Race Report: First Run



The year got off to a fast start. Not as fast as I had hoped, but that really wasn’t the point, was it. (The point? How about: Doing something I love as another year begins!)

As most of you were getting a good buzz on with glass of wine No. 3, I put on my tights and a few layers, hopped on the MAX – free from 8 p.m. until closing time – and headed downtown for The First Run & Walk. I was participating in the run part, a tidy 5K. Good crowd on hand at the World Trade Center plaza, many folks huddled around the gas heaters with temps in the mid-to-high 30s and some gusty east winds blowing from the gorge. A little warmup, a gathering of the forces – maybe 1,000 people? – and then the countdown. At zero, we yelled those three words that are traditionally yelled at midnight on December 31 and off we went. I had 20 minutes in mind, though I had no right to. I’d run 30 miles in the past four days and did a couple hours on the bike trainer and walked about four miles earlier in the day. At the turnaround I was right at 10 minutes but I couldn’t quite hold the pace, finishing on my clock in 20:18. Not bad. By spring, 10 pounds lighter, I’ll do 5K in 19 minutes. Yeah! What the hell, let’s add that to the list of goals for 2008, to go along with a good Boston showing, solid Ironman performance, and who knows what else comes down the pike.

UPDATE – Official results are in.
Time: 20:15 (6:31/mile pace)
Age group: 3/44
Men: 42/418
Overall: 47/933