Max’s O’Hartford 5k Race Report

On March 20th, I had my first race of the year – the Max’s O’Hartford 5k, which coincides with St Patrick's day celebrations in Hartford.  The best part of this race is the location, literally right outside my front door.

 

My goal for the race was simply to be faster than last year.  My training was running behind last year, so I had not run as much over the winter.  However, unlike last year I did have my obnoxious bright orange Kinvara shoes.  Here I am right at the beginning weaving through the crowd.

 

Rocking the green in honor of St Patrick's day.

 

I got off to a pretty good start with an 8:16 first mile, but this is the flattest portion of the course.  I was a bit concerned with holding that pace until the end as it was a bit faster than any of my training runs.  I struggled a bit up the hills in the second mile and my pace slowed to 8:23.  Right at the 2 mile mark the course heads downhill and then enters a nice flat section.  Here I was able to accelerate a bit and then hold the pace.  Approaching the 2.5 mile mark the course heads up a nasty drag by the state capital.  I tried to work this section hard.  At the top you turn left and come down the hill below, with only a bit more than 1/4 mile to the finish.

 

Even with the rolling terrain, I managed to average 7:57 for my third mile.  Then it was time to accelerate down to the finish, which was at about 5:36/mile pace for the final tenth of a mile.

 

I hit the tape in 25:27 which translates to 8:12/mile pace.  I was pretty happy with the race as I ran at a consistent effort level and was able to hold a faster pace then I was anticipating.  The legs seemed to remember race effort from last year and I was able to go much faster with a lot less training – a good sign of the rest of the year hopefully.

 

After the finish:

 

My finish put me 55/121 (top 45%) in my M30-34 age group and 488/2234 (top 22%) in the overall standings.  My time last year was 28:05, so I was about 2:38 faster this year.

 

Here are my splits from the race:

 

The support crew also kicked off the season at this race.  Thanks for coming out and getting some great pictures!