Bradley International 10K Race Report

On April 7th I lined up for the Bradley 10k.  This race is always held the Saturday of Easter weekend, so this year it was almost a month earlier than 2011.  While the sunny, windless conditions and ideal temperatures in the mid 40s were much better than the cold rain last year – a 10k this “early” in the year was certainly going to be a slower time.  My running has been limited to a long run of 4.5 miles prior to the race so this was more of a long hard training effort than a real “race”.  My goal for the race was to try 9:00/min miles.

 

I lined up close to the front as this race does not have a timing mat across the start.  I am over the left shoulder of the guy in the green tank top below, with the white hat.

 

Over the first half mile I was consciously trying to slow down and get into a pace I could maintain for the whole race.  Looking down the column of runners, that's me in the green shirt and white hat.

 

The race runs concurrent 5k and 10k’s, with the 5k turning around halfway.  So there were plenty of kids blasting by me at the start.  

 

I immediately started focusing on running the tangents as the course winds around the airport.  The one hill on the course is at the 1.5km mark.  I cruised up that and then took it easy on the downhill.  At this point I was surrounded by a heavy breather that was driving me nuts.  I had to put in just a little acceleration to get away from him.  After the 5km race split, there are a lot less racers on course and I could begin to focus on reeling in people in front of me.

 

I reached the halfway turnaround in 27:20 at  8:47/mile pace.  I felt good that I was on pace and started back feeling strong through mile 3.  The fatigue started creeping in during the 4th mile but I was hauling in some people with my steady pace.  At the end of the 4th mile it is back over the hill, luckily I was running right with someone which paced me over without losing any time.  I then got on their shoulder for the next half mile which was the only section with any noticeable headwind.  This was more of a mental break, but it got me to the final corner with about 3/4 mile to go.

 

Around that corner there is a slight uphill and I put in a surge to drop my pacer.  I then tried to just accelerate from there to the line.  I was able to do that and I pulled away from the people I was near in the 4th and 5th mile.  I was able to drop the pace to low 7:00/mile for most of this last section.

 

I crossed the line in 53:53 which meant a 26:33 second 5k at 8:28/mile pace.  This also means I ran a healthy negative split of 46 seconds.

 

I really enjoy this race.  The course is also super accurate.  I have gotten exactly 10km both years.  Here are my splits.

 

I finished 13/18 (top 72%) in my age group and 57/127 (top 44%). Again, a bit of a decline from top 48% AG and top 33% OA last year.

 

Although I was a lot slower than 2011, I know that it is because this race is coming 3 weeks earlier which is a big difference for my training.  I was however faster of the last 1/4 mile!