5K Pasta Run

The 5K Pasta Run, sponsored by the American Lung Association, was held last evening on City Island, Harrisburg.

I decided to run this to see where I stood in terms of aerobic/running fitness. Having trained for triathlons this spring, I was curious to see just how fast I could run a stand-alone 5K. Although I have been doing a lot of racing and running in the last two years, This race was only my 4th 5K. I used to run three miles as part of the Marine Corps physical fitness test, and set a PR at 17:01 for that distance. The first 5K I ran was around 15 years ago. I agreed to be on our school's team for an event held in the Lancaster area known as the Corporate Challenge. I don't remember my time, but our team did win the corporate challenge for our category.

The run was well organized and started promptly at 6:30. The weather was humid and hot. I started at the front of the pack, and went out fast. By 800 meters there was a fast group of 5-6 high school/college runners, a 10 meter separation, me, another 10 meter separation then the pack. I held my ground until around 1.5 kilometers, then was passed by two individuals younger than me. I was still holding steady, but the combination of heat/humidity and a small hill broke my pace around 2 miles. At this point I was passed by the individual who would win the masters category. I tried to stay with him, but couldn't. I think if I would have had a little more fuel in the tank, and could have kept him within about 10 meters, I could have out sprinted him to the finish. In the last 400 meters I did make up some ground on him, but not enough to close it up. He ran a smarter race than me; I went out a little too fast I think. I'm still learning the optimal pacing strategy for this race.

I finished 13th overall, 2nd master, and 1st in my age group with a 19:40, which ties my current PR. I can go lower, but it is hard right now, because of training for triathlons. Extra running means less time on the bike and in the water.

After the race, Tina and I took advantage of the pasta dinner, which was excellent: two types of pasta, salad, Italian bread, fruit, cookies and bananas. I recommend this mid-week race.