Race for the Pennant

Since I dont have but a couple races under my belt, I figured it was still worth giving a race report, especially sinc this one had some good moments.

This morning my sister Jill and I ran in the Astro's Race for the Pennant 5k that started at Minute Maid Park. We were both surprised by the number of people that were running this race, TONS more than the 5k we ran in just 4 weeks ago. The start gave me my first taste of what a big race is kind of like. Lots of people running/walking at different paces and navigating them was a bit tricky, and I noticed that more than anything it sort of made me run faster. After a bit of bobbing and weaving, we settled in a bit to begin the rolling "hills" of the Elysian Viaduct.

By mile 1 we were feeling pretty good having tackled the first hill or two without much of a slow down, and it was here that we started to see the leaders coming back. What was shocking to Jill and I were the 9 and 10 year old kids that were running at about a 6 minute mile pace. I guess they could have jumped over the median, but they looked like they had been running it all.

As we made the turn to come back I looked at my watch and saw that we were well on pace to finish by my goal which was under 40 minutes. I also knew that the hardest running was yet to come. Right at the turn around was an uphill that Ill admit was not easy. We were getting hot and the sun was beating down, but we were still pretty much on pace.

Right after mile 2 was where things got...interesting. Making a little turn we could see Minute Maid Park. "There it is." I say, but what is funny here is that its hard to remember that a structure the size of a ballpark can still be waaaay in the distance and look like its just right there. The last (and longest) hill was coming up and both Jill and I were getting tired, but still sticking close to that 12:30 pace we had been running all along. Just as we crest the last hill we can see the entire road leading us straight into Minute Maid, Im huffing and huffing, but Im boosted by the fact that we are on a straight road to the finish, so I thought.

About 1/2 a mile from the park, the course took a right turn, Im assuming to add that pesky .1 miles to the end of the 5k. At this point I literally said to Jill "Im not gonna lie, that dampens my spirit a little bit." At this point Jill starts doing everything she can to keep me optomistic, singing to me, trying to immitate my "power song," anything, but I just need to run.

I look at my watch and see that we are at about 36 minutes with about a 1/3 of a mile to go and I know that it is going to be tight. We have run really hard and we are both really hurting at this point when I hear in the distance a familiar voice. I look across a vacant lot, and theres Vic cheering on all the runners as they pass by. I tell Jill, "there's Vic!," and for some reason Jill decides to take off to get us to him. I literally tell her, "Jill, I knew he would be here, we dont need to sprint to see Vic!" But as we turned the final corner towards the finish Vic is cheering for us at the top of his lungs, and he brought Anna from PIM to cheer for us too. For whatever reason, his cheers worked, I found some sort of new gear that I didnt know I had and I started running, like really running. As we pass Vic and Anna I hear Vic yelling still and he even says "Will, wait for us!" as he realizes Im almost at a dead sprint he says, "never mind, KEEP GOING!" This new gear I found was amazing, and frankly I dont know how I would have finished if Vic hadnt been there to push us the last little bit.

So as we pass up the mile 3 marker and can see the entrance we run through to enter the field and cross the finish, we see "THE RAMP." The ramp leading down to the field, we had been warned several times was extremely steep. I had pictures the whole race of a trecherous slope that had to be carefully navigated, but when I got to it, it didnt look so scary. Enough so that I said, "Screw it, Im running down this." Jill did not however know my thoughts and as I started barreling down this ramp she literally puts her hand across my chest in her best "mommy keeping kid from falling" move but I "knew" what I was doing.

In the final tunnel and the last 40 yards or so we could see the official clock over the finish tick 39:59....40:00. I was instantly deflated until Jill yells, "its the start clock, not our time!!" So with the last energy we had we burst over the finish and I stop my watch, at 39:11. Goal accomplished.

It was such a great run, nice weather, well organized, and I got a PR to boot. Four weeks ago to the day I ran my first 5k in 44:33, so in just a month I shaved 5 min and 22 seconds off my time. My favorite thing Jill said was, "I wonder what you could do with no hills and no lower respiratory infection." I guess we will find out next week :)