trumbull jingle bell run 5K: race report

the last time i went up to trumbull for this race was way back in 2002! this time around i found myself at the jingle bell run 5k as a last minute change to my weekend running schedule. it worked as a short tune-up race the day before the joe kleinerman 10k in central park (also a new addition to the weekend race calendar). so this will be a short race report.

the course itself is pretty tough for a 5k: at least one notable hill to climb out of mile one, another lurking in mile 2, and then a relatively flat last mile back to the finish. it had been 22 degrees when i got up that morning, but by the 9:30 start the temperature inched into the 30's. with the sun out, it was beautiful running weather.

the race kicked off with a loud miniature cannon shot on the green. now that was cool! here are my splits:

7:28
7:15 14:43
6:46 21:30
0:30 22:00

7:06 pace

i ran the first half of mile one with emmy. when we caught up to ronnie, the two of them ran together for rest of the race, while i went on ahead. i had no real time goal in mind for this race, but thought pace in the low 7's would be fine. when i saw my split for the first mile (even with the big hill), i decided to pick it up a bit.

the second mile was faster, but still slower than what i had hoped for. in one of those combined, "let's get this race over" and "let's work a little harder" moments, i sped up in the final 1.1 miles and finished in exactly 22 minutes. i actually didn't see the clock until the chute. had i seen it, would've sprinted to squeak in under 22 - ha.

post-race there was some great panera bread and dunkin donuts coffee waiting for us inside. in addition to ronnie and emmy (who took 1st and 2nd, respectively, in their age groups), i saw marty, brian, sean, karen (and a few others as well). at home later in the day i start to feel a bit under the weather - but not bad enough to skip the 10k on sunday.

here are my race photos.