I arrive in Boston with about an hour to spare (as is customary with me), park the car and head over to the start. First thing I notice is that there are pace corrals marked so I wander over and stand in-between the 6 and 7min miles corrals thinking I'm probably gonna run a 6:15 mile. Now as I stand there I notice there are not a lot of people and I think "okay, people know where not to line up" and that this will be a race without the fight through the mass of humanity. Oh was I wrong my friends! As I stood there stretching and talking to J, I don't notice (because as per my usual pre-race, I was filled with butterflies, self doubt, wondering why the hell I'm racing and wishing I'd stayed in bed) that those open areas are filling up...with EVERYBODY. Five minutes before the start I look up to see a woman, weighing at least 80lbs more than I do, having taken residence in front of me. Look ma'am, you may be fast, but unless you're a freak of nature or have a rocket pack on under that Camelbak (yes, I said Camelbak...for a 5k!) you have no business in the 6min/mile corral! As we're waiting the announcer says that today's 5k has 6,000 participants. Wait...WHAT?!A quick good luck to J and the race starts...the race starts...would the race start already!!! After the gun goes off it takes a minute and a half to cross the start! At that point I was already starting to feel like somehow those 6,000 runners had squeezed in front of me and that feeling didn't go away anytime soon. The course start is winding and while I can see the leaders (of us mere mortals not the 15min 5k'ers) there is just no place to go in order to get around the mass of humanity. And it was a mass! I've posted about this before but good lord people, if guys are zipping past you PLEASE get to one side of the road and stay there.
I was hoping to turn the 1st mile in 6:00-6:15. I did my best to weave in and out of the obstacle course of human speed bumps to hit the 1 mile marker...at...7:31. Are you kidding me?! I was furious. I found some daylight and opened it up. Mile 2 came at a 6:18 and I'm thinking I feel good: legs are settled, nice turnover, no gasping for air...keep running. The turn to mile 3 came at the infamous Hereford-Boylston intersection that every Boston Marathoner knows and has a special evil place in my heart (read my 2011 Boston Marathon race report) but I need to push on and keep going. The Boston Marathon finish (and the finish for the 5K) was in sight. I hit Mile 3 at a 6:19 and kept pushing...crossing the line...in...21:38. Ugh!!! If I had been able to hit the first mile on pace, that would've been 20:07 race or even faster without the weaving in and out of bodies. I was in striking distance of my 5k PR of 19:54. For the first time in a while, post knee injury, I felt really good.
I tried to blow it off as a learning experience and the "it wasn't like I was gonna place anyway" reasoning but as time grew on I just got angry (this blog was gonna be titled "fueled by anger" remember?). I'm angry at myself for staying the pace corral and not moving forward, I'm angry at the BAA for putting 6,000 runners on a course that just really couldn't support them, and I'm even more angry at my fellow "runners" for continuing to disappoint me. Like the folks that pulled up, and started walking, in the middle of the road, BEFORE THE FIRST MILE MARKER!!! Throw in that the race, and the walking around after to take in all the marathon festivities, sights and sounds brought up all the memories of a year ago (yes, another blog post is coming) and it was a tough day. Well, nothing to do but use this as fuel to find another 5k and go crush it, right...right?!
Ugh, I hate to hear that about the other runners crowding up front when they should have been back behind you. I wish people would understand that starting in the front is NOT going to make you run 6:00 miles when you normally run 10:00 miles!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't even get anywhere near where I wanted to put myself at the start because of the number of people in the race and because I waited too long to get situated. I actually ended up around the corner for the start, never saw the pace signs (though I was told they had them!) and it took me about three-four minutes to cross the starting line.
ReplyDeleteI found the start to be a little disorganized, which I was not expecting at a BAA race. I was also really annoyed by the announcer as I finally crossed the starting line who said something like "let's hear it for the back of the pack runners"! Um, dude, I am back here because I couldn't get anywhere near where I wanted to be/should be! My dad, who used to run, told me to put myself in the back so as not to get trampled at the start, but I didn't quite anticipate being that far back!
That being said, I actually was passing people like crazy that first mile and once I made it out of that mess (like the people who felt it necessary to walk in a group of 6 across!) I was able to settle in comfortably. I actually PR'd by 30 seconds which I was not expecting in that crowd, and it makes me wonder if the crowd were a little thinner, what my time would have been!