Reindeer Run 5K

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Yay for 18 degrees!  For last year’s Reindeer Run, it was 5 below with a nasty wind chill. It was much more festive this year. I would guess twice as many people showed up this year and most were not in the warming tent, unlike last year.  Byron and Paula joined us for this race. I’m not sure how much Paula liked the cold running.

The Start
The start was not a sheet of ice this year so that was good. But with all the people who showed up this year it was packed. The first mile I was struggling to get in front of the wall of people. I think that is why my pace was a little slow.  I was a little concerned that my time would be slower than last week’s hill race in Omaha. The first mile came in at 11:14. Still not too bad! I stayed pretty comfortable so I must have dressed appropriately. Last year I remember I over dressed and was broiling by the end of mile 1.

The Middle
The middle of the race really wasn’t that memorable. I remember a dog almost tripped me…well he did trip me but I managed to stay on my feet.  The crowd still hadn’t thinned out so I was still having trouble passing people. But other than that I don’t really remember much. My time was 10:59. I was happy to see a “10” but at this rate I wasn’t going to beat my previous time. I didn’t get discouraged but I really felt like this was going to be a lost race.

The Finish
I’m not sure where this push came from but I finished mile 3 with a 10:29 time. It wasn’t as fast as the last mile of the Turkey Trot in Omaha or the 4th Mile of the Mankato 10K but both of those included nice long down hills. So I’m very happy with that. It also brought my overall pace to 10:50 for the run. My fastest ever and technically my fastest 5K race time since Omaha and Chocoholic Frolic were short of a true 5K. That makes me very excited. I never thought that after the first mile.

We celebrated our latest race finish with a stop at Starbucks and Bruegger's Bagels. 

Pictures, Maps, Elevation and Splits






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