After having a great experience in the inaugural Ted's Bison Stampede 5K last year, I didn't hesitate to sign up for this year's race.
This year, my friend Sham selected it for his first ever 5K race. He'd been training all summer, so why not be rewarded at the end of it all with free Bison sliders and Sweetwater beer?
Although I'd run about 6 miles at race pace each of the last two days, I decided I would just go out and try to run as well as I could. When the gun started, I was jammed up in the pack and was only able to break out of it on the incline near CNN Center.
The first mile didn't end up being too bad, about 8:30 or so. The second mile, on a Pryor St. hill that really got me last year, was even better, 7:21. On the third mile, I had really picked up my pace and was able to accelerate through other hills, such as the one near the United Way building off of Central.
I hit a 7:11 pace for the last mile and the Hammer of Dawn recorded my top speed at 16.3 mph, which is probably the fastest that I've run in a while. I had pulled behind a dude who had a great kick and followed him in.
It was my fastest 5K race in 5 years, second to a Downtown Dash for Diabetes race I did in 2004.
Last year I said that I could run this race pretty well if I increased my mileage -- and a year later, that shows.
Celebrated the end of the race with ... 7 Bison sliders, lol.
Time: 9 a.m.
Gear: SST (Race for Research), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D4.
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