Gateway Mile Recap

     It has been over a year since I ran a 1 mile race.  Normally every year I try to run at least 2 of them. Last year I was unable to run both of them, so today I was really pumped to get out and run the Gateway Mile.  Here is my recap of the night.
     First I have to give credit to the people that put this race on.  With it being a free race, there is no big name sponsor to buy everything.  Tammy and Don Slusser basically do all this on their own with the help of some friends.  They provide the bibs, refreshments, and prizes.   The race is held on the track at the Gateway Middle School in Monroeville.  When you arrive you sign in at a table and sign up for which ever heat based on your predicted time.  Depending on how many people decides the break down of heats. This year there was around 80 runners total and 6 heats.  Heat 1 was the fastest of the all the heats and the winner won the race in 4:25.   There was about 20 runners in the heat and the slowest time was a 5:15.
    The race's were very organized and as soon as one heat ended they would have a 2 minute delay and the next heat would line up at the start. The second heat had the first place female who ran a time of 5:25.  and placed 4th overall in the heat.  I was scheduled to run in heat 3 where the predicted times to finish were from 5:45-6:18.   As we lined up at the start they realized that the race was too crowded and asked if a few of us wouldn't mind dropping to heat 4.  I didn't mind doing this since it has been a while since I ran a mile competitively.  As the race started I took the lead for the first 100 meters in order to get out the pack.  Five runners stayed with me and we soon formed our own little pack and ran most of the race together.  Around 800 meters a younger kid took off and broke away from the pack. I figured he went way to fast and would die down and we would catch him.  He did get tired but he built himself a half lap lead at one point and even with my kick I couldn't catch him.  I did manage to come back on him and only lost by 4 seconds.  My time was 6:15.  I am not mad at this time but I am not happy with it. 
    Any time I have ever ran the mile( and this is going back to high school ) one thing I would do is sit back behind a runner and let them set the pace for the race and I would use my kick to win.  Had I stayed in heat 3 my time would of been faster because everyone ran faster times.  Instead I let someone dictate my pace and I didn't worry about the person who went out ahead giving me a slower time that I would of liked.   
    One great thing though about this race is everyone that shows up is so nice and they cheered everyone on. You could tell people went into heats they had no business being in just to try and challenge themselves. No one got mad and we all cheered until the last person crossed the finish.  
    After all the heats they announce the winners. winners of each heat receive homemade fudge from Tammy Slusser.  I hung around to talk to some of the runners and I was amazed that some of these guys came from all different colleges to run.  The competition was really good this year and once again it was a great time.  It still lacks the number of female runners but hopefully next year that will change.

WHAT I TOOK AWAY FROM THE RACE
I realized that my speed work outs are working a lot. I was not tired when I finished the race and I know I could of went faster.
Don't under estimate a runner, I should of kept the distance closer between me and the lead runner.
I still have time until the Liberty Mile to drop my time.  

Also after talking to some of the runners I am going to meet up with a few of them one night a week for a group run where they can help me out with any kinks in my running.  I will take some good advice from great runners any day.