Saturday August 23rd I ran the Run around the
Square 5k in Regent Square. Don’t hold
me to this, but I want to say this race is the largest neighborhood race in
Pennsylvania. Normally they cap the race
off at 1500 people, but this year they decided to cap it at 1800. There is
always a good amount of really good runners that show up for this race.
The swag has gone down a bit but who cares. Now all you get
is a short sleeved tech shirt, your bib, and chip at packet pick-up. They have went to the virtual bags like other
races for your coupons and things. They do make up for it though with the
medals and trophy’s they give out.
This race is great for so many reason: It is very family
friendly. Besides the 5k race there is a
1.5 race in which you are allowed to run with your dog. They also give awards
for the 1.5 mile race. How many races do you know actually give awards for the
shorter distance race? It is very few that do.
The 5K offers a course that starts out on the brick roads of Regent
Square and takes you down into the trails of Frick Park. Just within the first mile you have family’s
cheering you on from their porches and sidewalks and live bands playing for you
as well. As you enter the trails right
before the 1st mile marker there is a beer and champagne stop. That’s right not a water stop a beer and
champagne stop. No need to worry though
there is a water station just up the trail and a second one later on the second
half of trails. The post-race party is
one of the best around. D’s six-pack
and hot dog shop is the main sponsor for this race and provides free hot dogs and
beer. If you are not a drinker you can
still get your normal bananas and water in the post-race area as well.
So now onto my race experience for the day. The race had a 9:00 am start. I arrived
around 7:45 am so I could get some stretching in and a little warm up. I ran
into my friend Don @DonnieBRunnin as I was standing around waiting for the
start of the 1.5 race. I love watching
the little kids shoot out of the start like they are running a 100 meter
dash. The competition in this race is
not all that good anymore. At one point the Woodland Hills Cross Country team
would come and run this race, but those days are gone and now it is mainly
young children who run with a parent or someone who wants to run with their
dog. The winning time was around 10
minutes. After watching the race I
started to actually do my warm up. I did my stretching as I watched the
finished of the race. My warm up didn't
go as I planned because one thing about this race is I know a lot of the people
running it. So as I would run down the
street I would run into someone I haven’t seen in a while and we would do some
catching up. Before I knew it there was
10 minutes to the start and I needed to get to the start. The past 2 years this race has went to a
staggered start to give people some more room.
I lined up about 10 rows back from the front and once again found myself
talking to people I had not seen in a while.
Don told me he was going to try and get around 22 minutes so I figured I
would just pace with him for the race. I
had some neck problems and didn't want to push myself to hard. As we stood waiting for the gun to go off a
lot of us were complaining about the humidity.
This course isn't the easiest around and being hot and sweaty is not
going to help.
The gun sounded and
we were off. Within the first 100 meters
Don slipped on the brick road, but was able to stay up and keep running. He told me he was nursing an ankle issue so I
was nervous when I saw this happen. As
we entered the trail right around .75 miles I noticed Don had pulled up and
slowed down a bit. I passed him and begun my journey through the first trail.
He later told me that his ankle was giving him some problems and he wanted to
play it safe. I don’t blame him he also has Columbus coming up. As I passed the beer and champagne table I
had to stop myself from making a B line to the table and grabbing a tasty
beverage. That damn table is like a
magnet. I passed up the table and
thought to myself the quicker you finish the quicker you can have one. As I passed the 1 mile marker and exited the
trail I saw the first water stop. It is
very rare for me to take water in a 5K, but the humidity was getting to me so I
grabbed a cup and dumped it on my head. My first mile split was a 7:22. The second mile of this race is the hardest.
It is almost all up hill. As you exit
the first trail you head onto the street of South Braddock Ave and quickly make
a left onto Forbes Ave. Both of those
roads are slight up hills. You really
don’t notice it, but in this race you will. Once on Forbes you make a right and
head back onto a trail for the remainder of the race. At this point I got a little nervous. It rained the night before and I kept having
visions of me slipping on the wet surface and getting hurt before my
marathon. I pulled back and took mile 2
slower than I would have liked. My split as I approached the second mile marker
was 16.22. I ran a 9 minute mile for
mile 2. I regret doing this now. I
should have just held my pace and hoped for the best. As I passed the mile 2 marker the woman who
was yelling the splits said “water stop is just ahead and then it’s all
downhill.” I approached the water stop
and once again grabbed a cup and dumped it on my head. I felt really good and knew I had to make up
some time on the downhill section. I
picked up the pace and started to play the fun game of pick off the runner. If you were in front of me and in my line of
vision I was coming for you. I still was running cautious though, afraid I
would slip. As I exited the trail and
saw the finish I turned on my kick and sprinted to the finish in a time of
23:27. My pace overall was a 7:34 and my
last mile was my fastest of the race.
When I saw my time I was disappointed because I felt so good and thought
I ran a really good race. This is what happens though when you play it too safe
like I did on the second mile. Oh well,
lessened learned.
After I crossed the
finish I quickly and when I say quickly I mean I ran like someone told me there
was gold at the other end of the field I was crossing, and grabbed a cold beer. Now that I had my beer in hand I was ready to
go watch my friends cross the finish line.
First to come across was my good friend Kari. Kari doesn't get to run that often and even
joked with me that she only got to do 2 training days for this race. Her time
was 27:27. Kari is a mother, so training
comes harder for her. I always say if
she trained properly and had the time, she would be a force in the woman’s
field. Next to come across was my
cousin’s wife Gab in a time of 29:58. Followed by her husband, my cousin Mike
in a time of 31:00. Not far behind was my
running partner in crime Anna who ran a 31:48. Anna is another person who has a
young child so doesn't always get to run as much as she would like. I always tell my good friend, her husband
Charlie that Anna is better than she thinks and needs to train better. My cousin Katie came across in a time of
34:58 which is not bad for not getting in too much training as well. Once we all were in the finish area it was
time to start the drinking. Me and Anna
joke every year about this race and how much we are going to drink. This year we both had our fair share of
beers. I may not have won the race, but
I may have won most beers drank by a runner.
Too bad they don’t give out an award for that.
Mike, Katie, Me, and Anna |
The only negatives I can say about this race are: passing is
a pain in the ass. If you get stuck behind a slow pack on the trails you
basically are screwed. Also I wouldn't
really call this a negative but this race doesn't go to a charity. The positives out weight the negatives be
far: It is very organized. Awards for both races. Good crowd support and entertainment on the
course. Girl finishers all get a
carnation. Awesome post-race party. So if you live in Pittsburgh or are in the
area next year mark this race on your calendar.
It is a challenging race with so many unique and cool things. Plus we can throw a few cold ones back at the
post race party…
CHEERS MY
FRIENDS!!!!!
I've always wanted to run this race, but again this year, it didn't fit into my training plan and running schedule. Sounds like mile two was pretty challenging and kudos to you for avoiding the "magnet table" - LOL. Nice run!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Next year you def. Need to come do this one
DeleteIt was super humid that morning. It didn't even occur to me that the brick street and road could be slippery from the rain, but that makes sense. I think you did the right thing in slowing down on the trail so you didn't chance getting hurt for your marathon. Sounds like you & your friends still kicked butt on a challenging course & had fun. I agree with you about passing. When I ran it with my sister, we wanted to run together since it was both of our first races. Where the course goes into Frick Park from Forbes, there was a bottleneck & we got separated & she couldn't pass to catch up to me. Oh well. I definitely want to run it again since its such a fun race.
ReplyDeleteIt is an awesome race and one I always look forward too
Delete