We travelled to my in-laws’ in Ohio for Thanksgiving and there was a 5K, the Fall Classic, near their house that week. I hadn’t fully given up on the idea of going under 19:00 for a 5K this year and since we were going to be roughly 5,000 feet lower in elevation than normal, I decided to take full advantage of that for my last race of the season.
It was held in their local Metroparks and the course was billed as flat and fast. Rule of thumb is that you can pick up 30-45 seconds for a 5K when you go from elevation to sea level. I did a tune-up race two weeks ahead in early November and in that one, I posted a 19:27 on a course that ended up being 3.05 miles. When I projected that out to a full 3.1 miles, the time came to 19:46. Getting sub-19:00 was going to be very, very close.
Some race courses, like the one I did for the tune-up, are not USATF certified and thus can be a little short. If a course is USATF certified, it means that it’s at least the race distance, and possibly a bit longer. Even if the shortest possible distance is a true 3.1 miles, the odds of any runner hitting that is slim as you need to run the tangents and curves with perfection. Not an easy task. And, I’ve heard that some courses will err on the side of being just a teeny bit long so that they can earn and keep the certification. To put it plainly, it’s very rare to hit 3.1 exactly.
As we lined up for the Fall Classic, the Race Director confirmed that the course was indeed USATF certified. This was good because if I went sub-19:00, there was no way the course would be short. The question was whether it would turn out to be 3.1 plus just a tiny bit, or longer. The further it went over 3.1, the more my chances dropped for getting the sub-19:00 on my net time.
Like most races, this one took significant effort and I was maxing out relative to the course length. However, while racing at sea level hurts at a level commensurate with racing at elevation there are two differences. One is hard to pin down but suffice to say that I can tell I’m getting more oxygen. The second, obviously, is that I’m running faster which helps mentally.
I crossed the line with 3.16 miles on my watch and a time of 19:16. A few moments after I hit the “Stop” button, my watch flashed “Fastest 5K, 18:55.” This meant that for the true 5K distance or 3.1 miles, I had gone sub-19:00. Gratifying, bittersweet, and the way racing sometimes goes. To brag a little, my mile splits were 6:06/6:08/6:08 which I was very pleased with from a consistency standpoint. That would be a breakdown I could hope for on the track, where you have constant markers and it’s flat. On the road, it’s more challenging.
A good end to the season? Combining the solid time, the even splits, and an age group place, I’ll take it.
Two quick plugs. If you’re in the Cleveland area and looking for a good spot to run, the Metroparks I’ve been in, which are known as part of the “Emerald Necklace,” are excellent for running. Also, the Fall Classic was well worth it. The fee was fairly standard but you got a quarter-zip pullover, a good chili buffet and finishing area at the end of the race, and most importantly, a closed road course—no negotiating other pedestrians, cyclists, etc. Normally that level of service would mean a much higher fee but not so there.
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