Race #47 - Allan D. Morrison 5K - Melrose, MA -21:12

First cool day in a while so Bob's 50@50 long sleeve had to come out of the bag. I ran a 21:12 with a 6:19 first mile, 6:40 second mile and a real slow mile 3 due to a big hill halfway thru the third mile.

I was planning on running a 10K on the Sunday in Dorchester while I was in Boston. Ro and were visiting Bobby for BU parent weekend so I figured I would get a race in. I really enjoy running in different towns whenever I get the chance. It's a good way to see different towns and meet different people. There was lots of bad weather predicted this weekend with Sunday getting the worst of it, plus it made more sense to run the Saturday. I found a 5K that was only about 20 minutes away from where I was staying. I chose the Allan D Morrison 5K in Melrose which was north of Boston although I few other options. My concern was getting back quickly so I would have more time to spend with Ro and Bobby.

It was the 1st annual so I wasn't expecting many runners and since the weather was very cool I thought that might hold off some runners. I got the sense there were going to be a lot of walkers and not many runners. They had 201 finishers and about 120 of them were walkers. This was my first race in a while that I was running alone and didn't have company. I was concerned that I didn't have someone else to hold up my banner.

Since I signed up on race day I didn't get a t-shirt which was fine with me because I just don't have any more space in my drawers. My legs were feeling good despite running the 18 miler the weekend prior so my plan was to run at 80% speed for the first mile and if I felt good, push it the final two.

My first mile was 6:19 which was closer to 90% percent of my top speed. Mile two was a 6:40 which I thought was slow but I never trust these mile markers especially at a new race. In fact I am not even sure the course was certified. We were running through the streets while cars were zipping by us and all runners had to look both ways at the intersections. They could have used a few more volunteers on the course. At mile two I was at 12:50 so I thought if I could just hold the sub 7 pace I would finish close to 20:20. There was a big hill halfway through mile 3 which slowed my pace considerably, but I was very surprised I hit the tape at 21:12. You just never know when you run a race that the course is not accurate.

I got a good workout in and still got back to the hotel and was ready to go before Bobby was up back at his dorm. We met for lunch at his cafeteria, which Bobby said is ranked in the top twenty of all colleges. The food was pretty good and they have a huge selection of goodies. The rest of the day was walking the streets of the University and some shopping.

Not sure what my next races will be but it looks like I am doing the Thunder Road Marathon in December.