ooooh! You are making sure the front runner stays on course?” Well ok then, carry on sir. Eternal shame and dishonor avoided? Nice! The first mile split clocked in at 6:20 and we will leave the first mile at that.
The first mile was half downhill and half uphill. The second mile was a painful non-ending uphill along a bike path running parallel to I-90. At the beginning of the second mile, the front pack split even more. Two runners had pulled a ways ahead of me, and another runner and I had pulled ahead of the remaining three. Even with the uphill, I was able to hold a pretty steady pace and at about the halfway mark it was just me and another runner and I realized that I actually had a chance of hitting a top 3 spot. This gave me a mental boost and I pushed the pace up a gear. I could hear footsteps staying close behind me and when I looked down at my watch it showed I had just cleared mile two with a split of 6:31.
 |
| The Uphills! |
The third mile was a battle. And more uphill (woohoo). At around the 2.5 mile mark we came on another uphill section and I made my final push. I knew there would be one more hill after this just before the finish line but felt I had enough left in me to maintain pace. The last 400 meters reconnects with the Half Marathon route but the race volunteers made sure the merging went smoothly. There were so many runners around me at this point that I lost track of the other 5k runner who had been keeping pace with me. I crossed the finish line with an official clock time of 20:10 and secured a third place finish. I don’t know what it was about the course but it definitely beat me. It almost reminds me of the Cougar Mountain 5k trail course. Anyways, I saw the first place finisher Tyler Tanta up ahead grabbing water and went up to shake his hand and congratulate him. Turns out he was 13. Also turns out I got a bro-hug instead. You know, the clasp hands and half hug? As a side question, if a runner-badass middle schooler bro-hugs you, does that mean you are still seen as “young” and “cool” to the middle/highschool population? Yes? Glad we agree.
 |
| After all the uphill running, when I hit the flat homestretch I felt like I was flying. |
I had a couple more post-race conversations. One with the second place finisher, Bret, and another with the guy I battled it out with for the entire second half of the race, Conrad. Both said they found the course on the difficult side which made me feel a little more confident after the complete a** kicking. I currently plan to run in the Seahawks 5k and Top Pot Doughnut Dash in April and I am excited to see what I can manage on these flatter courses.
Ideas/Suggestions:
I usually like to keep my running jacket/warm gear on while I go through my pre-race warm-up routine. However, it’s also nice to be able to check all your gear.
Bag/gear checking stations at races will take your bag/gear and place them into large plastic bags. They will usually identify your bag in one of three ways:
1. Writing your bib # on the side of the bag.
2. Applying a numbered sticker on the bag with another identically numbered sticker for you to place on your racing bib.
3. Taking a bag check tag from the corner of your racing bib which has your bib# marked on it and applying it to the bag.
Regardless of the identification method, they are continually trying to arrange and categorize the bags by event and bib # as new runners show up. It makes sense that finding a bag that was already checked will prove difficult since the ordering is continually changing all the way until race start (especially with staggered start times of multiple events).
Because of this, gear check stations often frown upon/won’t allow you to check a bag and then show up again 30 minutes later asking to throw additional gear into the same bag. Instead, it is much easier to just check your other gear (bag/phone/wallet/whatever you don’t need to warm up), go warm up, then return and check a second bag with just your jacket/warm up clothing. There is nothing wrong with checking a second bag! This saves the volunteers a lot of time searching when a lot of other runners are trying to check bags as well. After race bag pick-up is a much less stressful time for the gear check station since runners don’t need to get to the start line and finding two bags for you then will save both you and the volunteers a headache.
Respect the volunteers. They make these races possible!
No comments:
Post a Comment