New Haven Road Race and other activities

Marathon training continues. Labor Day weekend was a big fitness test and I think I'm doing well so far.

Saturday was the first annual RIT Cross Country Reunion in Rochester, NY. It was kicked off by a 5K half-loop of campus, scored as a alumni vs. current team competition. The current team just beat the alums 26-31 (lowest score wins in cross country). Our score was aided by Olympic Trials qualifier and RIT alum Kevin Collins, but I ran a surprisingly speedy 16:15 for 7th place overall, 3rd among alums and only losing to 3 current RIT runners. We all gathered for a BBQ after the race.

Monday, Labor Day, was the New Haven Road Race/ National 20K Championships. I don't usually schedule races so close together, but I couldn't miss either race, so I was just trying to do the best I could on both days. The New Haven Race is always super-competitive, with many of the nation's best runners vying for a national title. I came in 77th overall in 1:12:50 (5:52 per mile for 12.4 miles). It was 44 seconds faster than my time two years ago, and 6 places down in the rankings, which indicates that participation was up in 2009.

2007 Race:
Overall Time- 1:13:34 (5:56 per mile) 71st place
First 10K- 37:43 (6:04 per mile)
Last 10K - 35:51 (5:46 per mile)

2009 Race:
Overall Time - 1:12:50 (5:52) 77th place.
First 10K - 36:26 (5:52)
Last 1oK - 36:24 (5:52)

You can see this year was a much more evenly-paced effort (exactly even, actually). I was still pretty sore from the 5K on Saturday, so I thought a steady pace would be my best bet. If I slow the tempo by about a minute per mile, I should be able to continue for the full marathon distance (26.2 miles) by the end of October.

In other news, my sister and fellow marathon trainee ran a great 1:28:42 (7:09 pace). My dad, in his first race over 4 miles ran a 1:37:01 (7:49).

2009 results
2007 results