Wrigley River Run Race Report

Intro and race report:

 

Hello trifuel folks. I’d like to introduce myself; I am a Coast Guard vessel inspector and father of a new born. While stationed in Guam I got into triathlons with a desire to finish an ironman. My biggest hinderer is my inflexibility and guilt of training while maintaining my family commitments. I also am a ¾ time student…but graduate this winter.

So last weekend my Achilles began to be sore, so I took the weekend off. Then on Thursday while playing soccer I sprang the same ankle, so I had to discern what was over training induced and what was a short term (hopefully). I am following a training plan for the Long Beach marathon for a local running group in Long Beach (www.arec.org) and they had a scheduled race. It was a small 5k/10k that was only the second year of conception. I registered hoping that my ankle would be healed. Come race morning, I could barely walk. The structure of my foot hurt when I pressed down on it, but for some reason I was still hopeful.

By the time I reached the race I guess my foot loosened and it was manageable. Being me, I got to the race WAY early, surprising the registration lady as she was still trying to figure out what she’s suppose to be doing. After registering I committed the morning to stretching and it worked.

The 5k started off by a group of high school students singing the national anthem. I really appreciated that this was part of the race. I don’t hear our anthem very often, and I think it’s a good reminder of my own commitment to the people before me who had sacrificed.

Shortly after the 5k began, it started to sprinkle…then what I would call a “rain.” Now this is a foreign term here in southern California. I am not from this place so it was such a sweet reminder of back home in the south. Rain, such a blessing.

As they called us to our corral, I usually stay in the back, being the conservative person I was. But when I registered for the race I noticed that the times weren’t too fast, so I decided to inch my way to the front quarter of the pack. The frontline were mostly high school students. The race began and thinned out pretty quickly. After the first mile I was pretty much set in my position and pace. There was a switchback at the first mile where I figured I was around 20^th. The lead runner was the guy that won the 5k last year and this year. 

Miles 2-4 was pretty uneventful, but kind of fun as it drizzled. It reminded me of a being a kid playing football in the yard. It made me want to take a shower, how fun is it to take a shower after playing in the rain?

By miles 5 I had been passed by one person, passed two people, said thanks to about 20 volunteers and good morning to about 10 group of spectators (mostly individual’s in their pj’s watching the spectacle in their backyard). I must sadly pas on that out of the 10 or so spectators in their yards only one said good morning back and his replay was more of a grumble as he got his vocal chords ready for the day.

At mile 4 I was steadily behind a guy that I am pretty certain was in my age group. He looked strong so I was doubtful that I would be able to catch him. Regardless we both caught a high schooler, so we were slowly moving up. Unfortunately, the top 25 or so was pretty spread out, so not much jockeying. At mile 5 I began to push myself a little bit, trying to figure out how much I had left I me so that by the last half mile I was right behind the guy the only guy to pass me on the race (he passed me at about mile 2). I could tell he was trying to bring a little more distance between us and I was feeling sick in my stomach. Right before the final stretch I opened up my stride and breezed right by him. I expected him to stay with me, but apparently he wasn’t playing.

Results:  finished 14/190 overall & 4/14 age group

44:25

Overall the race was pretty enjoyable, nice size of 400 total (5k & 10k), but man was it a boring run along the LA “river.” And if you aren’t familiar with the LA county “rivers,” which means they are glorified drainage ditches. Huge cement crevasses used for storm control, since the county is nothing but cement.