Trail Running Blog

America’s Finest City 5K Race Report

There are a couple of reasons why I decided to run this race. My previous race (SF Half) was 3 weeks ago and my next one (Heartbreak Ridge Half) wasn’t scheduled for another 3 weeks. I know I wouldn’t have stayed motivated enough to keep running without knowing I had something to prepare for. So the only race available was this 5K. They actually have the AFC Half, which I ran last year, but the only reason why I ran it was to complete the triple crown series of half marathons. I did however run this 5K two years before when I first started running again. I said it then and I’ll say it again, because all the ‘elite’ runners ran the half, the competition for the 5K was pretty slim. I remember the announcer telling us that we were the smart ones running a 5K instead of the half. Anyways, this was the race where I won my age group for the first time!

So going into the race this year, I was hoping for a similar outcome. Problem was I am a lot slower than I was when I first started running. But what I really wanted to do was just improve on my time from 2 years ago, which I did. Race results: 3.13 miles, 19:13 (6:08 min/mile), splits: 6:06, 6:01, 6:28, :36. Placing: 5/78 AG, 18/463 sex, 22/1209 overall. I was quite satisfied with the results, I improved my time, placed well (although it stings that I was so closed to placing again, but runners 1-3 and 4 were much too fast for me..)

The course is pretty boring for a 5K, you cross a bridge away from the park, make a right, loop, pass the bridge, make another loop and then turn right back across the bridge and to the finish. I’m pretty sure that at certain parts of the course, we hit some downhills which accounts for the faster first two miles. But the splits follow my usual MO: start too fast and run out of energy for the end. I just noticed that my eyes were closed in almost all of my pictures from this race; I must have been very sleepy! But there are a few that are OK, I posted below.