2011 Kilgour 5k

Friday night I did this little neighborhood 5k, which is a benefit for our local elementary school's sports program. I've done it for the past seven years now, and maybe even before that but I don't have a record of it. This year I forgot to pre-register in time so I had to hustle up there when registration opened to make sure I got a t-shirt, since this year they were going to have technical tops for the first time. They even used timing chips this year, which I think it pretty funny for this little race. So high-tech.

Some years I have had to rush home from an agility trial to make this race, and my legs have felt pretty flat after a long day of agility, but that was not the case this year.

Well, it's less than 3/4s of a mile from my house, so I jogged up there and got my shirt, jogged home again, hung out for awhile, and jogged back to the start. Glad I got the shirt. It's in a woman's cut in black with the race logo in white.

It had been a hot and humid afternoon, but some showers before the race made for a slight dip in the temperature and all in all it wasn't a bad night for a run.

The course follows residential streets in Mt. Lookout before heading into Ault Park, then back out down a nice, long hill before making the turn back to the street in front of the school. Post-race, there is a little party in back of the school, where they usually serve hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies, and some band composed of parents whose kids attend the schools usually plays classic rock. I haven't hung around post-race the last few years so these details may have changed. The day after the race is the annual school carnival. This was all a big deal for us back when my daughter went to school there, but now I am old enough to be a grandparent of the Kilgour kids and I've lost my connection to the place.
You Have to Know Your Place
Saw my old friend David warming up pre-race but no chance to say hello. Finished my warmup and took a spot in the crowd near other people who looked like they are going to run. Positioning myself is tough in a race like this. I am not fast enough to start in the front, but I also don't want to get stuck behind a bunch of walkers (even though the official walker start was supposed to be after the runners, some people get confused or think it doesn't matter). And you have to watch out for the little kids, many of whom go out too fast with arms and legs flying about erratically, and whom are prone to sudden stops and/or changes of direction. You don't want to trip over or step on a kid.

There was a somewhat less-tha-fit woman just behind me with a stroller---maybe not even a running stroller---and I wondered if I was really in the right place. But everybody else nearby looked right. A very fit young woman standing next to me turned around and looked disdainfully at the stroller and said "that shouldn't be here," which was what I was of course also thinking but I didn't want to say it. The stroller was pushing right up against the back of the fit-looking woman's legs. I'd be pissed, too.

They changed the course this year. We started a little farther downhill from the school (for a slightly more uphill start) but then later, instead of running behind the Ault Park Pavillion, we made an early right turn to take us out of the park. This took out some of the uphill in mile 2-3. But then at the end we had to run past the finish line in front of the school (about where the mile 3 mark was now) a little way up the street before turning around and heading back to the finish. I'm not sure I liked that part, but at least the last .05 miles was slightly downhill.

Around 7 pm, we were off. My goal was about a 27:30, or about an 8:50 pace. Turned out to pretty realistic. At a minimum, I wanted to be faster than last year, which was probably the slowest 5k I've ever run. I'm a couple pounds lighter and I've been doing a little bit of speedwork. I've never broken 26 minutes in this race, even when I was a bit more fit. It's not as hard as the Reggae Run but it's plenty hard enough.

For once I was in the right place at the start, and I didn't have to do too much running around people or worrying about being tripped by a kid. What I did need to worry about were potholes. Turns out the street in front of the school really needs to be repaved. I don't drive on it very often so didn't know. It's a mess.

The Competition: Little Kids and People with Dogs
Mile 1 took me 8:25. It is the easiest mile of the race---closest to "flat"---and it is always my fastest mile but I was still happy to be so far ahead of last year (9:00 for first mile).

Around this time I noticed a woman running with a Standard Poodle, and I was thinking about how it would have been fun to run this with Ed, but it was a little too warm and he is a little too out of condition, plus he had the agility trial on Saturday so it was no time to take him for a 3 mile run that he was not trained for. On the long uphill heading into the park, the woman and the Poodle pulled away, and I thought more about agility and Cork Sterling with his dog Max, and now Casey. Beaten by a Standard Poodle, story of my life.

In the second mile, I exchange snippets of conversation with a young boy who was complaining about the hill and wondering if there are any flat 5ks in Cincinnati. He said he thought he would like something flat and straight. I told him there were are few flat races but not many. Maybe he would enjoy the Jim Sauls 5k, basically an out and back along a flat stretch of road in Batavia. Too bad they stopped having that one. It was a great time trial course.

One nice thing I've noticed in this race over the years is that the kids are getting more fit, and also better educated about racing. There is far less cutting of the course and cheating than there used to be. I think this is a sign that the race has become a tradition for the neighborhood, and we are building a culture of fitness here. When some of those little kids look like they are going out too fast, it isn't always a given anymore, and some them can really kick your butt. Little tiny kids totally kicking my butt, I love it!

Mile 2 took me 9:12. It is the hardest mile of the race, more uphill than down.

And finally we are flying down Principio, my favorite part of the course. I am hurting but I spend the time and energy to high five a few little kids. I know when we reach the bottom there will just be a couple minutes more uphill, just a few more minutes of torture and it will be over. But since we have to run past the finish line before turning around to come back, it's a little bit more torturous than previous years. Mile 3 takes me 8:53. I don't like having to run past the finish line. I see the finish line, I want to stop.

I push and finish the last .1 in 49.5 seconds, for a finish time of 27:19. And I don't throw up, which means I had something left in the tank. But there were no women I could catch in the last stretch so I didn't have to absolutely kill myself.

Grabbed a cup of water and started walking up the street. Decided not to stay for the awards because I didn't want to stiffen up while standing around in the cold. It's a Steve Prescott race and generally his awards processing is more chaotic than some of the other race directors in town. I don't know why but that is the way it always is. Ran into David walking to his car. He said that this had been his slowest 5k ever (even slower than last year for him) but he considered it a triumph just to be out there at all because he had been very ill this past winter and was even in the hospital for a while with pneumonia/flu/etc. David used to be one of those sub-20 minute guys back when I first met him, and I realize that I have known David for close to 25 years now. We used to work for the same company and I met him when we did one of those corporate challenge races, which was one of my very first 5ks.

We are getting old, but as Tommy says, it beats the alternative. I have slowed down a bit since that race years ago, but not as much as David has. Anyway, slower though we may be, we are still fast enough to win our respective geezer age groups. The results show me 1 of 4 in the age group, 19 of 162 women, and 80 of 250 runners. There were also 87 walkers and I beat all of them (which is not always a given).