Day 3,142: Vinings Downhill 5K (PR)

It's been a month since I ran in my last race, the Peachtree Road Race. Today's race involved participating in the Vinings Downhill 5K in the hopes of setting another PR. It's a popular race because it is mainly downhill:

I also thought the race's popularity as a Peachtree 10K qualifier also would make it good to don the Team Beef shirt to spread the word about the Georgia Beef Board. One older volunteer said, "Team Beef -- that's my favorite shirt" as I walked by. Another group of runners explained to each other the race reimbursement benefits of Team Beef.

Anyway, when the race started it was a little congested but the downslope was so steep it was hard for everyone not to be running fast. Early on my watch recorded that I was running at a 6:05/minute pace. I basically went into this thinking that I would just try to hold on for dear life.

One thing about this race is that the 8 a.m. start was a little later than I'm used to running -- many times I'm out of the shower by the time 8 a.m. rolls around. The sun was up and very direct, almost oppressive.

In the first mile there's a hill that would be pretty brutal in any 5K but after that, as the announcer said, it was all downhill. My splits were 6:27/6:58/6:46, the first time that I've run sub-7 minute miles the entire race.

I finished with a PR of 21:19, which is just 8 seconds better than my non-official PR that I did in the May 30 Kettle Krush in Piedmont Park. (Edit: My race time was 21:18:34!) This race is USAT&F certified, and the other is not, so it is a real PR that I can use as a Peachtree qualifying time. (Incidentally before this race I researched the difference in times of the Master's winner in the Kettle Krush and even he only knocked off 20 seconds in last year's Downhill 5K, so I knew not to expect too much).

But it was nice. I loved the fact the early bird price for this race was only $25, which is what I'd ideally like to pay for a 5K but a rarity today. The race was well organized and it didn't take too long to get in and out of the parking deck. I would definitely do it again.

Time: 8 a.m.
Temp: 73 degrees (89 percent humidity)
Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Team BEEF), shorts, Saucony Type A6.