The Rowe Family Blog

Last night I ran in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Rochester NY at RIT.  This is a fun race and there are far more non-serious runners than experienced runners.  This is most evident by the extreme display of optimism at the start line.  Runners line up according to their estimated pace time.  Because the event is not chip timed and because there are many inexperienced/optimistic runners many line up out of their ability range.  This makes it hard for the honest runners as they have to dodge many slower runners on the often narrow course around campus.  Last year I lined up at the 10 minute mile pace section.  This year I lined up at the 7 minute mile location.  I didn’t really expect that I’d get a 7 minute pace but it wasn’t too much of an exaggeration.  I did feel a little bad when the pre-race push to the start happened.  At that point I was pushed into the 6 minute miler realm which is far out of my ability right now.

It was a great night for running.  It was overcast and warm but not unbearably warm.  I really didn’t drink any water during the race.  Instead I poured it over my head to keep my temperature down.  I started out fast and maintained a pretty fast pace for 2 miles.  I know that my pace dropped off a bit for the last mile and a half.  Still, I was very happy with my performance.  I ran the 3.5 mile course in just about 27 minutes.  My official time (gun time) was 27:28.  My pace was 7:41!

The race last night was the first time I had run in a full week.  I had run the 3.2 mile loop the previous week in 89 degree temperatures.  I ran that loop in 25:11 which is a really fast pace for me, especially in temperatures that high.  That’s a 7:52 pace.

Show on map