Race Report: Alameda Mayor's 4th of July R.A.C.E.

Posted by Sandi

Last Monday, on a whim, I signed Will and myself up for a 4^th of July 5k. While it wasn't a tough call to make, there were some pros & cons to consider:

Pros:

• Local & convenient location
• Cheap -$25

Cons:

• Late race start (9:45 AM)
• Advertised as a 5k following the 3.3 mile parade route?
• Parade starts immediately after the race – parking and driving could be an issue
• Neither one of us has trained to race a 5k 

While, the cons apparently outweigh the pros, I decided we would do it anyway. We planned to allow for extra time before and after the race.

Will and I were happy to find other runners from our running club before the race started. We were able to warm up with them and also get a quick breakdown of the course. During our warm up, we were informed that the official course marker did not have time to mark the course, so we would be relying on other runners and our Garmins for guidance and pacing.

 I repeatedly asked Will if he wanted to run with me, but he said his goal was to break 21:00 and that he wanted to start conservatively. My goal, on the other hand, was to break 20:00. I really wanted to PR (19:53) but decided I would be happy with a sub 20:00.

The great thing about 5k’s is that they are short! You may feel like you need to vomit but they are over quickly!

My splits:

6:12
6:41
6:35
6:14 (.1 miles)

I came just short of my goal with a 20:04, but I am still happy with my finish! Although there were some incredibly fast runners racing with us, I still managed to place 1^st in the Female 19-35 age group.

Look at that, the race route is on the shirt...genius!

Will and I celebrated immediately after the race with mimosas!