Task - 91 Run a 5k (Flutie 5K)

13th Annual Eastern Bank Flutie 5K

When:   October 14, 2012

Where: MetroWest Medical Center 
             Leonard Morse Hospital
             67 Union Street, Natick, MA 01760

Time:   11:05am

Course Description: 5k (3.1 mile) rolling course on suburban roads. USATF sanctioned; certification course MA08013JK.

After not training as much as I had planned I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to run the whole distance. Those nerves seemed to have faded away the day before when we picked up our numbers. Maybe it was the excitement but I wasn’t even thinking about not running the whole distance anymore. 

We woke up early and got ourselves ready. The weather forecast wasn’t great and in fact they were forecasting that there was a 60% chance of rain at 11:00am. We arrived at 9:00am two full hours before the official start. It was just cloudy at this point but the sky looked ominous. At this point I was more worried about the rain then the race. Who wants’ to run 3.1 miles soaked? As the start time grew closer we along with all the other runners got in line and positioned ourselves based on mile times. Shortly after 11:00 the drizzle increased to a light rain. Almost as soon as the rain started we heard the buzz and we were off.

We were faced immediately with a small incline and jockeying for position with the crowd. As we reached the top of the hill we took a left and began the small decent down the Leonard Morse Hospital main entrance. When we reached Union Street we turned right and at this point Dan started to pull away from me. I had decided long before the race to not try to keep pace with him. Being in far better shape and having run the Chicago Marathon a few years ago he was far better conditioned to complete the race faster than me.

I settled in behind a small group who seemed to be running a similar speed as myself. I maintained my position with that group until we turned right onto Woodland Street and began ascending the small long hill. This start of this hill also marked the 1 mile mark of the race. I continued up woodland this time with no group to assist maintain my speed. It was entirely up to me to keep my pace consistent.  

One thing I found really cool was how the neighborhood we were running through all came out to watch and several families were providing water and orange slices to the runners. It was a nice gesture and many seemed to take advantage of their generosity. Our next turn would be on Juniper for a short distance then a left onto Clearview and a quick right on to Buckskin and another quick right on to Sundance. At the end of Sundance the cul-de-sac had a small utility path that connected with the adjoining neighborhood. This was the 2 mile mark. I had actually improved my pace but I was starting to really feel it. It was on the utility path my pace slowed and I took my time. Once we reached Moccasin I pushed forward and on to Nokomis and then a left on to Arrow. Arrow took us back to Union Street and to the finish line. I continued to move along and as I neared the entrance the adrenaline seemed to have kicked in and I go a second wind to push me up the hill. I finished strong not too far behind Dan.

After getting bottled water we wandered down the hill to the tents where Wegmann’s was providing a complimentary lunch and other vendor’s were showcasing their products. We got ourselves a CocoVitamin water and decided to check out our official times. I completed the race at 31:12 with an average pace of 10:03 per mile. I was very pleased with that. I was also please to only have finished 2:19 seconds after Dan. 

This might be the start to many more races. We will have to see. Sadly the summer is over and I’ll have to wait until next year to run another.