2016 Glass City 5k Recap

This past weekend I ran a new-to-me (but 40 year old) 5k in my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. In short, I loved the race, had perfect weather, and got myself a post-retirement PR (and hey, maybe one of these days I'll get fast enough to get a real PR again!). This is a race that's going to be on my calendar every year that I'm running, and I'm even thinking about doing the half next year.

As I mentioned last week, the Glass City Marathon, HM and 5k all start and finish at my alma mater, the University of Toledo. Packet pick-up on Saturday was at UT's arena/basketball court/concert venue. I thought the last time I had been there was to see Fuel (I know...) in 2001 or so, but my mom reminded me that I graduated there. Oh, right. So memorable. My mom tagged along with me for her first race expo. I have to say, it was SO WEIRD being back on campus. So many things have changed since I graduated! Or maybe I've just forgotten about a lot of things? Like this rocket (for the UT Rockets) outside of the arena, which seemed new to me, and ridiculously cheesy.

Mom: "But can we take a selfie with it?"

The expo was small compared to a lot of Chicago races, but we still went a little overboard on buying GCM merchandise. But I can't have too many t-shirts, technical shirts and hoodies, can I? I also bought a new belt for my phone, since I realized about halfway through Indiana that I left mine at home (which is one downside to out-of-town races).

Sunrise at the race start area (note the UT clock tower to the right)

The race started at 7:15 ET, which meant a 4:00 CT wake-up call for me. Although I was pretty excited for this race, my Saturday was extremely busy and I didn't sleep well that night, so I was a little worried about energy. Fortunately I ended up feeling just fine once I woke up. The weather was my definition of perfect race weather. It was 36 degrees with no wind and very low humidity. I knew this was going to be a good day for me.

With Barb at the start line

My mom's cousin, Barb, was doing the half and lives right by the University, so I parked at her house and walked to the race start with her. The HM started at 7, so I had plenty of time to stretch my legs, warm-up, and check my bag before the 5k start. After the National Anthem and a prayer, the marathon and HM runners were off. And about 10 minutes after that, the 5k started. For the first time ever, I lined up right at the front of the pack. I don't know why, but I had this feeling that there would be a lot of walkers, and that people weren't really lined up by pace. I was right on both accounts, so starting up front was a good choice, and I didn't have to spend a lot of time at the beginning of the race weaving.

The first mile of the course goes through Toledo's Old Orchard neighborhood which, like many neighborhoods near colleges, is full of beautiful old historic homes. It was a gorgeous day to be running in such a pretty area, but I couldn't help but wonder where the f*ck the 1 mile marker was. I didn't study the course map well enough ahead of time to know this, but the mile 1 and mile 2 markers were both later than they should have been. I did take my first mile slow, but was a little stunned to see that I was already at 13:10 when I finally saw the 1 mile marker. Garmin says this was at 1.1 miles, so my first mile pace based on that was 12:01.

A 13:00+ mile made me feel a little disheartened that maybe I was going more slowly than I had hoped (although according to Garmin, I was right on pace), but this just made me pick things up and I ended up putting down some pretty serious negative splits. The bulk of the second mile was spent making our way back to campus. There was a stretch there where the marathon and HM course passed the 5k. It was so cool to see the streets of my hometown just flooded with runners! Not long after returning to campus, the course hits the big uphill. I was prepared for the hill, but it was still a little challenging. Mile 2 came once we turned on to the University Parks Trail, but it wasn't until my watch said 2.2 miles that I finally saw the marker. Mile 2 pace was 11:48. 

I know Garmin isn't the end-all in race distances, but I started worrying that the course was a little long. I also felt myself starting to fade after the big hill and was really starting to wonder if I could still PRPR this. Then just as I finally saw the 2 mile marker, I looked over and saw my mom on the course! My parents were planning to wait for me at the finish line, so I was not expecting to see them before that time. Once I saw her, I picked up the pace again, wanting her to see me looking strong instead of frustrated. So this was just the boost I needed (except for the ensuing ugly cry that I had to mentally talk myself down from... we've all been there, right?). 

"Stop taking pictures so I can high-five you, Mom!"

After I saw my parents, we turned off of the trail and the course wound its way toward the arena where the expo was held. The arena sits on a hill, so I knew we must be approaching the 3 mile marker, since that's where the big downhill on the course was. I saw the same cheesy rocket from the day before and laughed to myself about it. One of my power songs came on, so I started FLYING down the hill. Once we turned past the arena, I saw the marathon's 26 mile marker and knew the end was in sight. Mile 3 pace was 11:24.

I passed the 36:00 mark just as I was approaching mile 3, so I knew that goal was out the window (and admittedly, it was a little ambitious), but I still had well over 3 minutes to finish the race and still get that post-retirement PR I was gunning for. So I picked it up and charged down the finish chute for that last tenth of a mile. The sun had gotten pretty warm by that time, and I started feeling a really strong urge to puke. I scanned the sidelines for my parents because I did NOT want them to see that, and couldn't find them. Phew. I kept pushing and ran the last .10 mile at a 10:37 pace. My official time was 37:31, so 2:20 faster than Frosty. PRPR!

Photo by Mom

"Now take a sip of your beer!"

Once I crossed the finish line, I picked up my medal and commemorative mug. Glass City marathon mug... because Toledo is the Glass City (home of Libbey Glass). Get it?? GLASS??? There was a pretty big post-race party that included lots of food (fruit, cookies, pizza, etc.), massages and entertainment. But since I already had breakfast plans with my family, I skipped the food and headed straight to the beer tent to get my mug filled. You actually get two drink tickets, which is definitely not terrible.

Overall I had a really great time running this race. Maybe I'm biased having grown up there, but I really liked the 5k course. It's also very reasonably priced (yay, Ohio!) full of perks, and pretty well-organized. But what I like the most is how much excitement there was about the race all over town. Unlike big cities like Chicago, there aren't big races in Toledo every weekend in the spring. This is a big deal there, which I think is pretty cool. And even with the misplacement of the 1st and 2nd mile markers (which was annoying, but not the end of the world), I still think this is a great race and I would absolutely do it again.