Raggae Ramble 5k - 6/28/12 - 22:26 (7:15 min/mile)

It may be sad how giddy I get thinking about a night 5k. I mean Thursdays are my busiest days at work so having the fun 5k along the Charles River with my wife and Kim pushed me through that day. Plus, having it an hour later than the last one (Blues Run 5k) gave me time to wind down from work before we headed over to the run. The Summer Run series is a group of five races (one per month) on a Thursday night on the Charles River. The races are usually 4.something miles, but due to construction this year they were shortened to a 5k.

Some people thought the Blues run was shorter than 5k, which I thought might be possible since my time was so much faster than my other PRs. I finished in 22:23 where my other lowest PR is 23:10. But this race started a tad farther back than the previous race, which made me think it would be closer to the 3.1 mile distance.

For me though, these races are about the atmosphere and the post race party. ;) Plus, if you complete all 5 you get a snazzy jacket ... Ooohh!! I am a sucker for race schwag!

I was annoyed at the beginning of the race because the group of runners in front of me spent the entire time complaining about the race and it's organization or in their opinion lack thereof. I just wanted to tap them on the shoulder and say "If you don't like the race, no one is forcing you to run it." I was just so irked by their comments, also because I like the race and it's local feel.

Anyway, it was finally time to start and I thankfully blew past the nay-sayers and got myself into a groove.

I have run the course a thousand times so it is easy to know the ins and outs of the turns and how much farther you really have to run.

There was a group of tourists standing along the River and you could tell they were completely confused as to why a thousand people were bursting towards them with numbers on. It was funny.

As I took the turn that goes in to the last mile of the run, I locked in on some targets and told myself to get down and pass 'em. In the last half mile, I managed to pass three different runners - all female. I felt so accomplished. It made me feel like I did a good job of keeping a little in the tank so I could really let myself free in the final stretch.

I was feeling good until some guy came barreling past me in the last few feet before the Finish Line. Kind of a lame move in my opinion, but I tried to just let it go. It just isn't something I would do - runners courtesy.

But, I grabbed my water and headed to the post race party ... and forgot about the guy that pulled a jerk move.

Mmmm Harpoon :)

My official time came in at 22:26 (7:15 min/mile) and just three seconds slower than the Blues Run 5k. I was 138th out of 1,122 overall and 27th out of 648 females! Wow!

I am still amazed that times like this are coming out of my body.

I definitely think the added length at the start got the race closer to 3.1 miles.

Anyone else run the Raggae Ramble 5k?