Monday, August 10, 2009

Guts & Glory 5k Ocean City, NJ 8/8/09


One of the perks in having a place downashore, is that, as a runner, you can check the race calender down there. There were 2 races on Saturday, close to Wildwood, a 10 miler in Sea Isle City (see Joy's ) that was an early nite race, or an early morning 5k, in Ocean City. Since I couldn't hang around until 5:30, to run the 10 miler, I chose the 5k in Ocean City. That worked best into my schedule, as I usually get down to Wildwood early on Sat. mornings, one, to beat the traffic, and two, to run! I had 4 miles in the schedule, so a 5k fit perfectly.



The Guts & Glory 5k, was the biggest 5k I have ever ran in. It had 1375 runners/walkers registered. It ran along the ocean, on the streets of Ocean City, and finished with a lap on the Ocean City High School's track.
There were so many entrants, that this was a chip timed 5k. One of the local TV stations, NBC10, from Philly was there, broadcasting live during their morning newscast. I snapped a picture of an interview in progress.

When they lined us up on the street, one mistake I made, was a started a bit too far back in the pack. Since I figured this was a chip timed race, I thought starting back a ways, would allow for less congestion when you hung a sharp right into an alley way about 100 yards after the start. Well, as I found out too late, they only used the chips to help organize the finishing order.
It was like the start to the Philly marathon, with a bit of walking involved that 1st couple of 1/10Th's of a mile. You had a quick right, right, left, and then onto a straight road, where you could settle in to your pace.


I had a tough week of running, so I wasn't shooting for any particular time. I had the 6-8-6 on Tues - Thurs., keeping all my training runs in the 8:40-9:00min/mile pace. One crazy thing I did do, was meet up with Hurley and a few of the HATR's, early Wed, and do a cross fit circuit at the local high school track. That was tough, but I have made it a point to attempt to add core training this time around.


So after getting past a lot of foot traffic, I was able to settle into a comfortable pace. I was amazed at when I passed the 2-1/2 mile mark, and there were still people walking/jogging towards mile 1. There were a lot of people!
I also made it a point to not look at the garmin every mile, and just do the run, but when I hit the track, I did look at the finish line timer, and realized that there would be no PR today. It was around 20:50's, and I knew I wasn't going to run the last 440, in a minute. I finished with a respectable 22:12, good for 10Th in my old age group, and 82Nd outta 1196 finishers.


If I would have not got caught up in the first 2/10's congestion.... maybe it would have been a PR?

11 comments:

NJShoreRun said...

Great report! Wish I had made it there that morning, sounds like a great race.
BTW, your donation link isn't working.
www.NJShoreRun.com

Vava said...

Pretty sweet time, in particular that last quarter mile! Congratulations on another great race.

Denise said...

That's awesome!! Too bad for all the twisting and turning...that definitely adds to the time.

Chic Runner said...

Wow! nice time and it looks like a fun race. I hate congestion in the beginning, it's always dodging and trying to get out of people's way that is so annoying!

ShoreTurtle said...

Congrats on your race. You usually run the first mile way too fast. Maybe you need congestion at all your races.

I Run for Fun said...

Congratulations! That's a great pace, despite being caught in the congestion.

Anonymous said...

It was alot of fun. Its only my
3rd 5k ever. At48 I'm pretty happy with 23.24. Thanks for your thoughts on the race. Karl

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

One of the perks in having a place downashore ...

Yeah, because having a shore house isn't quite perk enough, right?

I finished with a respectable 22:12 ...

Man, why do I torture myself reading this blog? Even when you're slowed down by middle-of-the-pack slowpokes like me, you post 7-minute miles in these 5ks.

Yeah. I'm sooooo happy for you Mr. House-Downashore-7-minute-mile!

Seriously, congrats on another great race!

Unknown said...

22:12... say that again. That is very impressive dude. Seriously, I am going to write with a biggest Sharpie pen I can find. I am going to write 22:12. Now, I need to find me a good 5K in which I haven't done in AGES! My goal is to get it under 22:12 !

I'd better get going.....

X-Country2 said...

Bummer about the logistics, but great race report. Looks like a fun event!

Darrell said...

That is a lot of people on such a course with so many curves and 180's. There will be plenty of days for a PR.