2010 Red Rooster Ramble 5 Miler, Week 18

Warren, RI
July 22, 2010
33:58
6:48 pace
3rd Place

I haven't placed this high in a race since High School.  To be fair, there was a field of 50 or so, the race was held in the middle of a 2 week heat wave, and the following night was a big race attraction in Southern RI.  Still, it's in the books as a bronze.

I've run this course before, and know exactly where the mile markers are, but the fun part comes in the sprint to the finish.  The last mile is along the East Bay Bike Path, with a few curves along the way.  You can't see the finish until it's 100 m away, and the person who finished 1 second ahead of me know that better than I did, as she out-paced me to the finish.

I took a few seconds off my pace from the last 5 miler, and I felt pretty good after the race.  Still not at the pace I'd like to see, but I'm making progress.  The last two weeks were really tough to train, with temps over 90 and high humidity, and my runs haven't been pretty.  The best part of this race came with the announcement at the start, that this was the Christmas in July Edition.  At the 1 mile mark, there was a group of elves handing out presents.  If you took one, you had to carry it the rest of the way, and you couldn't open it before the finish.

Being the serious runner that I am not, and running in second place at the first mile, I imagined the treats hidden inside the carefully wrapped boxes.  I drifted toward the smallest elf I could find, who seemed to be holding a shoebox up without much effort, and ran off with my loot.  The box felt empty, but you still tend to notice it when you're trying to race another 4 miles.  In the end, I won a free entry to another race in the series.  Worth the effort, and easier to carry than a sack of potatoes.

I'll be back for another one.