Race Report: RunWalk Series Race 1 - Unitec Mt Albert

On Sunday the first race in the Run Walk Series that leads up to the Auckland Marathon (and other distances) was held.  I've entered the 1 lap series that leads up to the 12k event.

I did the same series last year and I'm hoping to show improvement over last years effort.

Race Website: Run Walk Website

Official Stats:

Distance: 2.5 km
Time: 0:16:48
Pace: 06:43 min/km

Personal Bests for 1km and 1 mile!

Pre-Race

We had our usual pasta dinner the night before that's been a pre-race ritual for years now and headed off to bed at a reasonable time.  I did have an invite to the movies, but I knew that I wouldn't have been in the best form if I'd had a late night.

As it was, we were a bit rushed in the morning getting out the door, so breakfast was shredded wheat for me and muesli for Kane instead of our usual porridge or toast and beans.

It was a really cold morning and we noticed frost on the ground as we drove to the event.  There was hardly anyone around when we arrived and we got our race numbers, chips, and series t shirts easily - no queues!

Kane was wearing a long sleeve and a short sleeve shirt and decided to switch out his short sleeve for the series T shirt which looked really cool.  I stuck to what has become a race uniform of my long sleeved Lululemon shirt and tights but wore my running gloves as well.

On The Course

I jogged and marched a little in the queue warming up and waiting for the start gun and when it went off I started running straight away.  I had placed myself towards the back of the line since I'm quite slow but I was mildly frustrated with the people further up the queue who were walking and I had to negotiate running around them.

0 - 1km
Even though there were some small hills, I totally powered through this first 1km.  I may have started off too fast but it's a short race and I needed to get through the walkers.

1 - 2km

I was so happy when my app told me I had done just over 1 mile in 10 minutes, it's been a looooong time since I last ran 10 minute miles!  I felt like I was on target to beat my time for last year.

Kane

Not long into the 'there and back' part of the course I saw Kane heading in the other direction and gave him a wave, and then just passed the turn around point I waved to my friend Kelly (she's doing the 2 lap version this year) and then just before 2km I spied my friend Carmy but she was too focused on the task in hand to see me.

2 - 2.5km

I was already feeling slow when the course turned and headed up a hill.  I gave it my best and pumped my arms and got me up the hill, but then I felt like I had overexerted and felt sick.  I walked a couple of steps on the flat but I didn't want to waste my hard work so forced myself into a jog, thankfully there was a gentle downhill where I got myself feeling normal again and then it was the long gentle uphill all the way to the finish.



Possibly the most unflattering picture of me

I'm certain most people wouldn't have noticed my "sprint" finish, but I put what little I had left into pushing it over the finish line.  I tried to stop my app, but couldn't with gloves on and it took a little longer than it should have to get the glove off!

Comparison with Last Year

2015	2014
0:16:48	0:19:16

Post Race

Kane was already long over the finish line by the time I came in.  He had done it in 11:50 which was 14s faster than his time last year but he didn't get the first place that he did last year.  Carmy did better than last year too with an amazing 3:29 shaved off her time.  Kelly had upped the ante this year by opting for the 2 lap version and achieved a PB for her 5k.

We all headed off to a café for coffee and cake to celebrate!