Daytona 5K

Greetings Fellow Runners

Well.................I completed the Daytona 5K this Saturday and was OK with the results. I finished the race in 128th out of 533 runners in a time of 24:38 which equals out to a pace of 7:56 per mile. I've done better and worse as I think this was my 5th best time of the 14 runs I have done. Last year I finished this same race in 27:11 so that is like a 2:27 improvement.

I had went out to Grant's basketball games on the night before. Those games didn't end til pretty late and then we hit Steak N Sheak afterwards. (Nothing like eating Steak N Shake like 7 hours before a 5K race - LOL). Anyways, by the time we got back to his house and got to sleep it was right around 1am. Might I remind everyone that we had to be up by 4am to get ready and drive to Daytona. (Nothing like 3 hours sleep the night before race day!) We had to leave a little early because Grant missed the registration deadline for the run and had to register at the speedway itself. It was pretty cold waiting for the race to start (by Florida standards that is) so we were both in running pants instead of shorts. At just around 7am the National Anthem was sung and then it was time for the starting gun!

The first mile of this race takes place primarly in the pit area of the speedway. At the 1 mile mark I was in at a time of 7:53 and decided to skip the water station. We were now onto the main track of the speedway where everyone (for obvious reasons) runs at the base of the track instead of on the huge banks of the speedway which are 18 degrees on front stretch, 31 degrees on the turns and 3 degrees on the back stretch. I finished mile 2 in 7:57 bringing my 2 mile time to 15:50. The third mile was more of the same as I finished it in 7:56. Which is a 23:26 total time. I then sped up for the final 0.1 miles and finished in a total time of 24:38.

Funniest part of the race - bugging Grant because he got beat by an 80 year old woman!! (even though to be honest that woman was AWESOME. I hope when I am 80 I can run like she can. She completed the 5K in a little over 30 minutes)

Best achievement of race - Kept good steady pace throught the entire race. Most consistent all 3 of my miles have EVER been. ALSO, I was glad to pass the guy who was directly in front of me and in my tracks for the entire race in the last tenth of a mile.

Worst part of the race - The Tram ride from the parking area to the starting point of the race. MAN was this cold that wind was horrible hitting you in a tram going down Dayton International Speedway!!

Overall, the race was a good experiance yet again. I now prepare as I have my half marathon this comming Sunday.

Hopefully after that run I can give just as happy of a race report.

Til next time