NSWC "5K" Fun Run

Just did our "5K" Fun Run in conjunction with the President's Challenge. Sunny, breezy and fairly cool for a mid-June day (70s).

The course was 3 laps, mainly around one of the huge water tanks. About 30 people were there, including several walkers. Still a little sore from Sunday's trail run, I planned to run this hard but not totally kill myself either. I basically had no warm up and had already eaten plenty today. Figured I'd shoot for a 7 minute first mile and then try to hold that as best as I could.

I started off well and settled into 4th, then 5th place. Taking the lead were two young women, maintaining a 6 minute pace. A young guy came up from behind swiftly and gave chase. Another young guy and I kept an even pace, but eventually I fell back. By about 1 mile I gave up on the hope that the pair of women went out too fast. They were for real! Mile 1 was right where it was supposed to be timewise: 6:59. However, by that time I had already finished the first lap, so I knew the course would be a little short.

Lap 2 involved a slight decline in pace; Mile 2 was 7:30. I passed some ladies walking their first lap and one of them said, "Hey, here come's another runner!" which made me feel like I was one of the few out of front. That was neat!

At the beginning of Mile 3 one more young guy passed me, like I was standing still! Apparently someone had cheered him on, and he took it to heart! I didn't even try to stay with him and just tried to continue my own pace. Well, his burst didn't last that long and he ended up settling in at about 100' in front of me. As I ran through the final few turns I put in a decent enough kick, but I was too far back at this time to catch the guy. I came in at 20:41 for a distance of 2.83 miles per my GPS (7:18 pace).

I was 6th overall, which was pretty cool. No awards, though, as this was just a fun run. My friend Rick from the Steeplechasers came in shortly after me, and my friend Tony from my office came in shortly after that.

Although I'd like to be running sub 7 for a 5K, given the time of day and the recent tough trail run, I think I'm satisfied with my time. Coolest thing was that, for the first time ever, I beat everyone older than me!!! :-)