5k Race: Panerathon

On Saturday I raced my first 5k since March. This race was done through Panera Bread so I knew there was going to be good food at the end. It was a last minute decision since I registered last Wednesday and the deadline was Thursday night.

One of the biggest reason I wanted to do this race was because it was on a trail I train on (Santa Fe). I even pass the Panera on my longer runs or start by there. I felt like I could pace myself well and get a new time.

I had my hesitations since I was not getting my timing chip till race day and they did not include safety pins in my race bag. I like to have things prepared before the race. The race goodie bag was okay, had stuff I would use and the bag it's self is reusable. Another worry was strollers and dogs. Every race I have ran before this one prohibits dogs and strollers so I was worried about them getting my way. Most of the people with strollers or dogs walked and were behind me.

The race it's self was not that bad. We started near Panera and ran to the trail. This is where I probably lost the most time since they had the 5k and 10k start together. We split off but it was congested. The first part of the 5k was uphill and I knew I should take slow until the turnaround. I was passing people for the most part and found two girls who were keeping a decent pace. The turn around came at a mile and a half so I picked my pace then and passed the girls. I knew it was downhill so I used the hills to my advantage. When I came off the trail to Panera there was a hill and usually when I'm done with my runs I walk up that hill as a cool down. Since I knew I was close to the finish, I was able to pass people and keep a good pace. Once I was off the hill it said 3 miles and I picked up my speed to kick the .1 miles in the butt! I passed two people at the finish with my sprint with my dad and sister cheering me on.

After the race, Panera had sandwiches, baked goods, and bagels for the runners. Of course I refueled and enjoyed my reward.

The results were just posted and I had some idea of how I did. My Nike+ was acting up so it did not accurately record my time. I guessed 27 minutes but I did better! My time was 25:23, 40th overall finisher, 11th female, and a new PR :) I'm so excited I did well and hopefully I'll start racing more 5ks.