Pirates On The Run 10K & 5K

On Saturday, February 21st, I was dragged out of bed at 6:15 AM by my groggy dad, in preparation for the Pirates on the Run 10K & 5K. The three of us were out the door at 6:45 AM and were greeted by unusually chilly weather. After scraping a thick coating of frost from the car windows (this is Florida, right?), we began the hour-long trek to Fernandina Beach. My goal for the race was to shatter my outdated 10K PR of 46:49 by at least 3 minutes. My dad, on the other hand, would just be trying to break 22 in the 5K, after a week of low mileage and moderate pain in his knee. Both of our courses would venture for a mile through the streets of Fernandina, then head on to the Egans Creek Greenway. The 5K would only have to run on about a mile of greenway, while the 10K had 4 miles of "mudfest" to cover before hitting the asphalt again. We arrived at St. Peter's Church, where packet pickup took place, at about 7:50 AM, 40 minutes before the race start. After parking the car on a crowded side street a few blocks away from the church, Dad and I jogged to a packed mess hall nestled behind the church. Packet pickup was quick and easy and I proceeded to do my warm up. Dad objected, opting to stay in the cozy, heated mess hall. I quickly got away from all the commotion and did a light jog for about 10 minutes. I returned back to the church 10 minutes before the start. While my dad rubbed some Tiger Balm (a product he bought while we were in Thailand, with its sweet-smelling, clove oil answer to Bengay) on his legs, I stripped off my outer layers and scurried to the bathroom. Dad and I headed down to the start, lining ourselves up behind two old men yelling at each other in raspy voices. It was too late when I noticed the lack of a starting mat for our chips. The race director read through the usual instructions, then gave us starting commands. The cannon fired after he said "go" causing most of the field to lurch, double-take, then take off again. I bobbed and weaved then found a couple men to pace off of. The first mile was in 6:48, with Dad just ahead of me looking strong at 6:42. My speed was immediately reduced when the course took us to the Greenway, causing us to cross a dirt path, and traverse a bridge before reaching the actual greenway. Tire tracks ran on both sides of the path, with a myriad of potholes to side step. The path was still slightly damp from previous showers but my answer to this was wearing my cross country spikes without the spikes which made them flats. The 5Kers had little of the mudway to endure, turning around at mile 1 1/2. Dad wasn't far ahead of me, a good indicator that I was on pace. I passed the two mile mark in around 13:55, indicating a slower mile after arriving on the greenway. The scenery was OK, but rather boring at times. The only other sign of life beside the labored breathing of my fellow runners was the occasional walker out for a morning stroll. The third mile was very monotonous, and I passed the 5K turnaround point in 21:40. I picked up the pace over the course of the next mile, knowing that his was the stage in the race where I would need to push the hardest. I passed a high schooler who started out too fast, and a man who seemed like he was experiencing heart palpatations. I passed 4 miles in 28:00, keeping up 7 minutes over the next mile, passing the 5th mile in 35:00. Promptly after mile 5, the greenway spat us out onto the road, where a couple of Pirates greeted me with their "Arghhs!" Over the course of the last mile, I had a sea of walkers to weave through slowing my time down substantially. The course took a final turn into Central Park, where the finish line was nestled behind a baseball dugout. I had about a 4 foot alley to run in leading up to the finish line, with many spectators storming the course. I finished the race in 43:49, exactly 3 minutes faster than my previous PR for this distance. Upon finishing I was handed some water and Mardi Gras beads, only to have the beads stripped off my neck by Mom who would save them for my younger cousin. I was pleased with my peformance but disappointed with my dad's, my 10K race being run at a faster pace than his 5K, which he finished in 22:05. His only goal was hardware, so if he marches to his own drum, that's fine with me. "Mr. Excuse Factory" claimed that the mudway had taken too much out of his legs in mile 2, so that when he tried to bring it home hard in mile 3, there was nothing left. Dad still managed to place 18th out of 280 runners, but was very disappointed with his time yet again. I easily had first place in my 11-13 division locked up, beating the closest competition by almost 10 minutes. After stopping by a local bakery to pick up some bland sourdough bread, we headed back over to the church where all the runners were greeted with a tasty (and free) pancake breakfast. Dad and I drooled over our pancakes and sausage links and quickly found a table where I slathered my pancakes with butter and syrup. Two full stomachs later, it was awards time. The 5K awards were distributed first, and Dad claimed his second place award in his age group for his lackluster performance (his third consecutive piece of hardware since December), then came the 10K. I received my award like a pro, strutting back down to where we were seated, posing for the camera. It was a good day for running and a good inidicator of how I'll do next weekend at the Ortega 5-Miler, and it gives me hope that my goal to crack the top 10% at Gate is within my grasp. So long and keep running!