12K Race Report

FatUncleRob

I ran the 36th Annual "Lake Run 12K" in Lake Oswego on Saturday.

I had a lot of fun, so I figured I'd post a race report.

The course basically runs through a wooded residential area, with some rolling hills, around a lake.

When we moved to the area, about nine years ago, one of our friends was running in this race. I remember thinking it sounded cool but, at the time, the idea of me actually running in a race seemed absurd.

Fast forward to today and I've been running for almost a year, lost a little over 60 pounds, and have run a couple of 5K's and a 15K.

On a long run (which for me is anything 5+ miles) I've been running 10.5 to 11.5 minute miles. So I was hoping to finish the 12K in under an hour and fifteen minutes.

The race is fairly close to where I live so, rather than drive, I decided to walk/run the 2 miles to get to the starting line. I'd already picked up my bib and t-shirt the night before, but I still arrived about 30 minutes before race time to give myself time to get ready. I arrived just in time to see the 5K runners set off. That was enough to get me in the mood to race :-) I ran a few hundred yards along the lake and back two or three times and then started gently stretching my hamstrings. My right calf had been really tight for a couple of days and I was kinda nervous that it might give me problems.

We all lined up in the street with a couple of minutes to go. As usual, I made my way towards the back of the crowd. I later found out that there were around 480 runners, so it seemed a much smaller race than the last two I'd done in Portland but a bit bigger field than my first 5K.

There was no starting gun - at least not one that I heard - just a countdown, but the race was chip-timed (with disposable chips attached to the bibs) so I wasn't worried about how fast I crossed the starting line. (It turns out that my "gun" and "chip" times were only 20 seconds apart.)

It was about 70 fahrenheit and about 40% humidity when we set off, with clear blues skies and just a light breeze. After turning off the main road that we started on, we began a slow climb for the first couple of miles. I felt like I was struggling at first, so I was pleased to see that I reached the first mile marker at about 9:30 and the second at 19:10. I was starting to think that the race was mis-named. We'd not really seen much of the lake since the start and I was wondering if "Rolling Hills Run" would've been a better name.

Mile three was a morale booster as it brought some much needed downhill and some nice views of the lake (my split time for mile 3 was 8:14) and then mile four was mostly flat with even better views. (Split time 8:58).

I was starting to feel pretty good. I'd finished four miles in about 36.5 minutes, which was faster than expected and for the most part I was passing other runners rather than being overtaken.

Then I hit mile five. It was mostly uphill and I was starting to feel a hotspot on the ball of my right foot.
There was group of four guys who were also starting to bug me. They were running four abreast talking as they ran. They'd slow down at random intervals and I would manage to pick my way between them. Then a couple of minutes later they'd speed up and overtake me again. This happened two or three times and I was starting to get pi$$ed off. My split time for mile 5 was 9:39 and I was starting to get cranky. :grumble:

Mile six was reasonably flat and I'd got ahead of the annoying "gang of four" but I was starting to feel hot and my right foot was getting sore. Split time for mile 6 was 9:26. I felt like I was slowing down though, because it seemed like more people were passing me than earlier in the race.

Mile seven was downhill and I was just trying to maintain my pace, knowing that I'd finish with a better time than expected. I was looking forward to a cold drink and some food. That's when I heard the "gang of four" behind me again. I looked over my shoulder and saw that they were only about 10 yards behind me. They passed me just about as we hit the seven mile marker (9:05 split) and we could see the finish line in the distance.

As we ran down the last of the slope onto the flat straight road that made up the home stretch. I decided to grit my teeth and see what I could do. I picked up speed and after a 100 yards or so I felt like I was really sprinting. I passed the "gang of four" and tried to keep my speed up. As I approached the finish I heard the announcer say "These two are really sprinting for the finish!". I could hear someone breathing behind me. I was worried that it was one of the "gang" but I knew, whoever it was, that they were going to beat me. Just before I crossed the finish I was pleased to see it was a woman, not one of those guys, who flew past.

I was breathing really hard as I finished but felt really good because this was the first time I'd felt able to give a burst of speed at the end. :drinker:

My official time was 1:07:05. I finished 239th out of 475 runners but 32nd out of 40 in my age division (45 to 49).

I'll definitely plan on running this race again and I would recommend it to any runners in the Portland Metro area.

Now I'm looking forward to my next race, in a couple of weeks. It's a 5K and it will be interesting to go back to that distance after running a 12K and 15K.

AmyW125

Great post....makes me want to RUN!!!!! Awesome time!