Sharon Timlin 5K 2015: Recap

Happy Wednesday! I’m off to NYC with the fam for my dad’s retirement party/dinner tonight so I’m just dropping in to tell you about the 5K race this past weekend – about time, eh? (sorry… my sisters talked me into watching the Bachelorette last night and I think Kaitlyn’s Canadian accent might have rubbed off on me 😉 )

The Timlin 5K is a really special race in my hometown. It was started 12 years ago by Red Sox pitcher Mike Timlin to raise money for ALS research in honor of his mom, Sharon. Over the years it has grown from a small 5K that mostly just people from Hopkinton ran, to a large race that attracts about 2,000 runners from the surrounding areas. It’s so fun to see runners and non-runners alike join together in our town for a great race and fun post-race celebration to raise money for such an important cause.

Since 2009 I’ve run Timlin 5 times, including the past three years in a row. It’s almost becoming a summer tradition at this point. One of my favorite things that keeps me coming back for this race every year is racing it with friends and family. 

This year I flew into Boston late-ish the night before the race but HAD to run it because I can’t be in town on race day and sleep in while all the fun is going on. Kel, my mom and I headed over to the race around 7:30 for an 8:30 race start. We got there, met up with Kel’s boyfriend and headed over to pick-up our bib numbers and t-shirts. 

I started my warm-up around 7:45 – 2 mile jog + some light stretching, legs swings, drills and strides. About 5 minutes before race time I jumped into the corral and was met with lots of familiar faces. We chatted for a little bit but before we knew it we were off! 

My goal going into this race was to take it as easy as I could and still take 1st place female (hellooooo free pair of running shoes!) while leaving as much as possible in the tank for the BAA 10K the next day. I went out with the second group of lead guys for the first DOWNHILL mile and we hit the mile marker around 5:22.  

By this point I knew I was probably in the clear so I slowed things down a bit to more of a tempo pace that I could easily hold for the next two miles. A high schooler from a nearby town (he, his mom and I chatted a bit after the race) and I ran stride for stride for the second mile. As we made the turn right after hitting the 2nd mile marker [6:07] one of my high school teammate’s dad cheered me on and assured me there were no other ladies in sight behind me. Knowing that he could see about a quarter mile down the road I decided to hold to my current pace. 

During that last mile another guy passed us and started gaining a little bit of ground. I urged the kid I had been running with to go catch him and so he picked it up and took off for the guy. He ended up getting beat in the last sprint for the finish but he gave it his all which was fun to see – especially on a day that I wasn’t running for my best time.

LAST 1.1 miles @ 5:57 pace for a total time of 18:15.

I circled back to cheer for the rest of the gang and then snuck off for a little cool-down before meeting back up for the partay! We chatted with friends, checked out the different tents and ate some tasty snacks… um, they had fresh peaches – what!?!

My sister came in 3rd in her age group, her BF came in 3rd in his, and my mom ran 30 seconds faster than when she ran this race two years ago so I’d say it was a pretty good day all around! 😀

Oh – and a HUGE congrats to our good friend, Timmy, won the men’s race in 16:21!! He was flying! I always love seeing Tim because he’s one of the few people that I feel follows professional running as much as I do and always knows exactly what I’m talking about when I bring up current events in the running world!

It was great to be able to run this race for the third year in a row and I’m already hopping I can come home for it next year because it really is one of my favorite 5K’s ever! 

What is the best “non-conventional” post-race snack you’ve ever gotten at a race?

Do you follow professional running? Who is your favorite pro??

Do you and your family have any running/racing traditions together?