East Rochester Karknocker 5K
Posted by john on July 26, 2008 in Running
Last night was the East Rochester Karknocker 5K. The course is mostly flat, and very fast. I first ran this race last year, but I liked it enough to add to my list of annual races. The race is part of the ER Volunteer Firefighters and is part of a weekend filled with activities. There are carnival rides, a parade, the race and other activities all weekend long. The race is usually the Friday evening of the weekend.
I showed up with Katie, and we ran into Rich (from work) and George (a running friend). The weather was good and it was still warm enough to run shirtless. After some shmoozing and stretching, we were set to go. I was feeling that I might be able to score a PR, but that feeling changed shortly into the race. I took off fast and was feeling pretty good for the first 3/4 mile. Then things took a turn for the worst and I started to really slow down. I ran as best I could, but I felt tired, my legs were heavy and I was just not hydrated near well enough to perform excellently. Fortunately, the race was short and I eventually came up to the final stretch. I was able to cross the finish line missing my PR by a mere 13 seconds (22:17 was my final time), but looking back, I cannot figure out where I could have pushed harder - it was just a tough run for me.
I went back to the finish line to cheer on Rich and Katie, both of whom finished strong. After the race, I met up with Rich and Katie and some other friends and we went straight to the beer tent. Apparently, racers get two free food items (and beer is counted as a food item). I got a burger and a beer and it felt great. We looked at the leaderboard and George was in 2nd place for masters. I was in 3rd place in my age group! So we stayed for the ceremonies. I was fortunate enough to get a medal! The second place finisher is an acquaintence of mine from volunteering, and I shook his hand as I was leaving - he ran several minutes faster than me (I believe he did even better the previous year).
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