The temperature for this race was quite a bit cooler than it was for the 5K. I think it was around 4 or 5 degrees and a decent wind blowing at times.
Similar to the 5K, the race started at 6pm at the Lions Club up in Elmira and followed much of the same route, except we had to go a bit further south.
The race kicked off right on time, and just like the 5K, a whole bunch of runners shot off the line like they were doing a 200 yard dash! I pretty much found myself sitting in 3rd place after a few hundred meters, and shortly after the 1K mark, I passed the runner that was in 2nd place overall. The lead runner was Brendan Hancock, another speedy Health & Performance runner. He slowly but surely pulled away over time, and I really had no chance of catching him. He's just faster than I am!
The first few K were pretty quick, as we mostly headed south on Arthur street before making a right hand turn onto Whippoorwill street. I'd say the wind was mostly out of the NW, so running along this stretch was not too bad, as we were protected by some forest and some subdivisions. Near the end of this street, it opened up and we were hit with some decent winds.
Near the end of this section, coach Sean Delanghe was ripping around on his mountain bike talking to a few of the runners, including myself. Here is some video he took during the race:
We eventually turned right onto Barnswallow drive, and this was likely the toughest part of the race. It was mostly into a headwind and the pavement on this road was terrible. You had to be quite careful with your footing or you could easily go over your ankle in a pothole!
Still holding 2nd place overall, we made the right turn onto Church street and out of the wind. This section was fairly fast, as it was mostly downhill before climbing back up to Arthur street again. Back on Arthur, we headed south and retraced a bit of the course over again before making a couple rights onto First street and then Synder Ave.
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| Getting a police escort down Arthur Street in Elmira |
The final push back to the start along Synder was a bit tough as we battled the wind one more time.
I eventually made my final turn back onto South street and crossed the finish line 2nd overall in a time of 29:39, a new 8K PB for me and the first time in a race I have run under 30 minutes for 8K!
So yah, I'm 41 now and just set back to back 5K and 8K PB's. I guess training has been going well. I think the key right now is (knock on wood) I am not dealing with any injuries and have been getting some steady, consistent training in across all disciplines (Swim, Bike and Run......remember, I'm a triathlete, not a runner! LOL!).
With my 8K result, I also had the fastest combined time for the 5k and 8K (I guess I'm just lucky that none of the guys who beat me in both races also ran the 5K and 8K!).
After the race, I got a quick massage (since I was running the Waterloo Half marathon the next morning in about 13 hours) and chatted to other team members and friends while getting a bit of food into me. I left right after the awards to get home, fuel some more and rest for tomorrows race. Given the success of these two races, I was hoping to keep things rolling in the half marathon.
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