Running of the Elk Thrive 5K

This morning I participated in my second 5K of the year: the Running of the Elk Thrive 5K. I came into the race with three goals:

1. Set a New 5K PR (currently 24:42)
2. Finish in the top 3 of my age category (Mens 35-39)
3. Beat 24 minutes

The bottom two goals were clearly stretch goals, but there was a possibility that one or both could be achieved in particular the second. I will be honest, part of the reason I choose to run this 5K was because they split the age categories in half this year (mine was now 35-39 instead of 30-39) and based on last year's results, I finish third for my category. Additionally, a 10K was added this year which would possibly pull some of the faster runners from the 5K. Granted neither of those things assured that I would finish in the top three, but my odds were better than they are in most runs I do.

An impromptu singing of the national anthem preceded the start of the half marathon and 10K which was a nice feature. The start of the race was delayed roughly a minute as a result which I didn't mind, but I imagine if I was running either that I may have been more itching to get going. The 5K started as scheduled 15 minutes after the 10K/half.

I struggled at the start to settle in on the pace that I wished to run the first mile. I wanted to attempt to go for 7:40, but it took a good minute and a half to slow myself down into that range. Once I got myself settled in, I was surprised at how many people I was continuing to pass. Since I had started too fast, I expected that the faster runners would catch up and pass me but there weren't many that did (I guess they were all lined up near the front like they should). I continued to pass runners throughout the first mile, and it was becoming apparent that I wasn't going to find a runner to pace myself against. I finished the first mile slower than I desired at 7:47 but I'm not sure that I could have pushed myself much harder.

For the first part of the second mile, I continued to pass multiple runners. Midway through the mile, I got past most of the slower runners and there was a lot of open space in front of me. I concentrated on trying to keep my pace steady with the first mile, and as the second mile drew to a close, I could tell that I was starting to run down a couple of the runners up in the distance. I finished the second mile in 7:50 and was happy to only lose three seconds off of my first mile time.

I kept plugging away at trying to catch those runners in the third mile and roughly midway through I passed the first one. As I approached the second, I heard footsteps behind me, and as that runner passed me, I noticed that he could be in my age group (I failed to check if he was running the 5K or the 10K). I tried to stick with him as he went by but I quickly realized that wasn't going to happened. I followed him by the second runner but then he quickly lost me. The only other person visible in the distance was a wheelchair athlete, and so I tried to track him down. We went by the third mile marker as I got close, and I briefly looked down to see that I finished mile three in 7:56.

Knowing that I was within reach of setting a new PR, I took off in a sprint towards the finish line (even chanting "Faster. Faster!" as I went). As I approached the finish, I could see that I was going to be close but not under 24 minutes. I flew through the final tenth of a mile at a 5:11 pace.

They handled out finisher medals for all of the races. I'm not a big fan of finisher medals for races under 10 miles, but I must admit that the design was pretty cool: die cut characters "5K" with an elk running in front of them. I'm unlikely to display it when I get around to putting up my medal hanger, but maybe I will until I get enough medals from longer distances.

There were quite a lot of booths in the post-race party area which was nice to see. I wandered around for a bit while I waiting for results to be posted. I was excited to see if somehow I did infact break 24 minutes and was more so excited to see if I had finished in the top three of my age group.

Unfortunately, I just missed out on both. The results showed me as 4th in my age group finishing 13 seconds behind third (perhaps the guy who passed me near the end?). My chip time was 24:06.2 which on the positive side of things was a smoking 36 seconds faster than my previous 5K best.

I was definitely more disappointed about not finishing in my age category top three than not breaking 24 minutes since I figured I was more likely to break 24 minutes in the Sacramento Zoo Zoom next month.

After getting home and walking my corgis, I went online to get my race time for making my race badge (above), and I noticed that my position was updated from fourth to third. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I can see in the results that the runner who had been listed as second for my category had his chip time changed by over a half hour (his chip time currently far exceeds his gun time which makes no sense). I'm not sure if that's a mistake or not, but I've contacted the race management group to see if I indeed did finish third and whether or not it's too late to pick up the award. Feels a bit silly at my age to be so interested in the award, but regardless, I think having it would be a good reward for sticking with running through the injuries.