Overall Finish: 65th (out of 715)
Age Group Finish (30-39): 16th (out of 111)
Mile Splits (approximate): 7:30, 6:45, 6:17, :33
This was probably the best weather I could have asked for in early march - sunny, no wind, temps in the upper 40s and rising. It made the race itself feel more leisurely and, after running a Marathon the week before, much easier to get through. 5 kilometers? Sheeyeah, bring it.
One thing that I always forget, however, is how narrow Fore Street is in Portland when you're trying to cram 750 running people through it. As usual I placed myself conservatively at the middle of the pack to make sure I gradually get to my ideal pace. What ended up happening was me getting caught behind people for most of the first mile. As I scaled the steep hill leading to the eastern promenade, I was already over 7 minutes. I knew I was going slow because I was just beginning to lengthen my stride as I leap-frogged the runners as they slowed down on the climb.
Mile markers were absent again this year - or at least I couldn't see them - and made timing the mile splits and tracking my pace difficult. Once I got to the top I just kept myself steady at about what I figured was a 6:40-6:50 pace. I came back down the hill about 14-15 minutes into the run and held myself back a little bit. Once the course angled to India street, then to Middle street, I took off and ran at a increasingly reckless pace to the finish. If I had to make a guess, I'd say I ran the last half mile of the race under a 6-minute per mile pace, which felt really good.
Though I figured I could have done at least a minute better if I had not positioned myself so far back at the start, I can take some positives from this. First, 21:12 is my best time for this course (23:00 in 2008, 21:29 in 2009). Fighting people and that steep hill always knocks me off from running my best 5K time but it's evident that I'm getting stronger with each year. The other positive is that I did not get passed once in this race - I was passing everyone from the start line to the finish. I was not concerned about overall finish but there is a little bit of satisfaction when I keep passing clumps of people throughout the entire race.
Next stop: Kerrymen Pub (5K) in Saco. Sunday, May 14.
