a pair of weekend 5k race reports: "run for habitat" and the "harry murphy xc"

the great weather from last weekend seems is a distant memory because monday ushered in and early winter - and today brought the leading edge of a nasty gail force storm. this weather system is may make for a cold, raw, and wet race weekend. the "run for habitat" in bridgeport and the "harry murphy xc" at van cortlandt park, conversely, benefited from some great fall temperatures. the two races couldn't have been more different - the bridgeport race was pancake flat while the harry murphy had plenty of challenging hills.

on saturday i wasn't sure i could go all out because i'd run the maine marathon the previous weekend. run for habitat was run along the water, a beautiful seascape to frame the course. except for a mild wind off the water, there were no hills - and few turns. i went out way too fast in the first mile - 6:07, which i knew was unsustainable. the second and third miles, 6:41 and 6:45 respectively, suffered as a result. the finally tenth, in 0:38, got me across the finish in 20:12, for a 6:31 pace.

despite slowing down in the second half, i was incredibly happy with the result. i was 12th overall - but miles from placing in my age group! 3rd place in the m40-49 went to a runner who posted an 18:43! that speedy time was a minute and a half off the 17:14 posted by the winner of our age group! but emmy and kellie both won their respective age groups!! i did win a book, "the quotable runner," at the post-race raffle :D

that afternoon i tacked on a four post-race miles and then rehydrated at a vintage port wine tasting! sunday morning i jogged the mile and a half down to the bronx river parkway to cheer on the runners at the westchester half marathon. after i jogged back home, switched into my light-weight trail shoes (new balance 840s), i car pooled with emmy for the trip down to van cortlandt park.

we had been down to van cortlandt park at the end of august for the henry isola xc classic. that 4 miler was a double loop course that climbed cemetery hill (2x). the harry murphy course was one big loop that took in the back hills (the same course run 3x makes up the pete mccardle 15k at the end of november). there were no mile markers (that i could see). the entire loop took me a seemingly endless 21:52, 7:01 pace - and included a walk up the hill in mile two!

i was not at all happy with this result! but, it was a fun course - and i love running at van cortlandt park - so it was well worth the trip into the city. emmy and sue won their respective age groups (and i was a distant 10th in mine). no post-race miles when i got home. instead, drove up to newburgh to celebrate my nephew's 5th birthday party.

all in all, it was a great weekend!

some pictures from the "run for habitat" 5k
some pictures from the "harry murphy" xc 5k