I've run this race off an on since I was a sophomore in high school (2002). See 2013 report & 2015 report. It's a great race because it's flat, there's no turn-a-round cones, and NW Ohio has low humidity this time of year compared to Arlington. The best part about it is that it still carries the same atmosphere that it always had: a bunch of guys doing a mid summer race for the hell of it before Cross Country season. The faces come and go but the race remains the same. One face that wasn't there was my buddy Justin Dickman who usually runs but the local Brooks Running guy Tom Scott was out there.
I warmed up in the rain and the course was wet. oh well. It was nice and cool. The first mile I stayed with the pack of guys and went through about 5:07. Realizing this was too slow and that Scott would destroy me in the last mile, I took off hard and quickly gapped everyone else except for Scott with a split of 4:49. The third mile has some baby hills up and down the park. I pushed hard but Scott accelerated very hard to gap me. I just wanted to run a 4:55 last mile, PR, and call it a day. But as I started to try to catch him I wiped out hard on the muddy sidewalk. I was like "oh shit" and got up and fnished but couldn't get back up to a very fast speed. I split a 5:07 for the last mile with the fall and probably lost a good 5-10 seconds there but managed not to lose 2nd place. Without the fall Scott would have still beaten me, but probably by only 5 seconds instead of 15.
As the days get hotter and races wind down, I'll have to leave the 5K, 8K, and 10K races to next spring as I begin marathon training in August. So much for a new 5K PR. That's the way life is though. The unexpected always happens and you've just got to laugh at the shit and not take yourself too seriously. I was very lucky not to have hurt myself in the fall and I still managed a 15:37! I'll take it. I'm not too sad to lose to a former All American and sub 4 minute miler either but it sure would have been nice to win this one.
Results
Article on the race
Video from the race.
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