25th Annual Burlington Moon in June 5K

[5km]

Over the past six months, my running had not been going very well, to say the least. Major and minor health concerns had interfered with my running and even completely stopped it for extended periods. I had registered for the Robbie Burns 8K in January but was unable to participate due to illness. Trying to be optimistic, I registered for this year’s Moon in June 5K but again, health concerns and plantar fasciitis hampered my efforts. However, even with a minimal amount of training, i.e. three 5K runs in the two weeks before the race, it was game on.

My race “A” goal was to finish in 27:30. My real goal was to just finish in less than 30 minutes.

It was a perfect night for racing with a temperature of 19 degrees C., low humidity with very light winds. It was the usual big crowd and festive atmosphere. In the starting chute, my Garmin lost its GPS signal several times perhaps due to the amazing number of cell phones in my proximity! Anyway, it was the usual stampede for the first kilometre and with the help of adrenalin, I was able to bank some time. Then the real slog began. My heart rate was higher than I wanted it to be but I felt OK so I kept going at a slightly more prudent pace. I felt pretty good in the last two kilometres, actually better than I’d thought I would, so I kept on rolling. I resisted the urge to speed up during the last kilometre due to my elevated heart rate, even though I felt I could go faster. With 100 metres to go, I gave it all I had and crossed the finish line in chip time of 26:45!

I won my AG, SM70-74, and exceeded my “A” goal. I was the only entrant in my AG but my time would have been good enough for a second place finish in the SM65-69 group.
So it was a great race for me after all and a better result than I had hoped for, all things considered.

Thanks for reading.

[Spirit Unleashed]

Sweet!!!

[Robinandamelia]

Wow well done, congrats! Glad to see you are well enough to be back at it...fantastic result.

[eme]

Congrats!

[Ken B]

Great race and report! Congratulations! Pretty darn decent time!