Freedom's Run 5K Race Report

Bottom Line on the Top Line: A well-run, well attended inaugural race with a largely flat course with a HUGE hill around the 2.6 mile mark that made times slower than usual.

We're back from WV and from running the Freedom's Run 5K on Saturday morning so here's my race report.

We left Baltimore on Friday night around 6 so we could pick up our race packets before the 8PM cut off in Shepherdstown. With some rainy weather and general traffic on the way up there, we walked into Shepherd University's swanky new Wellness Center at 7:54 PM and literally picked up our shirts and packets minutes before they took everything down and cleaned up. The shirts are pretty nice and I like the design, is that was a definite plus.

The next morning, we got to the race a little early (about 8:10) and parked without any trouble. It helped a lot that I know Shepherdstown like the back of my hand so we didn't wander around in the car looking for parking lots. But there were volunteers and signs around so I can't imagine people had too much trouble with finding parking anyway.

The full marathon had actually already started in Harpers Ferry, WV earlier in the morning (around 7:30, I think) but the half, 10K and 5K were all starting around 9AM. Everything was centered around the football stadium and they had several tents set up for coffee, day-of packet pick-up, etc. I think they were expecting fewer people for the races than they got because there were only a handful of port-a-potties, but Annie waited just about 5 minutes in the line so not too bad, really. I think somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 people signed up for this race, which is good news for its future. The weather was perfect for running, in my opinion. Mid 50's, just a slight breeze, no clouds in the sky and no rain in the forecast. Perfect!

After some remarks from the race director, during which we learned that they were sending a bunch of race shirts to troops in Afghanistan who were running (actually due to the time difference, they'd already run) 26.2 miles in Afghanistan. Pretty awesome. Quick rendition of the national anthem and the countdown began. The half marathoners took off at 9:00 AM sharp (kudos to the race director for being punctual...some races start 10-15 mintues late which is aggravating) and the 10K folks were off five minutes later. The 5K was last since it was the shortest and fastest of the three, and we started at 9:10.

The 5K was crowded at the beginning, as 357 people were running it. So that slowed me down at the very outset. As I crossed the bridge, I tried to stay slower than I thought was acceptable since this was my first race in close to a year and I'm rusty. Also, the farthest I've run since starting up again is 4 miles so it's not like I had the endurance of a a half-marathoner to pull from. Anyway, we turned onto the C&O Canal access path after crossing into Maryland, which is a switchback trail curling under the bridge down to the towpath. Once I got to the towpath, it was narrower and gravel for the most part. I picked it up a little bit going out and began passing people, although I had to pass on the right because the 10K leaders started whizzing by us on their return trip to West Virginia.

I could feel about halfway out to the turnaround that I wasn't running as fast as I had hoped, but I didn't want to go any faster for fear of flaming out way too early. We turned around and started heading back to the bridge and I passed Annie on the way. She was doing really well and ended up finishing 10th in her age group (out of 29 total) and shaved another 90 seconds off her time. She's catching up to me fast so I need to get on my horse! Anyway, we hit a sign on the path that said "1 mile to go!" and I looked down at my watch to see that I had already surpassed the 20 minute mark. Crap. No way was I going to run a mile in under 7 minutes to beat my PR. I was bummed, but quickened the pace until I got to the access path, which I now had to go back up. It was monstrous and I had to walk because it got so steep at one point. That added some time, for certain. But I got to the bridge again and really tried to lower my pace.

I had assumed that we'd cross the bridge again into WV and immediately turn left and head onto the football field to the finish line. Hence, my pushing my pace beyond comfortable. I thought I'd be able to hold that pace to that point. Unfortunately, I got to the stadium and realized that we had to run around it and come in the back, at which point I flamed out...it just deflated me to see that I had so much farther to go. As I approached the stadium, I passed some more people and got to the field. Even though I was in pain (flashes of me barfing at the 50 yard line danced in my head), I kept the pace decent. Of course, some woman sprinted past me in the final 20 yards, and it was one of the people who had been walking just 50 yards before that, which pissed me off. Way to go; you mis-ran the entire race and walked for 5 minutes to build up enough steam to sprint across like you'd been running that pace the entire time.

I call shenanigans on that runner and anyone who does the walking the last quarter mile and then sprinting across the line. That's not finishing strong; that's running the other 96% of the race poorly.

That may sound harsh, and I certainly don't consider myself a running purist, by any means. But come on...the object is to run the whole 3.1/6.2/13.1/26.2 miles effectively, not sprint out in the beginning, stumble to the last 0.25 mile, walk half of it and then sprint across the line and make the runners who tried to maintain a consistent strategy throughout the race look like chumps.

And yes, I know people aren't thinking that way when they do it and yes I know I'm probably being unreasonable in my bitching, but as Eric Cartman says, "Whateva! Whateva! It's my hot body. I do what I want!"

Noetheless, the finish on the football field was pretty cool and I was moderately happy with my time and effort. I think I just need to run more 5Ks and get more practice racing to feel out a better pace next time. They had lots of fruit, but little else after the race, which is all well and good, except I like to have something substantial after a race, like a bagel with cream cheese or something. And while there were bagels, there were no toppings to be had so I ate a few bites of a cold wheat bagel and hrew it away. They also didn't have anything other than water, which further bummed me out. I could have gotten a Roaring Lion energy drink, but I wanted Gatorade or something that would actually replenish something in me and not wire me up again. Hopefully next year they'll have a better spread afterwards.

Annie and I milled around briefly before walking back to the car and heading home, as we weren't going to buy anything at the post-race party since we'll be going to the Baltimore Running Festival Expo this Thursday.

Overall, I was glad that I ran this race, as it was well-run and organized and the course was beautiful and very challenging at parts. It was well-attended, which was both good and bad, as the course was crowded due to there being so many runners, but it also wasn't me, Annie and two other people running the thing or anything. The post-race spread was disappointing, so hopefully they'll improve that next year. In sum, I'd run this race again next year, although by then I'd hope to be ready for the half marathon so I could get to see more of the course.