Race day came with good weather. Sunny, clear skies, cool (50's) in the morning with a forecasted high in the 80's. The race was scheduled to start at 11:15 so I was hoping it would not heat up too much.
Drove down to Providence and found a parking spot in one of the state office lots near the Capitol building. The Capitol is always impressive up close. It's white marble dome weathered and towering with the Minute Man on top.
Found the big white tent well organized for a quick in and out with number, chip and goody bag courtesy of CVS.
Back to the car to pin the number on, drop the goody bag, and find a spot to rest for a bit. Two hours to the race. Time to meditate and watch the crowd start gathering. Maybe stretch a little before warming up with about 30 minutes before the race.
Found a spot on the Capitol lawn and settled in. No camera with me to take any pictures so they are all mental snapshots.
Sun rising higher now, the tree shadows shrinking slowly. I'll need to move to stay in the shade eventually.
A band is doing its sound check in the tent beyond the row of trees where I am. I hear them but can't see them. Testing, drums, saxaphone...
Small groups of runners all around on the lawn. This one some sort of exercise group. A few of them are running their first race and full of questions. The experts share willingly. A couple get up and go for a jog to warm up.
This group to the left is active. Two or three there. Others stop by coming down from the Capitol heading for the registration tent. Chat a bit, move on. Some return to the tree and the group gradually grows.
This group to the right is similar. Definitely a company team. More t-shirts all the same. Ah, a banner has arrived and is now being hung from a couple of the branches to tell the world who they are. I am behind and can't read it until later.
Party tables are being set up for the post chute refreshments. You'd recognize them. There standard folding tables. No fancy cloth covering here though. A fork lift brings over pallets of Poland Spring water. The volunteers are busy taking the water and spreading it out for an easy grab when the runners come through. The tables also had some fruit (apples and bananas), and fruit juice. Some white bags with the CVS logo were also ready, these had a couple of fruit, an energy bar, and a bottle of water.
Over on the starting line, the kids races are being held. Each age group has two races with the boys and girls running separately. The top five names are announced for each race. Nice touch for the young ones. I hope they enjoy the run.
A high school team comes in and overwhelms some folks sitting to my left. They get up and move. The team stays, gathers around the coach, listens to their instructions and begins to settle in. There are two racers specifically for high school teams after the major 5K race is run today. This will be a full day of running for those willing to watch.
Getting on 30 mintues to race time so I get up and start my warm up. A good run around the Capitol follwed by some strides along the grassy edge of the sidewalk. Almost ready to sweat but not quite. That will be good enough for today.
I stop for more stretching as I make my way closer to the starting line. The parade lead by a bag piper band is finishing. The National Anthem is song. And then the welcome speeches, not too many today just the mayor, short and to the point.
It is good to see so many people doing so much healthy activity today. The announcer says about 7000 folks are running today. When I checked the results later there were 2800 in the open 5K so the remainder must have been all the kids races? Possible I guess.
The elite runners are being introduced. I hear Adam Goucher is here. Adam played a lead role in the book "Running with the Buffalos" by Chris Lear.
The wheel chair competitors are sent off, soon it will be our turn. Last minute stretching. Small talk with the runners around about the weather, the course, the crowd. We make room for the Worcester Fire Dept Bag Piper Band to go by. They had lead the parade. Go Worcester!
And the race is underway. The first mile felt good in 7:10, the second felt the same but I'd slipped off to 7:30. I need to hold the pace now, can't slip any more. Why do they put the finish on top of this hill? Oh well, it is less than at TriCounty. Up and over we go to the finish. The third mile mark (on the hill) was 22:40, so I had slipped further to 8:00 for that mile. Oh well, I finished in 22:58 chip time, 23:04 elapsed time. Not bad, but I should have done better.
Through the chute, take off the chip, grab some refreshments (added some fruit and water to the CVS bag), stood for a bit checking out the crowd, drinking some water. Another Pacer was supposed to run today but try as I might could not find her anywhere. When I checked the results later, she did run and ran well finishing well ahead of me. Good running!
Another race coming up this Saturday, at the Crackerbarrel Classic.
Hapy running!
