Holcomb Farms 10k Race Report

August 22nd I raced at a small local 10k in West Granby CT.  I drove the course before the race and was surprised how hilly it was.  The race flyer described the course as rolling farm roads.  In reality it had a short steep hill up to the half mile mark then a gradual uphill to the 1.5 mile mark.  It was then flat to a steep downhill then turned right around a residential neighborhood.  Out of the neighborhood it was back on the same roads we came on, which meant back up the steep hill to the 4 mile mark and then mostly downhill to the finish.  Garmin had over 500 feet of climbing in 6 miles.

 

I had showed up hoping for a fast time, but was disappointed with the hilliness of the course.  I mentally went into a training mode prior to the race – resigned to a slower time.

As expected it was a small field with only 62 entrants, but most looked like pretty hardcore runners.  The race got started and I tried to keep the pace reasonable up to the first hill at the half mile mark.  I picked off a few runners up the hill and then really got settled into a rhythm.  I was holding a good pace up the hills and found some other runners running a slightly faster then comfortable pace to run with.  This really kept my effort level pretty even, with the pacing going up and down with the hills.  I really struggled on the downhill approaching halfway and was passed by several people.  After the turnaround I made up a lot of time on the steep uphill.  Everyone was in slow motion but I was able to just plug away up it.  Checking the watch I was ahead of my expected pace, even with the hills.  This was surprising.  I was on a good day.  As the road leveled out and heading gently down I really tried to bring up the pace now that I knew my time would still be good.  Each of the last 3 miles were progressively faster.  Approaching the finish, I was able to pass 2 more people in the last half mile.

 

As good as I felt the race went, my results stunk – but I think this is what I have to expect at a small running only race.  I finished 6/7 in my age group and 23/62 overall.  More importantly, my time of 51:26 was good for a PR at the 10k distance – by over 5 minutes! 

 

Mile 1 – 8:02

Mile 2 – 8:31

Mile 3 – 8:14

Mile 4 – 8:35

Mile 5 – 8:12

Mile 6 – 7:59

Mile 6.24 – 7:14

 

I need to get a lot faster to get one of the trophies.  The race was a benefit for the Holcomb Farm, and the trophies were pretty cool: