Firecracker 5000 Race Report

Let's get this out of the way: I was really hoping for a 5K PR.

I've only actually done one 5K before; three years ago, my very first was done in 27:39, and since I expected a 31-minute 5K then, I was pleasantly surprised.

But I've done the 5K program on the treadmill lots of times, and it has hills. My best time there is 24:40. (I know, the treadmill helps you keep going when you lose steam.)

So anyway, when Nancy and Jodi said they wanted to run the Firecracker 5000 - a 5K run starting at midnight on July 4 in downtown Seattle - I thought, hey. Downtown is fairly flat. Betcha I could do sub-24.

Um, no.

I tried to nap around 8:30 p.m. and ended up resting until about 9:15. It was weird to be getting dressed to go run when I'm usually getting in bed.

It was about 65 degrees out - I was (of course) cold until we started running. But immediately I had the urge to take my shirt off. I broke a sweat right away and pretty much rained on myself for the entire time.

I hadn't seeded myself properly; Nancy and Jodi just wanted to run comfortably, so they were in the middle of the pack somewhere. After I crossed the start line, I had to dodge people right and left to be able to get some free space to run my pace - and definitely I was going slower than I wanted to. Then again, it's probably not a bad thing to start out a little slower at the beginning.

Pretty much I started pushing after the first tenth of a mile or so and never let up. The course seemed to have a lot of slight downhill, and I did my best to really open up my legs and go when I could. I passed way more people than passed me, but I'm sure that has more to do with where I started than my actual speed.

It hurt: my heart rate varied between about 163 on downhill sections and 185 uphill, and I think it hung out around 171 or so. I had pain in my side and above my heart, and about two miles in my lungs started burning.

So you have to understand why my results are disappointing. I thought I was flying.

Plus, there really weren't a ton of people around me when I came in - whereas, just three or four minutes later, there was a huge line to get your timing chip removed.


Here are the results:

Total time: 25:36 (8:16 pace)
Overall position: 265/872
Age group position: 8/71
Gender position: 70/452

And honestly, I'm happy with all the statistics EXCEPT total time. I thought I could be a little faster.

John came out and did the race with me; it was only his second 5K too. He did amazing, for someone who rarely runs. He started out with me - even faster than me - but he wasn't able to sustain the effort the whole way through and I lost him around mile 2.

John's time: 26:48 (8:39 pace)
All the rest of his numbers aren't so great because all these speedy boys who do 5Ks in 16 minutes came out, but seriously - 8:39 average? Wow!