Last Minute 5K as a Workout

Hospital Hill half-marathon was supposed to be my last race in Kansas/Missouri. However, I decided to run a 5K race literally the morning of the race. The Pioneer Run 5K was hosted by the Northland Early Education Center to benefit education services for Northland children who have special needs. The race was held in the Parkville English Landing Park, which is where I routinely log my Saturday miles. So, for a good cause, and since the run was being held in the same location I was going to put in my workout, I decided to just run the race. I treated the race as a training run, because I had just put in 9 miles the night before.

At the start line I did not see any familiar faces from previous races (nice rhyme), so I knew that the run would be a solo effort. The course consisted of one small lap and one big lap on the running/bike trail around the park. Within the first 1/4 mile I was pretty much on my own. I'd say that I ran the race at a good hard tempo effort. I finished in 16:35, almost 2.5 minutes ahead of the 2nd runner. It was a good workout and effort.  The toughest part of the run was getting a good push off on the foot strikes as the trail is a little sandy. The Saucony Kinvaras are also probably not the best shoes for traction on a dirt trail course. Regardless, it was a good run. After crossing the finish and getting some water, I continued on for a nice easy 4 miles. I finished the morning at 9 miles and will do another run this afternoon.

Another dust collector, but I'll take the gift cards.