This is the most popular race of the Cork BHAA Calendar, a lovely setting close to the banks of the Lee, only 8 euro and a super flat course so no wonder they turn out in their droves for this one. The competition would be fierce attracting Corks finest, I had a quick glance at last years results earlier where 31 people ran under 17 minutes. Sub 17 would be my only target today though my time at the recent 4 mile race suggested I wasn’t quite there yet. I felt I’d been training well and up for the challenge, it’s a flat course so I’d just go out hard and see how I go. Either way I was on the hunt for a PB, all I had to to was beat 17:21, easy right? Target pace: 5:28 min/mile
Got down early, a fine evening for a race I say. Registration was a breeze and got a nice 20 minute warm up done with Jenny on a lap of the course with a few strides thrown in. Chatted with a few club mates who were running and soon it was time to lineup. It would be a simple 2 lap course with nice gradual bends and a straight finish of about 200 meters.
With almost 1000 folks running, congestion would be inevitable at the start. I ended up getting pushed back about 4 rows which wasn’t the worst but I hadn’t realised there was no starting mat and it was being timed by the gun.
Note: My garmin is now dead as a doornail 🙁 so I have no splits except for mile 1 and 2 which were shouted out by a steward.
Mile 1
Bang! said the gun, and off we went. A lot of jostling and elbows, shimmying and dodging but after about 500 meters I had enough breathing room to relax and work my way into the race, not the worst start. I settled into a good rhythm, breathing was relaxed and I started making up a ground on what looked like as massive field ahead of me. I’m no good as estimating but I’d say there was about 7000 runners ahead of me. Cruised along nicely picking a few people off early and heard a shout of 5:24 for the first mile, that’s fine just fine.
Mile 2
I started feeling a slight cramp in my side but it wasn’t affecting my pace, I was still passing a few people though I glanced at my pace and saw I was up near the 5:40 min/mile mark. I had now started lap 2 of the course and wasn’t too worried about that pace as the garmin has a tendency recently to display volatile lap predictions, I felt I was going well so I didn’t worry about it too much. It started to feel like a real struggle as I closed in on the mile 2 mark but I was still positive and chugging along nicely. I’d already preempted mile 2 being difficult so it was just a matter of pushing through the pain. I vaguely remember a shout of 10:56 as we hit the mile 2 mark, making that a 5:32 mile, still on track I thought, just keep going.
Mile 3
I was working extremely hard at this stage, breathing heavy but still moving well and knowing it was the last mile, I was mentally in a good place. I must have picked up 5 or 6 place on this last stretch, confidence building with each place I gained but still the primary target was not place but a sub 17 and I wanted it bad. I hardly looked at the watch for this mile, I didn’t want to know what distance was left or what my time was I just pushed and pushed keeping the momentum. I was giving it all and finally approached the last corner before the straight. I had a right ding-dong battle with a guy over the last half a mile, I had taken him before the corner but he drew level with me on the straight which didn’t really bother me, all I was looking at was the clock above the finish line ticking onto 16:40…41….42…..I’m still a bit away, can I do it? No time for sums Conor, just run, run fast! Finally that moment came when I knew I had it in the bag, I crossed in 16:56 having giving it absolutely everything over the last mile, job done. Kiss my face.
I’m not sure what the split was for the last section, but I ran the last 1.1 miles in 6 minutes = unofficially 5:27 min/mile pace. I may never know if my garmin doesn’t wake up. I reckon with a starting mat and had I been a bit closer to the front I could have taken a few more seconds off that but still absolutely no complaints.
Really delighted with my effort this evening and though I’m only with the club 4 weeks now, the track sessions are already paying off. That’s another target for the year ticked off in May and now we see how far I can push that 5k down over the summer, dare I dream of a 16:3x? Nice 30 minute cool-down and that’s a good days work.
Summary: 5k in 16:56 (5:27 min/mile) and 34th place overall. (9 miles total)