This was my only summer 5k and therefore my only realistic chance to beat my best 5k time from last year. A runner friendly race than consisted of two laps around Como Lake in St. Paul. It was a beautiful day - sunny and 65 degrees although the breeze was a little stronger than I would have liked. I ran a 6:20 first mile and just kept pushing the pace the entire distance. I was able to catch and pass a few runners in the final mile which helped me stay focused and continue to push the pace even though my body was exhausted. It worked though. I finished with a time of 19:38 (6:19/mile), a new PR by 19 seconds! I finished 7th overall among 282 finishers and 1st of 8 in my age group. I later found out that my time broke the previous age group record for men 50-54 from among 5 prior Challenge Diabetes races held over the years. In addition to the Challenge Diabetes races they conduct 4 other Challenge 5k races held each year at Como - a total of 24 races so far in the history of their series and I am the current all time record holder in my age group!
We shall see how long it holds up!
http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=11430&relist_record_type=result&lower_bound=0&upper_bound=282&use_previous_sql=1&group_by=default#racetop
http://www.charitieschallenge.org/CCD698_1.pdf
