Run for the Pies after a BUSY Saturday
The Run for the Pies was Saturday night. It's described as a 5k block party. The race starts in front of the Jacksonville Landing, goes down to Alltel Stadium and then back to the Landing. Guys finishing under 20:00 and girls finishing under 24:00 get a pie in the finish chutes. No pie for MB. Breaking 20:00 in a 5k will be a stupendous achievement for me. It's just a little ways off. I ended up finishing in 21:11. About 18 seconds off of my PR for a 5k, but still my fastest time ever for this race course. Some folks that I should have beaten finished ahead of me in the race. However, based on everything I did Saturday it was a good effort.
First was doing the Open Road group ride that morning. After 45 miles of high intensity bike riding, I came home to get ready for Maggie's 3rd birthday party. Running errands, setting up tables, painting crocodiles and creating Dora the Explorer maps. The party was a big hit, but very hot. I manned the sno cone machine and was very busy. After the party it was time to clean up and get ready for the race. By race time, I was feeling whipped and the legs were heavy.
The first mile of the race was tough because we were running along the river into a headwind. I reached mile 1 in 6:35. Mile 2 included the turnaround, but it didn't seem like the tailwind was helping much. Instead, things started to heat up because of the lack of a breeze. Mile 2 was a disappointing 6:58. Mile 3 was more of the same, with a short dogleg that featured some headwind. Again, another 6:58 lap. The last 1/10 was :40, or a 6:40 pace. Not much of a kick. I ended up in 14th out of 73 in my age group. Overall, I was 178th out of 877 folks. That includes the folks that ran in the elite race that preceded the open race I ran in.
In the elite race, we got to watch 21 women who had run a sub-20 5k and 43 guys who had run sub-17 in the past year participate in a special race. It was a 5 lap race, with the women starting 2 minutes ahead of the men. The first person across the line received $100. The first man and woman also received $200 each, and there were several lap bonuses of $50. The first person across the line was a guy who finished in 14:42. Smoking!
After the races, there was a big party with lots of giveaways. Unfortunately, the Butler and Cardozo families were wiped out and headed home. Fun day. Busy day!