Race 3 Summary: Black Moshanon 5K

Or, "How I Almost Ran the Wrong Race."

I awoke to beautiful sunlight Saturday morning. But it was chilly: in the mid 40's I'd say (roughly 4.3 Celsius). Now I understand that some people like cool temperatures to run in, and they are certainly entitled to their crazy, nonsensical opinions. I, however, like it hot.

The Black Moshanon race is actually two races, there's a 10K and a 5K. The 10K is the main event, so all the directions, course descriptions, etc., relate to that. There is nothing that says where the 5K starts or finishes. So I'd asked a few people where I was supposed to go, and they directed me to the parking area by the beach. I did find the starting line, but it said "10K Start." OK, so where's the 5K start? 5 kilometers up the road? So I asked around some more, and finally someone directed me back to the other side of the lake. This was at like 9:50, or ten minutes before race time. So I got warm hustling over there.



I had no idea what the course was like, but my goal for this race was to get under 24 minutes. The initial part looked relatively flat, and it turned out the rest of the course was as well. This was the biggest group I'd run in: about 120 people.

I got out quickly, but it took me a while to get into a flow because it was so chilly. (Also some damn kid almost tripped me at the start.) I passed this wooden block on the road that said "1." I guessed that was one mile. I checked my watch: 6:23. OK, there's no freakin' way I ran a 6:23 mile. I little further up the road they had a water station. I passed that around 7:20, and I imagine that was actually the first mile.

The course went up this road, around a cul-de-sac, and back. The leaders passed me about 2 minutes before I reached the turn-around. Usually, that would make me pick up the pace, and it did a little, but I held back a little because I didn't know what more to expect. I knew the finish line was at the bottom of a hill, but I also knew at some point I had to go up some of that hill as well. I began to realize just how much downhill it had been going out, because I was starting to tire running back. I passed some people, some people passed me, and suddenly there was no one around me. It was chilly still, and I had only the sound of my labored breathing to keep me company. I came to a break in the trees where the sun was shining on me, and pressed on.

Finally, I reached the last stretch, where we went off the road and up a steep, sharp hill for maybe 100 yards. This was just like the courses I used to run in high school. I dug my feet in with each stride and threw myself up the hill, passing a couple of people as I did. I hit the top of that, turned for the final stretch of about a quarter-mile, all downhill. From somewhere, I found a closing kick: I was taking long strides and burning down the mountain. It was the best finish I'd had so far.

My official time was 23:38, or almost 30 seconds better than my best time this year. I finished 34th overall, and 4th in my age group. I'm pretty darn happy with that!

Next up is the Boalsburg 4-mile on Memorial Day. My goal for that is 30:30. Wish me luck, and thanks again to everyone for your support.