Big Blue Wave 5K Glow Run Race Report

Race #3 new to me in 2017 (Goal is 50)
Race #5 to finish in 2017
Race #7 to be in attendance for in 2017 (5 finish, 1 announce, 1 media)

Every runner has a story, right?

And you're probably wondering why I would go all the way to Temple to run a "Glow Run" 5K on a Friday night.

The original reason is because I was going to run a double in that part of the state.

Not every race site that lists races has them all.  So often times, I'll just Google the date and the words "5K" and "Texas".

Doing so, I found a 5K - that was timed like this one was tonight - in Copperas Cove for Saturday morning.  It would have been a Texas city of town that I had not yet run a race in.

Interestingly, it was called the 5K to the Polar Bear Plunge and would have included a dip into one of the city's swimming pools.

But different plans for Saturday morning have intervened.

So knowing that I was going to be doing a lot of driving this weekend, I went out to George Bush International Airport, rented a car and was headed to Temple at about 1:30 p.m.

I got into the area right about 5 p.m. and within the half hour had made it to Jefferson Elementary School where the fourth annual Big Blue Wave Glow Run 5K powered by Amos Electric was being held to raise money for the Temple Education Foundation's "I Teach Temple" program.

The race day entry fee was $35.

Pro-Fit Event Services was timing the race and I was able to register at a laptop where volunteers then grabbed a bib and matched it to the record that I had just created.

I went across N. 3rd Street to park in Walker Park as I was told that I wouldn't be able to exit the parking lot in front of the school for awhile.

I had my North Dakota State University tech shirt over top a white long-sleeved Space City 10 Miler tech shirt as the temperature at race time was 51 degrees.  I also wore a pair of thin white gloves, enough to keep my hands warm.

Exiting the parking lot would be a slight incline as was the right-hand turn and westerly initial direction of the course.

I went back inside the elementary school to study the map -- and after the race I grabbed a copy so that I could map it on MapMyRun.com to see if the distance was accurate.

There was a warm-up, which caused for concern as to whether the race would start on-time.

However, there wasn't any pre-race agenda.  I did let an individual with a microphone to remind individuals that the course wasn't closed to traffic.

The course was basically at out-and-back, running north and south.

I had no idea how the streets were, what the lighting situation was going to be, etc.  Just head out and see what the course gave us.

Most of the major intersections were either lit with rented lighting and/or there were volunteers manning many intersections.  (After the race, I did advise race leadership that participants should - in the future - be advised to carry a flashlight, wear a head lamp or have some of those keychains with the thumb lights as the streets were dark enough where they would have helped some.)

Mile 1 was 10:10.35.  Ugh, I thought, but I was thinking that the mile marker might had been off because I was rolling pretty good.  [And the MapMyRun.com elevation showed a decline from about .7 miles to right around or just past the mile 1 marker.]

We got to the very south end of the course, which was near a high school soccer field that was just about ready to have a match begin, and then started to head back north.

When we got to mile 2, I was at 19:32.47 and 9:22.12 on the second mile.

That's when I knew that I thought that they were off a little bit.

There was a female runner in close proximity that I was trading back and forth a little bit with.  After passing the mile 2 marker, there would be a pair of left-hand and then right-hand turns.

After we made it through both of them and had crossed Shell Avenue heading north, I figured I pretty well had her.

Over a half mile, there was a 23 foot climb.  Nothing substantial, but enough your legs could slightly tell.

I also knew from running a little bit of the course before the race that the last two-tenths of a mile or so would basically be downhill.

The last .22 miles, according to MapMyRun.com, had a 29-foot drop and I did my best to exploit it.

The last bit was 10:33.01 for a 30:05.48 finish.  (Timer had me for 30:04.9)

I knew given how I've been running that it seemed long and MapMyRun.com confirmed it.

It measured at 3.18 miles, which made for an equivalent 29:23 5K.

And that is what I expected to see based on how I've been running.  And, oh, the female, who was eight years younger than me, didn't catch me, but it was close -- 3.2 seconds close.

It turned out that I was second in my 10-year age group, but I grabbed a Subway 6-inch ham sandwich, talked to the organizer and gave her some feedback (all positive) and then started to make the drive back to Spring.

Although it seemed as if there were more runners, only 74 received an official time - which was 25 less than a year ago.

Excellent smaller race that you hope to see grow.  Good, friendly people and a really nice course.  The link to the course on MapMyRun.com is here.