City of Lakes 25k - September 12, 2010

The City of Lakes 25k was race 11 of 13 in the MDRA Grand Prix series.  It also represented my last race tune-up before the Twin Cities Marathon next month.  This is also my first ever 25k event which traditionally brings out a strong field of runners representing numerous running teams.  The course begins on the southwest corner of Lake Harriet and makes two counterclockwise laps around Harriet and Lake Calhoun before one final half lap to the north side of Harriet to the finish line. 

In prior years I would run a 20 mile race as my final tune-up before my fall marathon, but with this being a Grand Prix event I had to forgo one of the local 20 mile events and run this.  The race allowed me the opportunity to try and stretch a sub 7 minute pace beyond a half marathon distance which is something I have not done previously.  It was a very nice day with temps in the mid 60's, clear with a 10mph wind from the south.  I went into the race hoping to run a time of 1:47 to 1:49 by maintaining a sub 7 minute pace overall.  Within the first few miles I settled into a 6:52 pace and maintained this pace throughout the race. 

I finished with a time of 1:46:42 placing me 106th overall among 655 finishers and 11th among 55 in my age group.  The race earned me an additional 667 points toward the Grand Prix moving me up to 7th place in the overall standings with 6,149 points and also kept me in first place in my age group.  Just two Grand Prix events left in the season and the Twin Cities Marathon is next in line on October 3rd!

http://www.raceberryjam.com/2010/colmen.html