Running for the Cure

Race for the Cure 5k
Portland, OR
My Time: 00:26:43 - A PR by 00:01:30!!!!
Chad's Time: 00:23:05 - A PR since this is the first 5K he's ever run

Mom & Kathleen: This is for you...

What a difference 3.5 months and a couple of triathlons make! I ran my first 5K ever in June averaging just over 9 minute miles. Infinitely respectable for a newbie runner. I never would have thought I'd improve this much in such a short time and set a sub-9:00 PR at such a huge race.

Portland's Race for the Cure is typically billed as the largest on the West Coast and they weren't kidding. Over 50,000 people showed up for the events this morning with 3000-5000 running in the 5K! Not favorable conditions for setting any PRs unless you're up front with the fasties and seeding myself with them would just be embarrassing and foolish.

Another early morning in the Muszynski household as we awakened to NPR blaring out of the radio at 5:30 this morning. We briefly entertained the thought of "Sleeping In for the Cure" before rolling out of bed and tugging on our clothes. Nathan's lucky since his wake-up call is a mere 5 minutes before we leave. We set off into the pre-dawn light after grabbing some coffee and Clif bars for an in-car breakfast feast.

Crisis struck immediately as we unloaded the car downtown. The front wheel of the jogger was flatter than Kansas. You'd think a triathlete and a former Eagle Scout would have a spare bike pump in the car. Well, that's what you'd like to think....After staring stupidly at each other for a good thirty seconds, Chad said that I should go ahead and run the race since his marathon is coming up in a few weeks anyway. We loaded everything up into the stroller anyway on the off chance that we'd find a gas station on the walk to the starting line.

A gas station? Forget that...we don't live in the cycling capital of the country for nothing. There should be plenty of cyclists in town today. We'll just borrow a pump from a kind stranger....First cyclist we saw had a pump but was running to catch a departing light rail train so no luck there. Second cyclist...no pump. Third, fourth, fifth, tenth...still no pump. Sheesh, what would these people do if they ever get a flat? We were on the Waterfront now when I spied what looked to be a pump on a parked bike. Hmmm....should we just *borrow* it? Chad had no reservations and was up and filling the front tire before I could say "Boo!" So thanks to the unknown cyclist with the lovely periwinkle blue bike, Chad's race was saved.

We lined up mid pack and waited for the horn. OK, there it goes. Wait, wait, wait...man there are a lot of people. Forward running motion, this is good. Oops...not yet...bottleneck at the corner. Wait some more, turn the corner and we're off. I remembered to start my watch this time. Nice, relatively flat course with a steady 1/2 mile uphill to Broadway at the start followed by a nice long downhill to a very short ramp up the Broadway Bridge and then down to the waterfront and flat all the way to the finish. I took an outside line and passed Chad & Nathan fairly quickly as I weaved in and out of traffic passing an awful lot of people on the initial hill. First mile, 09:10...not bad considering the crowd.

Where are Chad & Nathan? Not directly behind me but I didn't worry too much about it since I had no doubt in my mind that Mr. Speedy would take the first available open road, turn on the engines, and zoom by in a flash. Sure enough, on the downhill stretch on Broadway, some dude pushing a jogger whizzed by so fast I felt my head spin. Hey...it's Chad. Look at him go! Fifty feet down the road and I had already lost sight of them. Good thing we decided to just meet each other at the finish line. A gulp of water at the aid station and up the last up on the bridge to the Pearl District...feeling good now...legs are unbelievably fresh. Second mile, 17:30...negative split...this is more like it.

Now it's flat along Naito Parkway to the finish. Breathing hard but I'm nowhere near dying so I turn it on a bit more and finish in an all out sprint once I spied the banner. Final time...26:43. Woohoo!!!! I crushed my last time (28:11) and ran sub-9:00 miles! A sub-25 minute 5K is not outside the realm of possibility. Sounds like a good goal for next year!

Chad's Reflections
I ran fast. Then I ran far. [Editor's Note: More details please!]

We started alongside Raquel at the back of the 7-8 minute mile corral. The going was very slow at the start as it's pretty tough to maneuver the jogging stroller through the crowds. Raquel got out in front, but we managed to keep her in sight. I only ran over the heels of one runner. I caught him lightly as I raised the front wheel to pass on his left. A quick apology and we were back in business. We passed the first mile in 9:15 and things finally started to open up a bit. We found room along the left side of the road, dodging the occasional curb bumpout and parked car. Now we were flying up the hill (and discouraging a lot of the runners around us). We finished the second mile around 6:40 pace. As we hit the final stretch towards the finish, we had to move way right and then way left, but no worries as the crowds had thinned considerably. We hit the finish line and nearly hit two runners who didn't clear the finishing chute. I guess they ran too hard towards the end and stopped 10 feet past the line to spit and possibly puke. A hard squeeze of the handle brake, and we managed to avoid a collision.

A couple more thoughts:
1. I probably wouldn't run a race this big with the jogging stroller again. I was in a zone where barely even heard any of the spectators since I was too focused on avoiding other runners.

2. If you plan to run 12 minute miles PLEASE don't line up in the front of the 7-8 minute corral.

3. If you need to throw up after your finish, GET OUT OF THE WAY!

After the race, we went over to NW Portland for a nice breakfast and I went out for a 13 mile run around 11. Just to stay loose. :) [Editor's Note...You're CRAZY!!!!]