Bradley International 10k Race Report

April 23rd, I ran in my 3rd race of the year.  The decision to actually race was a last minute one as the day was forecast to be quite chilly with heavy rain.  After carefully checking the radar, I decided there was enough of a dry slot to get the race in without running in a heavy downpour – although it would still be plenty wet and cold.  The race was an out and back on the perimeter road around the airport.  Most of the course had been recently resurfaced – which I knew as I ride my bike on these same roads regularly.  With the exception of one small hill at the 1 mile/5 mile mark it was a relatively flat race.  My goal was to try to hit sub 51:15 (8:15 pace) and use the race as a quality training run.

I lined up for the start near the front.  Here we are getting underway – I am in the all black with black hat dead-center between the two guys in white.

There were a lot of fast guys and my start was quick as everyone was running fast; the first quarter mile at 6:36 pace and the first half mile at 7:01 pace.  Being that I had not run even done any 5 mile runs yet this year, I knew I had to dial back the pace.

 

To the right of #113:

In the background with the black hat:

 

By the time I got to the first turn at 3/4 of a mile I had my pace under control and was averaging 8:15-8:20 miles.  On the way out to the turn around I just focused on trying to keep my pace nice and steady.  The rain was holding off and the 38 degree temperatures weren’t bad for running.  Also there wasn’t a trace of wind which was nice.

 

I hit the 5km mark in 24:52 – well ahead of the 25:37 needed for a 51:15 race.  I was running just ahead of 2 guys at this point which was serving as good motivation to keep up my pace.  I also had a few runners ahead that I focused on trying to reel in.  At the turn I also decided to try to finish in 50 minutes since I was well ahead of the plan for 51:15.

 

I slowly but surely was able to pull in the runners I was targeting ahead of me, particularly as we made our way up the hill at the 5 mile mark.  During the second half of the run the rain picked up and the conditions were getting pretty miserable.  With 1 mile to go I was slowly passed by a runner and I tried to keep up with him.  With 1/2 mile to go I could no longer stay with him and decided I was in a space where my final placing was decided so I just tried to hit the 50 min target.  In the end I came up just short by 11 seconds.

In the end it was a quality training day and my longest run of the year so far.  I was glad I braved the miserable conditions and held a better pace then I was expecting.

 

Here are my mile splits: 

My final placing was 33 out of 100 overall and 13 out of 28 in my age group with a time of 50:11.