Claremont's 4th of July 5K Race Report

Since I signed up for the Claremont 5K at the last minute I didn't keep track of all the details as much as I usually do. Saturday was packet pick-up day and completely missed it. Thankfully the race was set so we could pick up our numbers the day of the race. Since this event takes place very close to where I live I was able to sleep on my own bed the night before. I had not done this to any other race so it was a nice change of pace.

I arrived extra early to pick up my bib. Even before the race started I was having a good time. The bib pick up was very well organized and as I walked back to my car I noticed that the post-race snack area was very well stocked with fruit and water and nicely organized. That gave me a good feeling about the race.



While I waited in my car I ripped off the small tag underneath the bib. I've never knew what this tag was for so I left it in my car and headed back to the race's starting point.

The website said there was going to be a 1K Fun Walk before the 5K, which turned out to be a kids run. Now, I've never seen a kids race before, but let me tell you, this was one of the most fun things to watch. Everyone was cheering the little ones as they approached the finish line. They were running their hearts out and were very fun to watch.

While this was happening I started to think about how they were going to time the race. They were not using D-tags as bigger races usually do, and there was no big clock on the sides of the finish line. As I pondered this, I noticed that everyone still had the little tag attached to their bibs. I wasn't really sure, but I headed back to my car and tuck the tag I ripped off earlier into my shorts. Just in case.

After all the kids finished their race the organizer asked for everyone to get ready for the start of the 5K. This part was a bit disorganized. The only delineation of the starting corral were the sidewalks leaving runners and spectators mixed together. After the anthem was sang, there was a slight shift forward that confused everyone and then unexpectedly the gun went off.

Since I've used to work in Claremont I thought I had a good idea of the course. My thinking had me prepared for a fairly flat route that would make a below-23 minute finish possible. Sadly I was slightly wrong. The beginning was as expected, flat and easy. This was good since I started a bit faster than I usually do. After the 1-mile marker I slowed down a bit and planned to pick up the pace after the end of the second mile. However, when I reached the 2-mile marker I was already pretty tired. I had pushed a bit harder than I thought and while I had kept up a fairly good pace, I had not anticipated the 1/2 mile uphill that was coming at the end. Here the wheels fell off. I felt I was barely moving. I actually contemplating walking a bit, but I could not bring myself to stop. So I kept chugging along and tried to ignore the burning feeling in my legs. When I reached the top of the ascend the route turned left and I could see the last turn before the end. I knew I had a bit more in me, so I pushed as hard as I could pass the last corner and over the finish line.

Here was the most interesting part of the race. The tag I had ripped from my bib earlier and had gone back to get before the race was what they were using to give the runners their official time. As we crossed the line, a guy was pushing a button on a timer while someone else took the tags in the order the runners finished. Then they placed the tags on a board with the place of the runner and later matched the place with the name and the time of each person.

I am so glad I went back to get the tag. If I had left it in the car I would not have an official time for this race and that would have bummed me out.

Now to the official time. I finished in 23:54. I was fairly confident I would break 24 minutes, that was not in question. However, I was hoping to break 23. Since I missed it by almost a whole minute, I have to see exactly where I went wrong in my prediction. I usually run hills and I have done a hilly path of a similar distance, albeit slightly shorter, in only a slightly slower time. My mile pace this race was 7:42 and the previous fastest I had done was 7:48. Only shaving 6 seconds off each mile is not a great improvement. I believe this minuscule difference is due to my non-existing eating habits. My diet has consisted of pretty much anything. Really, I have not done a good job with my food intake. So as soon as I get situated in my new apartment I will go back to being nearly-vegetarian. I've done this before, and it is a pretty radical change and I might even explain later what this means but for now I'll leave it at that.

Overall, this race was fun. I could feel Claremont's essence permeating this race. I'm glad that now I have an official time, which gives me a goal to beat in future 5Ks, and I'm thinking I will be running this again next year.

EDIT: (7/12/10) I was sent this video of the start of the race:



I pass by at 0:13 I'm wearing a red and black shirt with blue and white shorts! USA USA USA! Too funny.