UpGrade Lifestyle 5k at Birkdale

This morning I ran a 5k race. The start was about one mile away, so it doesn't get much more local than that. I ran this same race last year, again because it was so close. It starts at a neighborhood resident's club for an area I run in quite often. It is an out & back course with a couple of climbs on the way out.

Although I know better than to go out too fast, I did want to try for a faster pace than my last 5k. During the first quarter mile I glanced at my Garmin to see I was at about 6:10. I did not stay at that pace though. There were quite a few that took off fast like that and quickly slowed down. You can tell when someone is doing a pace they won't be able to keep up for the whole race.

The climbs slowed me down, but my first mile split was at 6:39. I passed a few people in the first mile, mostly those who had gone out too fast. There were about 8 or 9 strong runners still ahead of me. There was one younger kid, maybe 9 or 10 that tried to not let me pass him. Two or three times I would get right beside him and he would surge for a few seconds. But he couldn't keep the pace up on the hills.

I eventually passed a guy that ended up staying pretty close to me the rest of the way. Turn around points are tough for keeping a good pace, but it is nice to be able to watch the other runners as you head back. After the turn around I couldn't see anyone ahead of me, though I knew a few were there. That made it tougher for me to stay on a strong pace. I kept glancing at my GPS to see where I was and tried to keep it under 6:40. The second mile split was 6:47, probably due to a decent climb and the turn around. Mile 3, being more downhill was my fastest at 6:35. GPS Details

I ended up with a 20:26 finish time. This is a new personal record for me. I don't run many 5k races. My best was the last 5k I did one year ago at this same race with a 21:19. I would actually like to get a sub-20 minute 5k sometime. Maybe I'll do some actual speed work prior to next year's race, or another that may come up.

Overall I place eighth. The one guy in my age group that was faster than me took third overall. That actually left me as the age group winner for 30-39. I won a gift bag of Domain men's fragrance products. :)

It was a fun race and I met some of the other runners and talked with the guy who stayed just a bit behind me. He finished about 6 seconds behind me.