5 Alarm 5K Race Report - Sealy

Ah, yes, the adventurous soul.

I had a multitude of possibilities for this weekend as Waverly has been gone to youth church camp and will be getting back Saturday afternoon.  I had thought about running a race on Sunday, but she’s only going to be singing on stage at church possibly two more Sundays (as we’ll be on vacation for at least one and maybe two).  And this Sunday is the first of those two.

I just realized this week that the Toughest 10K in Texas, which is held annually in Lampasas, is Saturday, but I’ve committed to run the Vern’s No Frills 5K in Georgetown.

The race is fashioned after the original $1 race – Run The Woodlands. 

Former Kingwood resident Bill Schroeder was one of the many regulars of RTW and he started this Georgetown race approximately five years ago.

But to get to Georgetown on Saturday morning, the road went through Sealy.

As I think I explained in an earlier post, because I work so many events in the late spring, my running suffers and it takes me during the summer time to put it back together for the next fall.

Therefore, I run a lot of races.  I enjoy the atmosphere, the people and the many interesting things that I see and can (and cannot!) apply to races that I assist with.

Last year, as part of the Sealy Community Foundation’s Sealybration, they held the first annual 5 Alarm 5K, which started at 10 p.m.

Yes, very dark streets.  Sure, there were street lights, but if you didn’t know the street and its surface and cracks you could have taken a pretty good tumble.  (I brought my head lamp this time and wore it the entire way.)

I think I ran fairly well last year.  (Just checked.  Maybe not.  30:11.  But I recall feeling good as I ran in a new type of show, Asics Cumulus.)

The work week was a little long and slow and I didn’t get in the gym until Thursday night where I ran 6 miles on the treadmill from 10 to 11 p.m.

I then added another six (6) on the treadmill this afternoon from 3:25 to 4:25 p.m.  Yes, 12 miles in the 24 hours preceding the 5K.  Sure, not the brightest idea when “racing”, which is a relative term for me.

They had approximately 175 signed up this year with 159 finishers – an increase from last year’s 119.

I placed myself at the back and took 20 seconds to cross the start line.  Gary Mulvihill from Run Wild Timing in Houston was doing the timing and we were using the B tag with the microwave readers.

The course is certified and it is as flat as can be – as flat as the Beneeezy Purple Monkey 5K and 10K in Alvin, which is held in late August.

Mile 1 came and went in 9:20.13.  I passed a lot of people, but it was one of the steadiest miles that I’ve run in quite some time.  I was pleased that I dialed it back a little.

I was a little disappointed in the time of mile 2, but was satisfied with the effort.  I’ve been in a situation recently where my legs will try to run an 8:55 to 9:10 mile, but the rest of my body wouldn’t agree.

This mile was as steady as the first, but the time came through as 10:05.70 to put me at 19:25.83 – which is a 9:42 pace.

Mile 3 registered as 10:25.88, which was at 29:51.71.  Lots of starts and stops, but again:  solid effort.

The last tenth of a mile was 59.84 for a total time of 30:51.55, but Gary got me at 30:46.  Which should I choose to record?  You decide.  The gun time, interestingly, was equal – 31:12.

I guess I shouldn't complain with the time after running 12 miles, even though the course in Nacogdoches last Saturday was a little bit more difficult and I ran 30:17.  Even though it was warm (80 degrees perhaps), the humidity wasn't bad.

You can tell the “quality” of the field, however, when I finished 71^st overall out of 159.

For the record, this is a solid little event - that raises money for the Sealy Fire Department to honor two firefighters who lost their lives in 2000 and 2004 -- which might benefit from an earlier start (like 8:30 p.m. even) as Gary suggested to them.  Then again, if have the right light, it isn't too bad to run that late at night.

Then I gathered my keys from Gary's gear and it was back on the road again to drive to Round Rock, via Highway 71 through Columbus to Highway 183 and then to Interstate 35.

Georgetown in a few hours will be Texas city or town #84.  Can’t wait!