As mentioned on numerous occasions, I have been dealing with a bit of injury as of late, so I only felt comfortable running a short race (although I could have probably done the 10K...). So, signed up for the 5K. Before the race I shuffled over to the race start for the race, about a mile or so away (the Google maps says it's 1.5, but there was no "as the crow flies" route so it was probably shorter than that). It was a nice warm-up and got me there in plenty of time before the race.
Before the run I ran into a few people I know - one of my church friends, who would be running the 5K and the Half, as well as a gentleman who I met via Dailymile who is a professor here in town who was running the half and the 5K. We chatted a little bit about the race and how small of a world it was, and then hopped into the starting line for the start of the race.
We were off! The first portion of the race had a slight uphill, followed by a 1/2 mile long downhill. It got us moving quickly! I chatted with my friend about the race and the next day's half marathon, random plans for our church group, and so forth. The crowds were large and boisterous, with many college students drinking beers on the side of the road and cheering for friends and random people in the race. We passed the first mile mark in 7:45, about as fast a mile as I've run in a while!
On the second mile, my friend was slowing a little, and for the short term I stayed with him, but was feeling good. We went through Campustown, passing more college students and supporters. We got to the second mile on an uphill at around 8:11, a bit slower than the previous mile, but still quite comfortable. I told my friend that I was going to blow up and go for it, and took off for a fast final mile!
I started passing people at a fast clip, still enjoying the race and cheering on those who I was passing. The crowds cheered us on as we made our way toward the stadium, turning into the entrance ramp at the end of the field. With the crowds cheering us on, we ran 100 yards down the field and then turned back to finish at the 50 yard line at a full sprint! I ran the last 1.1 miles in around 8:00 min, finishing in 24:02! It was a great run and about as fast as I've run a 5K in a while!
This morning I volunteered on the race course, at the 5.5 mile point (right by my neighborhood). The race conditions were pretty decent, although it was pretty windy! We had to redirect a lot of (relatively) angry folks who apparently had no idea that there was a race going on. The runners looked great, and I snapped a number of photos of all of the big groups running by. There were a few characters, including an Illini Darth Vader, Superman, a Purple Man, and Abe Lincoln (who ran last year as well). No Illinois Marathon bee, though... I hope everyone finished up their races well!
One final note - for the race I wore my compression socks, and they were very helpful! My shin felt pretty good for the race, and today I'm having a relatively minimal amount of pain. I did ice it last night, so that still helped. Also, because I ran so hard yesterday and had to stand for a few hours this morning, my quads seized up! I think it was sympathetic paid for all of the racers!
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