MDRA 15k - August 16, 2015

The MDRA 15k is an annual event, but it's the first time I've run a 15k race distance.  15k races are few and far between, as it's not a very popular distance (9.3 miles) among road races.  I signed up for this race, as it's one of thirteen race distances where runners can compile point totals toward the Minnesota Running Data Centers age group runner of the year standings.  That was a mouthful.  Anyway, virtually all of my races this year represent a different distance, with the exception of the 5k, which I have two on my schedule.  

Today's race was one of the warmest races (75 at start) I've run in over two years.  It was very humid as well, but a thick cloud cover helped protected us from the sun.  As much as I hate the cold, I'm not a big fan of warm weather racing.  My body doesn't handle it well.  I feel very sluggish and tired when I run in the heat.  In my fantasy world, the air temperature would be 70 degrees up to the start of the race to avoid the pre-race "chill to the bone" effect.  Then when the gun goes off, the air temperature slowly drops to the mid 40's by the end of mile one.  Only in my fantasy world!

Today's race consisted of about 230 runners.  Many were members of local Minnesota running clubs, as this race was a USATF team running event.  Teams compete against each other in select races over the course of the year, keeping track of their cumulative points/standings along the way.  This is also an MDRA race which brings out the top Masters runners as well.  So a very strong field of runners today, even though the field was relatively small, compared to more popular races.    

The race took place at Crosby Farm Park in St. Paul.  A park along the north side of the Mississippi River, just east of Fort Snelling.  A beautiful location, as you can see from the pictures, but a very difficult course, as I was soon to find out.  The first two miles and last two miles took place in the heart of the park and where these pictures were taken.  The middle five miles took us counter clockwise outside the park along Shepard Road.  This five mile stretch began with a nice climb from the park up to Shepard Road, along with a number of smaller hills along the way.  No downhill sections to speak of ,until just three miles to go.  Then a very steep downhill section that was very tough on the quads.  About 100 yards of heel "braking" where it seemed like the balls of my feet never touched the ground.  Then finally back for one final loop through the park to the finish line.

I wanted to run a 6:40-6:45/mile pace for this race.  I ran 6:50 for the first mile, but just didn't have it today.  When I finished my climb up the biggest hill in mile three, I just couldn't get back on pace.  It was a combination of the heat/humidity, coupled with a very difficult course to navigate through with many turns and twists.  But I gave it my best with what I had to give today, but my average pace was about 15 seconds slower than I hoped to run.

I finished with a time of 1:04:29 (6:55/mile pace).  In a strong field of runners, I placed 77th overall among 231 finishers and 4th in my age group (55-59) among 15 finishers. Very happy to have this race behind me.  Not the result I was looking for, but I'll take it on a warm humid morning.

My next race is the Bear Water 20 Mile on September 12th.  My final race before Twin Cities Marathon.  Time to push my long Saturday runs up to the 20 mile mark.  Fun, fun, fun.

Race results:
http://www.mdra15k.com/uploads/2015MDRA15k.txt