Last night was the Hartford Marathon Foundation: Rentschler Airfield 5k. It is advertised as flat and fast. It certainly was for me because I got another PR! 28:37! I also placed 3rd in the Athena Division. I have never won a division award before, so I was super excited. I received a jar of salsa.
I did the race with Laurel, who also had a PR. Nice course and good weather make for a great race.
Pre-Race:
My legs were a bit sore from a hard 8k run the night before. So I knew I was really going to have to stretch and warm up before this race. I used the foam roller a bit in the morning to work out some of the tightness in my hamstrings and calves. We showed up at the race with about a half hour to spare. Check in was a breeze. HMF events are always really well organized. They are probably my favorite races to do because everyone is friendly and everything always runs so smoothly!
We collected our bibs and t-shirts and used the restroom before heading towards the start line. I jogged around a bit and stretched around the 15 min to go mark. The race was on an old airfield, so wide long roads. This let everyone (about 300) start very close to the line, it was that wide. At a 5k a few weeks ago, I made the mistake of seeding myself to far back and got stuck behind people with no way to get around them. This race had plenty of room.
Run:
The national anthem and then we were off! I went out pretty fast. The race started with a very long straightaway (I'm guessing it was a half mile. The nice wide course meant I could get into a good groove right away. There was a turn and then another long straight away until a turnaround point at a mile in. The clock at a mile said 8:20! Yikes! I really don't run that fast and knew I couldn't sustain it for another two miles so I backed off a little and settled into a much more comfortable pace. We ran back past the start line and then onto a smaller path. It stayed pretty flat for most of the race. I think I may actually prefer a few rolling hills. No ups mean no downs, so no real chance to get a break. At two miles I had slowed down to a more realistic pace and hit that mile marker around 18:30. I knew I could get a PR if I just kept up the pace. When I hit 3 miles I could see the finish line and the clock. I then sprinted the last .1 and it felt awesome! I grabbed a bottle of water from the wonderful volunteers and met up with Ian who was there as our moral support and personal photographer! Laurel came in a little over 33 minutes, which was also a PR for her! Go us!
Post-Race:
Once Laurel crossed the finish line we headed over to the results tent. HMF has instant results by computer. You type in your bib number and get your result. It is great, much better than waiting around for the printout to come. I put in my number and saw my official time: 28:37 and that I had come in 3rd in the Athenas! Huzzah! We had to stick around for the awards.
Post race refreshments were donuts from Faddy's donuts and ice cream, Elk burgers from Cabela's, and Beer from Olde Burnside Brewing. Wonderful post-race grub.
We stood around enjoying the post-race excitement until the awards were announced. The division awards were jars of salsa from Fox Meadow Farm in Vermont. Both the mens and the womens overall winner set course records- crazy fast speeds, the male winner was like 16 minutes and the female was 17. She was done before I even made it to mile 2!
It was a great race and I am really looking forward to the next race I do with them- the Niantic Bay Triathlon next weekend! But first laurel and I tackle the Warrior Dash tomorrow!
I did the race with Laurel, who also had a PR. Nice course and good weather make for a great race.
Pre-Race:
My legs were a bit sore from a hard 8k run the night before. So I knew I was really going to have to stretch and warm up before this race. I used the foam roller a bit in the morning to work out some of the tightness in my hamstrings and calves. We showed up at the race with about a half hour to spare. Check in was a breeze. HMF events are always really well organized. They are probably my favorite races to do because everyone is friendly and everything always runs so smoothly!
We collected our bibs and t-shirts and used the restroom before heading towards the start line. I jogged around a bit and stretched around the 15 min to go mark. The race was on an old airfield, so wide long roads. This let everyone (about 300) start very close to the line, it was that wide. At a 5k a few weeks ago, I made the mistake of seeding myself to far back and got stuck behind people with no way to get around them. This race had plenty of room.
Run:
The national anthem and then we were off! I went out pretty fast. The race started with a very long straightaway (I'm guessing it was a half mile. The nice wide course meant I could get into a good groove right away. There was a turn and then another long straight away until a turnaround point at a mile in. The clock at a mile said 8:20! Yikes! I really don't run that fast and knew I couldn't sustain it for another two miles so I backed off a little and settled into a much more comfortable pace. We ran back past the start line and then onto a smaller path. It stayed pretty flat for most of the race. I think I may actually prefer a few rolling hills. No ups mean no downs, so no real chance to get a break. At two miles I had slowed down to a more realistic pace and hit that mile marker around 18:30. I knew I could get a PR if I just kept up the pace. When I hit 3 miles I could see the finish line and the clock. I then sprinted the last .1 and it felt awesome! I grabbed a bottle of water from the wonderful volunteers and met up with Ian who was there as our moral support and personal photographer! Laurel came in a little over 33 minutes, which was also a PR for her! Go us!
Post-Race:
Once Laurel crossed the finish line we headed over to the results tent. HMF has instant results by computer. You type in your bib number and get your result. It is great, much better than waiting around for the printout to come. I put in my number and saw my official time: 28:37 and that I had come in 3rd in the Athenas! Huzzah! We had to stick around for the awards.
Post race refreshments were donuts from Faddy's donuts and ice cream, Elk burgers from Cabela's, and Beer from Olde Burnside Brewing. Wonderful post-race grub.
We stood around enjoying the post-race excitement until the awards were announced. The division awards were jars of salsa from Fox Meadow Farm in Vermont. Both the mens and the womens overall winner set course records- crazy fast speeds, the male winner was like 16 minutes and the female was 17. She was done before I even made it to mile 2!
It was a great race and I am really looking forward to the next race I do with them- the Niantic Bay Triathlon next weekend! But first laurel and I tackle the Warrior Dash tomorrow!
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