Thanksgiving Pilgrim 5k Race Report

The past few months I've felt very fit. All my workouts have been going well, and I've been putting in more mileage than ever. So I approached this small 5k in Plymouth a bit more seriously than I have in years past. Last year I came in 4th overall and did not run particularly well. My recent fitness showed that I would be at least a minute faster if I ran well - and as long as there were no surprise race entrants, I would be able to compete for the win (not something I can do frequently).

Race morning was cold, and I got in a shorter warm up than I was hoping and no drills. I felt pretty good though. Even though it was in the 20's (maybe colder), I felt warm enough with just gloves. The announcer called everyone to the start and I weaved my way up to the front while just about everyone made comments about the crazy guy wearing barely any clothes...Once to the front I found the only other guy in a club shirt from the Somerville Road Runners. I recognized him from last year, and knew he was one of maybe two or three other guys that would probably be going for the win.

The bell was rung and we were off. As is typical, there were a few young kids that went out hard, but me and the SRR basically stayed shoulder to shoulder. After about a quarter mile the kids faded, and we began to pull away from the pack.

We held a fairly steady 5:45 pace up until the turnaround point around the halfway mark. I liked that we were able to see the runners as we approached the 2nd half of the race - hearing Matt, Corven, Freeters, and Layman at varying times gave me a shot of adrenaline. And really, almost all of the runners said something encouraging since it was pretty clear we were having a good race.

Courtesy of Plymouth Rock Racing

Once we hit the turnaround we both start to 'race' a little bit more. I would inject little surges, and he would react, then counter by holding the surge a little bit longer. This went back and forth for the remainder of the race, but once we hit the ~3 mile mark he picked up the pace for a final surge. I was able to hang with him up until the final two hills that felt like mountains.

I dug into the well of pain, but the legs just weren't able to produce. I wish the final straightaway wasn't uphill, because I'm confident in my kick - but I didn't have a chance on those hills as SRR looked extremely comfortable.

In the end I finished 3 seconds back, and recorded my first ever 2nd place in a race of this size (594 finishers). Not bad, but finishing 3 seconds back really stings. I need to work on my strength in the hills. And just flat out get faster.

(Note: Course was long. We averaged about a 5:48/mile pace.)