This was my first 5-mile race and it was on an unfamiliar course, so I really had no idea what was ahead of me. My time was a little faster than I expected (39:31) and I held an even pace throughout the race (7:54/mile). Overall, I'm happy with my run and looking forward to the next race
I plan to move to Media soon, so this was a great way to check out the area and community there. The people are friendly, the houses and buildings have character and the trees are plentiful. It also seems that they close down the main street there frequently for festivals and small concerts. There was a huge amount of support for the race.
When I arrived, after rushing from work through rush-hour traffic at 5:00, I was a little early. A few roads in town were closed off and I found the tent where I could pick up my number and disposable timing chip. After warming up for about a mile, I returned to the tents and found that the formerly wide open area was now crowded with runners and more tents and tables and live music. I killed some time by checking out upcoming races then made my way to the starting line. We lined up in the town's main street. The sidewalks were packed with spectators, like the whole town came out to watch. Looking around, I could feel the anticipation in the air. Hundreds of runners, each with their own story, training plan and special race-day attire. Some people were chatting nervously with their friends, others just looking around and waiting. Almost everyone was moving around and stretching over and over again as they waited for 6:00 and the starting gun.
The gun fired and we were off. Of course, everyone took off fast and it was hard to try to hold back and keep my pace when I saw little kids and old women running past me. 7:15 for the first mile... faster that I wanted, so I held back a little more and tried to hold that pace throughout. Nobody told me how many hills are in Media! They were rough, but at the same time I try to think that everyone else has to deal with these hills too. As rough as the hills are, that is where I tend to pass the most people. This is probably from trail running and the hills in Wissahickon park.
The race was 2 laps on a 2.5-mile course, which was great because I knew what to expect on the second lap and they had a record of my 2.5-mile split time. The course took us through the neighborhoods next to town and there were spectators everywhere. There were no quiet areas where the only sound was the tapping of running shoes on the pavement. In fact, for most of the course, people lined up shoulder to shoulder to get a glimpse of the runners and cheer us on. Kids would line up and stick their tiny hands out so the runners could slap their hands right down the line. Some houses had hoses and sprinklers on the course for a quick cool down. One family had hopscotch drawn out in sidewalk chalk on the course. It was great to see so much support, amazing.
The run continued to be painful towards the end. The legs were failing, the sweat was blinding, and I was ready to pass out. The final leg down the main street came up and the finish line was in sight off in the distance. I tried to pick it up, stay strong and finish with nothing left. When I approached the finish, I could see the clock and was surprised to see it was still under 40 minutes. Giving all that I could, I crossed the finish and slowed down to a walk. A stranger handed me a cold water and I just tried to catch my breath.
This was a great race, the support was wonderful. Another thing that amazed me was how quickly the results were posted online. It only took a day or 2 to organize and post 1300 runner times and splits. This is a great race and I hope to run it again next year.
Since the race, I met up with a local running group there and met some nice people for a run through the area. Some of the runners in the group ran the 5-mile race and finished about 2 minutes before me. It is great to train with people who are slightly faster, so I plan to continue running with them.
17 years ago
