June 27, 2014

Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K Recap

It’s our last day of vacation and I’m not ready for it to end! So far today Henri and I have gone on a 12 mile run/bike ride, hiked for 2 hours and explored Jackson all afternoon. To say that I will be POOPED by the end of the day is an understatement!

I know that it’s pretty much been a week since my 5K but with all the fun we’ve been having on vacay I just got around to writing up my recap. I hope it’s still fun to read a week later! 😉

The Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K is a local race that has been held in my hometown every June since 2003. It is a charitable race to raise money for ALS research. It was started by Mike Timlin (an ex-Red Sox player) in honor of his mother who died from ALS. It is a great race and family event with lots of games, kids races, Red Sox players signing autographs and really good post-race food! Whenever I am home for this race I HAVE to run it, so this past Saturday was no different!Henri and I got to the high school a little over an hour before the start of the race, I picked up my bib, we chatted with some of our neighbors, and then I set out to do my warm-up (2 miles). I met Henri back by the starting line to stretch and do some drills.
After doing 5 strides I hopped into the corrals and chatted with a few of the other guys around me. I was surprised that no other women had positioned themselves up near the front of the corrals but one of the guys told me he was shooting for a similar time so I knew that I would have someone to run with. After a few words from the race director, Mike Timlin, and the national anthem we were off and running!
I immediately found myself the first woman and hanging in with the second pack of men. The first mile is all downhill and even though I went into the race knowing that I would need to pace myself down that hill I got pulled along by the guys and we went through mile marker #1 in 5:24.
Mile 2 was a lot hillier than I remember (darn all those flat California runs the past 2 years!) and the hills really thinned out the course. I picked a guy in a yellow shirt in front of me, made my way up to him, and stuck on his back through the second mile. I didn’t think we had slowed down a very much but when I cross mile marker #2 my watch showed 5:54!
Right after the second mile marker you hit the top of the hill and turn back towards the starting line. This one of my favorite spots on the course because all the people that were out cheering at the start are all still there and cheering for everyone as you come back in. I run under the starting arch, down a slight but long hill, and then turned onto the last loop of the race which is relatively flat. At this point I knew I had a pretty good lead on the rest of the women and my focus was on getting to the finish line strong.
My watch beeped 5:40 for the 3^rd mile right as I turned onto the last straight away. I sprinted as fast as I could, which at that point probably wasn’t very fast, to the finish line. 1^st place in 17:48 – 30 seconds faster than any 5K I’ve run since I graduated from college 2 years ago!I got in a good 4 mile cool-down on the grass/trails, Henri and I checked out the food tent (Henri had the breakfast of champions – pizza), and stretched in the grass for a little bit. It was a great way to kick off vacation week!