2015 Singleton 10K time: 53:50
10K PR: 53:43 (Charles Harris, February 2016)
Having run a couple of 5K races at personal record pace, I was eager to see how I might fare in a 10K. In last year's Singleton 10K, in Norcross in the northeast Atlanta suburbs, I set a personal record that stood for 10 months. I had read somewhere that a 10K is generally run about 6% slower than a 5K, so multiplying my 5K PRs of ca. 24 minutes x 2 = 48 minutes x 1.06 predicts a 10K time of approximately 51 minutes. That correlation has not held up for me, but I decided to run hard in today's race and see how I would fare. My goal was to run splits averaging 8:30 minutes / mile, or 5:15 minutes / kilometer, which would get me below 53 minutes for the 10K distance.
Earlier in the week, a Facebook inquiry on the Tucker Running Club page degenerated into a little trash-talkin' between Curt Walker, Brian Minor and me:
On race day, Brian and I discussed whether to start in the back of wave A or with wave B. My concern about starting with wave A (7:30 min / mi or faster) was that I might be passed later in the race by a large number of 5K runners who had started with wave B, (8:30 min / mi or faster). Since I wasn't planning to run a 5K pace, I thought it would be better to start with wave B. Curt and Kathie Walker started as usual in wave A. Brian and I lined up about three rows from the front of wave B, and our race began exactly two minutes after the official start. That proved to be a good decision, as the runners around us began at the same pace, and the start wasn't crowded. I had warmed up by jogging about 2 miles earlier in the morning, so my legs felt good from the beginning, and I had no trouble establishing the desired pace, 5:06 minutes for the first kilometer.
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| A selfie before the race, with a frog on a bench in Thrasher Park, in historic downtown Norcross. You can see more of these frog statues in the Botanical Gardens in midtown Atlanta. |
Brian and I went back and forth for the first couple of miles, and he passed me when I took a walk break through the water station shortly before the mile 2 marker. I managed to catch up to Brian by the turn-around and even yelled something like "Right behind you, Brian Minor!" I opened up a gap on Brian in the third mile, just hoping that I wouldn't burn out later in the race. I caught up with Kathie Walker around the mile 3 marker - she was battling a flare-up with an Achilles tendon - and after completing the first 5K loop in 25:16, I managed to stay in front of her as well. One of the fun things about this race was a couple of out-and-back loops into neighborhoods, so you could see the runners a couple of minutes in front and a couple of minutes in back of you, saying hello - and also comparing progress against friendly competitors. Curt Walker stayed in front of me for the entire race, but I felt that there was less than a 2-minute gap between us, so I felt really good about my race and pace. As we approached the mile 3 marker, I realized that some of the 5K runners in my vicinity were starting to sprint to the end of their race, and so I kept to the right and just ran steadily through the chute to begin the second lap.
The first 5K might have gone a bit faster than planned - and faster than my first lap in the 2015 race (26:13) - but I felt good and was maintaining a decent pace, taking short walk breaks only at the water stations, three in total. I slowed down slightly in the second lap, but was still running about 5:20 min / km average pace. When I passed the mile 5 marker at 43 minutes on the clock (41 minutes chip time), I knew that I was definitely on a PR pace, having run five miles in the Livvy's Love race in January in about 42 minutes. Once we were back onto North Peachtree Street, I started pressing to maintain speed. I saw 51 minutes on the clock as I passed the mile 6 marker (just under 50 minutes chip time) and realized that I might even beat 52 minutes if I kept up my pace. Making the final two turns around the park, enjoying a steep downhill for the next-to-last block, I entered the finishing chute seeing 53 minutes on the clock, crossing the timing mat at 53:42! I threw both arms in the air as I crossed the line in celebration, knowing that I had smashed my old PR! Official time, 51:40!!
That was an amazing run. While I had to work for it, the overall 8:20 min / mile pace was pretty comfortable for me, compared with last week's 5K at a 7:40 min / mile pace. My heart rate monitor didn't sound until after the mile 5 marker, as I was going up the last hill, and as the road levelled off, the heart rate monitor was largely quiet until I began to push with about one-half mile to go.
Kathie Walker won her age group, finishing about 25 seconds after me. I ended up with a chip time slightly faster than Curt Walker - who placed 3rd in his age group. I outran Brian Minor by a little more than 2 minutes, but he was happy to record a 10K personal record on the course. Bonnie also finished strongly, just a minute slower than her 10K PR (set on a net downhill course), so it was a good day all around.
Next race: Morningside Mile, tomorrow! (gulp)
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