posted Aug-05-2007 04:39 PM            

I arrived about an hour early and picking up the packet and t-shirt were a breeze as was the weather. Hmm. The forecast was for winds at 10mph but down by the Bay it was gusting quite a bit more than that. Away from the Bay though the wind was much calmer. From the layout of the course though it looked like this wouldn’t be a huge factor – a crosswind for the first mile maybe and possibly a headwind in the final mile. Alameda is an island in San Francisco bay although the word ‘island’ is a bit of a stretch since it is only separated from the mainland by a canal and is linked by several bridges and tunnels. Somehow though it manages to maintain its own small world charm that is very different to the neighboring Oakland. The whole island is about 4 miles long and a couple of miles wide.

I had time to warm up by jogging the finish of the course and then checking out the start. There still weren’t a great many people around when I ran into Jim24315 who recognized me before I recognized him. Jim didn’t sound confident about beating 40:00 but I knew those experienced guys are always cagey. On the way down to the start I passed a student who is in my summer session class at Cal currently and as I lined up at the start another student said hi. Hmm, will I get more or less respect if I kick their butts? The race seemed fairly small, I’d expected maybe three or four hundred but it looked less than that to me. We had no difficulty lining up at the front and after a pretty brief set of announcements the race started very promptly.

My sole plan was to NOT go out too fast and instead keep the first couple of miles reasonable (ie around 6:20) and then try to stick to 6:26 pace. So at the first mile point it was a relief to hear 6:18. I was right by Jim at this point and the pace felt good. There were a couple of groups of fast folk moving rapidly ahead and then a little knot just in front of us. As we turned away from the Bay we went up a very slight gradient and the knot of runners ahead of us seemed to dissolve. After this it was a pretty quiet race, with enough people around to keep it interesting but plenty of room to race.

The next two and a half miles are along the same long straight road. Mainly residential and with lots of the Victorian houses that make Alameda such a nice place. The course was closed to traffic, on at least one side of the road, and had plenty of marshals to prevent cars doing stupid things (and they were trying). At this point it was close to perfect conditions - I couldn’t feel the wind and the temperature was nice and cool. We covered the second mile in 6:24 so this was ideal. I think I was still right by Jim at this point but somewhere along this stretch he gradually pulled a bit ahead. My third mile was in 6:23 and the 5k must have been close to 19:45. The fourth mile was a little faster at 6:20. At this stage Jim had a more substantial gap, maybe 10m, but I decided not to worry about trying to close it since the times seemed ideal. I knew Jim had been faking it at the start, he looked strong. This is where the increased training mileage paid off for me - although the fifth mile was slower, at 6:35, it wasn’t slow enough to either ruin my chances or dampen my enthusiasm. It was also a boost for me to pass 5 miles in 31:59. One of the few times I have from when I ran a bit in my twenties was a flat 5 mile race in 32:49 when I was 22. Beating that by almost a minute at almost double that age felt good. I was fairly confident at this point that I could hang on for the final mile and fairly shortly I was really glad I’d jogged the final bit of the course as I saw the final bend ahead and I knew the 6 mile marker was just around the corner. It turned out to be a deceptively long run down to the corner but even so it felt good to know that the sub-40 was in the bag unless I was badly misjudging the pace. I had the 6:26 splits taped to my watch so I knew I was looking for 38:36 at the 6 mile mark for 6:26 pace or anything under 38:50 to give me a chance of sprinting it in. A little easy to miss the final mile marker but I’d seen this one before and knew exactly where it was. 38:27 felt pretty good so mile 6 had been in 6:27. I was able to pick up the pace a little over the last 0.2 (1:12 so about 6:00 pace) but the finish wasn’t really ideal for sprinting with a right angle turn just before the line. Not a problem though, it was sweet to see the clock not even close to 40. Okay some might argue that 39:39 is actually pretty close to 40 but it’s all relative. Jim was just ahead of me still and it was good to see him demolish his sub-40 goal as well. I’ll let Jim post his own story.

With the time goal achieved I really wasn’t too concerned about place. I think I was 41st overall and 7th in my age class (40-44) – a pretty competitive bunch. Overall a great race for me personally (10-k goal achieved, 5 mile and 10k PR’s) and I got to meet Jim and see him achieve his goal too. The organization was good, the course was fast and it was only a shame that there weren’t more people, perhaps the less than inviting weather kept them at home.

John

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posted Aug-05-2007 05:12 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by norrin radd:

With the time goal achieved I really wasn’t too concerned about place. I think I was 41st overall and 7th in my age class (40-44) – a pretty competitive bunch. Overall a great race for me personally (10-k goal achieved, 5 mile and 10k PR’s) and I got to meet Jim and see him achieve his goal too. The organization was good, the course was fast and it was only a shame that there weren’t more people, perhaps the less than inviting weather kept them at home.

John

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Congratulations!
I arrived fairly late. I am the type of people who relies on GPS too much. Since there was no address on the info sheet, I followed the instructions and drove past the town center a couple of times. Then I was in the towne center looking for the starting line for 5 to 10 min. Finally found it, parked my car and got the number, and it was already past 8. Ran the last 0.8 mile or so of the course and back and got my 1.6/1.7 mile warmup. Went to the rest room and it was almost time to start. And I only did manage to run 3 to 4 strides.

I think I saw you lining up in front of me but it was quite packed so I didn't say hi. I saw you with a pretty fast start and this time, I made sure I didn't run with you and your fast pace (did that in the time is on your side and really stumbled in my last mile), and I passed the 1st mile mark in 7:02, 2 sec over my ambitious goal which is to average 7min all the way.

Like you said, it was quite windy in the last mile or so, so I cheated a bit by drafting behind a pretty good female runner for more than 1/2 mile and saved some energy for the finish

It is a very well organized race with so many good volunteers. I have to say this is one of the better races that I have been. Well organized, plenty of food and water, good number of rest rooms. Flat and fast course. You name it.

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posted Aug-05-2007 05:35 PM               

ksrunr

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posted Aug-05-2007 06:59 PM               

And it was a pleasure meeting you. For a guy who has only been running a year you are one tough competitor. I will enjoy that 3-second margin I had whilel I can. That finish line came just in the nick of time. You are improving so rapidly that I am sure today's PR is going to have a very short life.

Congratulations!

Jim

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posted Aug-06-2007 05:43 AM            

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posted Aug-06-2007 06:35 AM            

Great run, and enjoyable race report.

Dark Horse

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posted Aug-06-2007 08:32 PM            

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posted Aug-07-2007 10:14 AM               

Very nice job of breaking the 40 minute barrier. You were well prepared and you ran a great even pace during the race. Also, it was very cool that you could meet up with Jim24315. Very fine report, and congratulations!

Huskydon

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posted Aug-07-2007 11:56 AM               

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posted Aug-07-2007 12:49 PM            

quote:

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it was sweet to see the clock not even close to 40. Okay some might argue that 39:39 is actually pretty close to 40 but it’s all relative.

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love that! great race for you and nice pacing with jim. glidegal

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posted Aug-08-2007 09:50 AM               

TomS

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