Another small 10K race, a week after my last one. Funny, since I haven’t run races shorter than marathons since 2015. Guess since I don’t have a marathon planned for the first part of this year, if not the entire year, I can race the shorter distances to get my competitive fix.
Today was the Laurier Loop Race about an hour west of Toronto in Waterloo, on the campus of tiny Laurier University. Races of 2.5K, 5K and 10K on a “certified 2.5K” loop around the campus. GPS showed a 11-meter rise to the 2K mark and then dropping back to the S/F line the last half K. Kilometer 2 was on sidewalk. Nine 90 degree turns and one hairpin turnaround just before the finish line on the route.
Just 56 people in the 10K, 138 in the 5K, 36 in the 2.5K and a half dozen relay teams in the 10K. We all started together in sunny weather, a few degrees above freezing. Some good university and other runners entered, as this area is a hot bed of XC runners and an elite Olympian running club.
Being a four lap race, I got 2.5K splits for my 10K race.
Lap Details
Header Time
First Lap 12:20
Second Lap 12:42
Third Lap 12:44
Fourth Lap 12:09
Took the first couple of Ks to string out the runners. Just got passed by the race winner about 10 meters from the S/F line on my third lap. Actually had to slow down for him to take the inside track on the hairpin. He finished in 37:44. After the first lap, I passed another 10K runner (10Kers pinned an orange strip to the back of our tops), and he was the loudest breather I've every heard in a race. Pretty sure the forcefulness breathing used 10 calories per breath. Even 20 yards away, I could still hear him. Just after finishing the second lap, I started myself to loop a few of the slower runners. Had about 3-4 relay runners blowing by me during the run. On the final fourth lap, there were three runners within 50 meters of me with 2K to go. Thought for sure I could pass the nearest guy as he wasn’t as smooth as the gal in front of him, and the next guy look a bit too far away to pass. As it turned out, the lead guy ran out of gas and we passed him within the next 500 meters, and was able to close the gap with the other guy and gal to 25 meters with 1K to go. Went by the gal with about 1K to go (turned out she was the 3rd female overall) and then had a bit of competition with the guy till about 300 meters to go, when I was able to drop him.
Finished in 49:54 chip. 21st overall and 19th out of 36 males. 1st in the 55-59 age group, which earned me a finishing medal. Just over two-minute improvement over last week’s cold and wind blown 10K race. WAVA age-graded time equivalent would be 41:46. So not bad.
Me and my age group medal selfie.
