Park Avenue 5k :: Race Report

What?

Race Report?

Yes.

It has been an absolutely crazy week. With little time to for some of my favorite activities, such as running and blogging.

The slowing down this week on the running front was probably a good thing. I ended up at the chiropractor on Tuesday morning. I had a rib head out that was causing me some minor pain in my back. I think a little rest (weather I wanted it or not) was just what I needed.

Last Saturday I decided to register for the Park Avenue 5k. I ran this race in 1999. There were approximately 1,259 finishers that year. There were more than 2,600 finishers this year. In less than ten years the field has more than doubled!

I arrived in Winter Park this morning at about 6:40 AM. I called my friend Cheryl when I got parked and she happened to be walking right toward me. We headed up to the starting area and she picked up her race packet and then got her kids signed up for the kids race after the 5k.

Soon we lined up at the starting line between the 9 minute mile and 10 minute mile signs, just where we should be. I wish it was just that simple for everyone to line up appropriately.

While we were waiting for the race to start, Marathon Chris and her daughter found us and said hello. Chris was nice enough to take a picture. She wished us luck and just a minute later the race officially started.



It took some time to cross over the starting mats. And Thanks to Chris, there is video that shows just how many people were there.



It was shoulder to shoulder for a long time About a quarter I saw a woman ( maybe late fifties, early sixty)take a digger on the brick street. I was on the sidewalk, because there was a little more room to pass the slower peeps. I did see a few people help her up, which was nice of them.

It stayed tight and crowded until after the first mile. But it never truly wasn't crowded. Near the two mile mark, a candidate, whose name I don't remember, for a position I can't recall, was set up on the side of the road with music playing from his bus and he had a nice little cheer station set up. He was also offering donuts to runners. Weird huh?

The crowd, while thinner, was still pretty thick. Cheryl moved ahead and I just couldn't get up to where she was. We had stayed pretty close together for the majority of the race and the last mile we were separated. I just couldn't get past the crowd and Cheryl's lead continued. Ultimately, Cheryl finished 27 seconds ahead of me. She was waiting at the finish line with a bottle of water for me.

My Chip Time: 27:55

I feel pretty good about that time. As I mentioned I ran this race in 1999 with half as many runners. I was 26 years old and my time was 34:36. I have become a much faster runner.

And while this wasn't a PR, it was 29 seconds off my PR, and the second fastest 5k race I have ever run.

After the race Marathon Chris met up with me again. She had her iRiver with her and we recorded a contribution for The Extra Mile Podcast. After eating some fruit I headed home.

One of the most amazing things about running a race, regardless of the distance is the great feeling of accomplishment for the rest of the day. Because first thing in the morning, you did something!