The Run For Life 5K on August 23, 2014 was my eighth race of the year and second off road race; the first was the Beach Run 10K. The Run For Life 5K was held at the Wake Med Soccer Complex on the N.C. State University cross-country course. The cross country course hosts the Great American Cross Country festival, North Carolina High School Athletic Association cross country regional championships, and the Nike Cross National Southeast Regional Championships.
I did an easy 6 miles on the course a week two days before the race with my friend Ryan Polli who raced on it a lot in high school and won a 5K on it last year. I hadn't ran on the course since one invitational when I was in high school. I was glad I got the easy run on the course with Ryan to familiarize myself with it before race day.
Jamie and I arrived at the park around 7am. It was humid but not too bad. Luckily, the course is mostly shaded and you're not in the open sun for long. After doing my dynamic warm-up I headed off on the course for an easy two miles warm-up. The grass was fairly dry and the trails were in good shape. After my warm-up I met Jess and Shane who were also running in Capital RunWalk singlets. I thought the race started at 8:00am but it was an 8:30am start so I did my warm-up too early. I talked with Jamie, Jess, and Shane while waiting for the 5K to start.
We lined up to start the 5K at 8:30am. The DJ was having the crowd do a warm-up that included jumping jacks, static stretching, and other moves that I wasn't doing. I was ready to run and that was taking up time. Maybe he was stalling cause they had some kind of issue and were not ready to start the race but it was an annoying delay. As far as goals go for this race, I wanted to break 18 but knew it would be challenging on this course.
I did an easy 6 miles on the course a week two days before the race with my friend Ryan Polli who raced on it a lot in high school and won a 5K on it last year. I hadn't ran on the course since one invitational when I was in high school. I was glad I got the easy run on the course with Ryan to familiarize myself with it before race day.
Jamie and I arrived at the park around 7am. It was humid but not too bad. Luckily, the course is mostly shaded and you're not in the open sun for long. After doing my dynamic warm-up I headed off on the course for an easy two miles warm-up. The grass was fairly dry and the trails were in good shape. After my warm-up I met Jess and Shane who were also running in Capital RunWalk singlets. I thought the race started at 8:00am but it was an 8:30am start so I did my warm-up too early. I talked with Jamie, Jess, and Shane while waiting for the 5K to start.
We lined up to start the 5K at 8:30am. The DJ was having the crowd do a warm-up that included jumping jacks, static stretching, and other moves that I wasn't doing. I was ready to run and that was taking up time. Maybe he was stalling cause they had some kind of issue and were not ready to start the race but it was an annoying delay. As far as goals go for this race, I wanted to break 18 but knew it would be challenging on this course.
Start of the Run For Life 5K The race started and I was out fast with Jess and a lot of runners ahead of me. The first mile is fast because it is mostly downhill. I didn't want to go out too fast and suffer later on the hills. There was one runner out front that had on, what appeared to be, athletic tape shoes. It looked like he just took a lot of athletic tape and taped it on his feet as shoes. That was something new and I couldn't let a guy in those beat me when I run for a running store team.
After running down the 1000m hill to start the race we hit the trails. I started passing some runners as we ran through the first section of trails. I moved up into the top five just before the one mile marker. I ran the first mile in 5:33; a little too fast but the first 1000m of it was downhill. It was nice having the course marked every 1000m along with the mile markers.
Shortly after the first mile the course comes out of the trails and goes up the same 1000m hill we ran down for the start. It's tough and I passed a couple more runners on it near 2000m that went out too fast; one of which being the guy in the athletic tape shoes. We ran back by the start/finish line when I saw Jamie on the right cheering for me. A woman caught me and pulled even with me going up the hill around 2000m. We were battling for 2nd place overall with a guy ahead of us by about 15 seconds.
After running down the 1000m hill to start the race we hit the trails. I started passing some runners as we ran through the first section of trails. I moved up into the top five just before the one mile marker. I ran the first mile in 5:33; a little too fast but the first 1000m of it was downhill. It was nice having the course marked every 1000m along with the mile markers.
Shortly after the first mile the course comes out of the trails and goes up the same 1000m hill we ran down for the start. It's tough and I passed a couple more runners on it near 2000m that went out too fast; one of which being the guy in the athletic tape shoes. We ran back by the start/finish line when I saw Jamie on the right cheering for me. A woman caught me and pulled even with me going up the hill around 2000m. We were battling for 2nd place overall with a guy ahead of us by about 15 seconds.
Finishing 3rd Overall She started pulling away from me as we entered the second section of trails around 1.7 miles. Going out too fast had taken a toll on me but I was now feeling like I was regaining my form. We hit two short but steep uphills before the two mile mark. I ran mile two in 6:09. The woman was still pulling away from me and gaining on the leader. I took a quick look over my shoulder after 2 miles on a turn in the trails and didn't see anyone close to me. The course has a slight downhill and then flat section after 2 miles until you reach the final 1000m uphill finish. That allowed me to pick my pace back up.
We came out of the woods and the uphill finish awaited me. I tried to finish strong and hit mile 3 about halfway up the hill in 5:53. Before the 3 mile mark, about 500m into the climb, I just put my head down and went for it. It was tough and going out fast and pounding the legs didn't help either. I finished 3rd overall in 18:17.
We came out of the woods and the uphill finish awaited me. I tried to finish strong and hit mile 3 about halfway up the hill in 5:53. Before the 3 mile mark, about 500m into the climb, I just put my head down and went for it. It was tough and going out fast and pounding the legs didn't help either. I finished 3rd overall in 18:17.
Me, Jess, and Shane post race The woman that passed me around 1.7 miles ended up winning the race in an impressive 17:39; a new women's course record for the Run For Life 5K. Jess was the 2nd woman to finish and 5th overall out of 184 runners in 19:30. Shane finished 3rd in his age group in 21:13. Shane and Jess ran for Coastal Carolina University. Shane is moving over to distance after being a 400m hurdler. Jess and I won Capital RunWalk gift cards and I'm always happy to win gift cards to the store. Shane won a Road ID gift card.
I didn't wear cross country spikes. I wore my Brooks Green Silence road flats instead and they were fine. It if had been raining or had rained the day before I could see where cross country spikes would have helped. It's a challenging course but I would race on it again. My pacing was not my best by far but in a race like this you have to race the course and not the clock. You can't try to run consistent splits on a tactical course like this. It was a tough race but it was fun to do something different than a road race.
I didn't wear cross country spikes. I wore my Brooks Green Silence road flats instead and they were fine. It if had been raining or had rained the day before I could see where cross country spikes would have helped. It's a challenging course but I would race on it again. My pacing was not my best by far but in a race like this you have to race the course and not the clock. You can't try to run consistent splits on a tactical course like this. It was a tough race but it was fun to do something different than a road race.
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