Parkway Run

You can't really have a LBRR for a 5k, can you? I think not, so this will be brief. Parkway Run was this morning - a beautiful day in downtown Philly, sunny and cool. This was my first time doing this particular race and I was impressed with the number of runners, spectators, and team tents lining Logan's Circle. Sometimes it's easy to forget that races are typically fundraising events for a worthy cause. This particular one benefits children's cancer research. There were a number of different teams that appeared to have been organized to benefit, honor, or remember a particular child. Making that connection was bittersweet. This was the first time I had ever encountered something like that on this scale.

For the most part, I was running this run solo. I had tried, and failed, to get others to join me, but that didn't work out for various reasons. And, of course, poor Seebo is still laid up with his cankle. Poor guy. Last year the team he was on won the team competition for the run and walked away with a very sweet prize (dinner for 10 at The Fountain). Luckily for me, I met Seebo at about the right time and was able to partake in the dinner as well. This year, I'd have to be satisfied with the post-race brunch. Works for me.

The race started about 15 minutes late, which was a little frustrating and made me wonder whether the 'warm up' I did was really going to make much of a difference after standing around, packed into the crowd of runners before the dang thing started. I had been warned that the beginning of the race was a bit nuts. The race begins by looping around Logan Circle... this makes the usual bunching up at the start of every race even worse as runners try to jockey for the inner track. And, of course, you have the large 'teams' of folks who like to stick together. Swimming through them is no easy feat! I did my best to get through without being too rude or throwing too many elbows. It wasn't until about a minute and a half into the run that I even sort of felt like I was able to actually run.

First mile went by at 8:10. I was neither happy or disappointed by this. Like I've said in previous posts, I don't know much what to do with 5ks as they are an unfamiliar racing distance for me. That and given that I'm a workhorse, not a thoroughbred... built to go the distance and get the job done, but not quickly. I didn't feel great during the first mile and wasn't sure how the rest was going to go. Mile two was a few seconds under 16 minutes, so obviously I was picking up speed. Helped that I didn't have to throw any elbows during that second mile too (not that I didn't want to). I felt better by this point and knew that I'd likely improve my best 5k time.

The third mile wasn't marked (or if it was, I didn't see it). Not sure I had much of a 'kick' left at the end, but I tried to get my heiny over the finish line before the clock read 25 minutes, which I did. Can't remember what the clock time said exactly, but my watch time was 24:32. I was pretty happy, not thrilled, but satisfied. Like I had said, going into this I didn't really know what to expect. My last sane 5k was about two years ago (Jingle Bell run) and my time was a little over 26 minutes. My running has changed a lot since then. I can't tell if this is as much of an improvement as I should have expected, or if I should have been shooting for more. Either way, I have a new PR and had a nice brunch with Seebo and company while soaking up some sunshine. A good day. (So much for this not being long.)