2013 St. Michael's Oktoberfest 5k Recap

... or, The WRCE Runs a Race Together!

Is there a better race for the Wurst Running Club Ever to debut our fancy new shirts and run together than an Oktoberfest 5k?  I don't think so.

Photo from Pete

Photo from the race Facebook page

Going into this 5k, I was definitely not planning to PR, since actually getting my 5k PR last month pushed me so hard that I knew I wouldn't be able to top that last night. Yesterday was my 7th straight day without rest, and I did a double (taking a strength class earlier in the day - I know, awesome planning), so my entire body was just tired and sore (it's actually still tired and sore, so thank goodness for today being a rest day!), so I was just planning to take it easy and have fun.

Most of the WRCE lined up toward the front of the pack, but I never want to get in the way of faster runners, even at a fun 5k like this, so I moved to the back.  Erin was nice enough to start toward the back with me, and even stuck with me the entire race!

At 6:30, we were off!  Because it had been pouring pretty much all morning, and all of Wednesday night, the first mile or so of the course was full of huge puddles and lots of mud, so I'll just say that's what slowed us down.  But it was pretty tricky dodging all of those puddles!  I mean, I didn't want to get my bright green socks muddy, did I?

This guy must have been roasting by the end of the race

Once we got through all the mud, the pack thinned out a little and it was actually a pretty enjoyable race.  If you forget about the bugs that we both ended up inhaling and/or getting stuck up our noses.  Yeah, that was not fun.  But not surprising with all the standing water all over the place.  One thing I did like about the course is the lovely views of the skyline heading back south.  I usually don't get off the lakefront trail when I'm in Lincoln Park, so it was nice to actually run through the park for a change.

That's a small puddle.  Seriously.

By the time we got to mile 2.5 or so (which is strangely enough, where the water station was - a little late?), my legs were running out of gas.  But Erin did a great job at keeping our pace, so I just kept on going.  Once we got to mile 3, we saw Declan and his family spectating and handing out high-fives.  That was definitely a good boost, and it felt good to be finally nearing the finish line (even if the volunteer at the turn at mile 3 told us that there was "only half a mile left!" haha).

High-fiving the Wurst Spectator Ever

Almost done

Since the rest of the WRCE was already finished, there was lots of cheering once Erin and I finally crossed the finish line, which is always cool.  We finished in 37:43.  I can say that is definitely my Wurst 5k time all year, so that actually seems fitting.  But it's a 12:03 pace, which is what I usually run anyway.  So although I would have liked to have been a little faster, I'm happy that I was at least running at my normal pace.

WRCE

The night ended with beer and a nacho/mac&cheese buffet at a nearby bar.  I could barely make it through my second free beer without wanting to go home and go to sleep, which is probably one downside to weeknight racing for me.

Picture from Pete

In sum, this was a pretty fun 5k with a nice course.  I could have eaten less bugs, but otherwise have no real complaints.  I've been doing a race every other week since ZOOMA in early August, so I'm happy that this was my last race before Grand Rapids next month.  And as I compare times from those races, if you take out my 5k PR race, my times are all pretty consistent, and all point to a half-marathon finish just shy of 3 hours.  I'm not ready to give any time goals just yet, because I'd like to see how the rest of my long runs go, but I'm at least keeping that in mind.

Unless otherwise noted, all photos from the Wurst Photographer Ever, Mr. Loop Looks.