Five Thousand

Sunday morning I ran a race for the first time since high school - the inaugural Canal Diggers 5K in Worcester, MA. I've been pretty good about running this summer, normally doing about 3.5 mi 2-3 times per week with one or two 5-6 miles days mixed in to extend myself. I got an email about the race and decided to try it. I had been thinking about doing one for a while. I wasn't worried at all about the length - it was about half of my maximum, so it was more a matter of actually going through with it and trying to put forth my best effort. It was a fun, painful, and rewarding experience.

I woke up at 6AM and jogged over to South Station to catch the 7:50 train to Worcester. I arrived at the Fiddler's Green tavern around nine o'clock. The tavern was sitting in a parking lot, nothing "green" as far as the eye could see. I had pre-registered (at a discount price thanks to my being a Friend of Harpoon - also how I heard about the race in the first place) and picked up my race #510 and my T-shirt. The race didn't start until 11AM, so I had to wait around for a while as a growing crowd gathered. The racers were all ages, body types, etc. - from strapping young lads like myself to a couple very young kids to a few geriatrics rounding out the 70+ age bracket. One middle-aged gent made some conversation with me, asking for tips on the race. This was his first, at 56. I explained that it was also my first, at 27. We had a few laughs and wished each other good luck. The weather was near-perfect for a morning run. Cool and slightly breezy at around 65, but sunny.

Finally, 11:00 rolled around, everyone lined up and we were off! I busted out at what seemed to me to be a frantic pace, but I was amped up, full of adrenaline and nervous energy, and I started knocking off the meters. As the initial bunch broke up, I moved to the right side of the street and hung out there on the rail, moving up past runners who looked like they should be faster than I. It was right after one of the volunteers we passed announced the 1 mile mark (a 5K is about 3.1 mi) that I started to feel the burning in my legs, especially my left. My lower abdomen tightened up - not a stitch or a cramp, but sort of a dull, tight pain throughout my entire stomach. I had gone out far too fast, and now I was slowing down. People started passing me. I settled into a pace far slower than my initial one, but I got into a groove and tried to focus on staying up with whoever was right in front of me.

(Side note here: Worcester is hideously ugly. We were running through a concrete jungle of industrial/commercial wasteland. Offensive to the senses. The race officials joked about it "Be careful out there - this is Worcester after all!" and the race director kept insisting that "Worcester is alive!" despite all evidence to the contrary.)

By the time we had the last half mile or so to go, I was dizzy, extremely sore, and in pain that I hadn't experienced in a long time in running. I felt like the sun was beating down and I might as well have been running in 90 degree, humid August weather for all my effort and perspiration. I felt just like I did when I used to run track in high school - a horrific experience to be sure. I blame an overambitious starting pace and my nerves, which debilitated me severely in high school (on and off the track) and assuredly affected me to some degree on Sunday, the fact that it was a meaningless road race with a bunch of folks my parents' age notwithstanding.

I managed to kick it into a higher gear as we rounded the final turn and crossed the finish line in something resembling a sprint. A guy a couple places ahead of me who was pretty buff and wearing skin-tight running gear booted immediately upon entering the finishing area. That made me feel somewhat superior, but I was kind of bummed at this point. A bunch of people had passed me, many of whom put my masculinity in severe doubt (tiny girls with strides half the size of mine, greybeards, ugly people, etc.)

However, after I had caught my breath, chugged some water, and considered the benefits of seppuku right then and there, I watched the remaining racers finish. They kept coming. And coming. There were a lot of people behind me. This made me feel slightly better.

The event was very well-organized. After everyone finished, we made our way back to the Fiddler's Green where there were tables of fresh fruit, grills going, and Harpoon beer tents set up. After running five kilometers the first thing I want is a cup full of beer! I inhaled some food and grabbed a Harpoon IPA - free beer never tasted so good. There was a band playing - the Brennan Brothers, three guys who played a variety of Irish folk songs. Entertaining. One guy walked around handing out these sweet medals to all the participants:


(Note its functionality as a bottle opener.)

I read somewhere that running a race like this is one of few events where everyone involved is in a genuinely good mood, and this was true in my experience. A combination of runner's high, a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie perhaps? Whatever it was, people were friendly, helpful, and laughing and drinking in the post-race celebration. It was a pretty cool party with 550+ strangers. There was a trophy ceremony for the winners in the various age and weight categories (needless to say I did not top the 18-29 year-olds).

Despite sunstroke (a tomato-face sunburn and a splitting headache the rest of the day point to this, although dehydration may have played a central role as well) a persistent pain in my left knee (particularly sore when bending said knee, an activity rather important in walking and ascending or descending stairs) and general soreness, I'm glad I did it. I checked CoolRunning.com today for the race results, and although I wasn't sure what to expect before I ran, I was very pleasantly surprised with the following:

• Finished 99th out of 563 runners
• Just made the top 100
• Top 17.6%
• Race time of 23:42, averaging a 7:38 mile pace

I was running the fastest I have in a long time at the outset, and definitely felt like I was giving about as close to 100% as I could for most of the race, so I definitely feel some validation. I feel a lot better about my performance than I did when I finished yesterday. That's a pretty good pace for me, I think. I definitely want to race more. 10K next?

Thanks to Paul Collier and all the volunteers who ran the show and gave out plenty of encouragement during the race. Thanks to the Worcester Police who helped with traffic along the race route. Thanks to the sponsors, including Harpoon, whose IPA ranks up there with the greatest things ever created.