"B" 5:35
"C" 5:39
I heard about this race when the race director, Mickey Rzymek, posted in the club details on how to qualify for a free entry to the race. Stipulations were that you had to have won a couple of races and needed to submit the times to him. I thought that a road mile sounded like fun, even though it landed in the middle of marathon training, so I submitted my race times and he sent me a free entry code.
I was pretty nervous about running such a short race since I have more of an endurance profile than a middle distance one. I figured if I could run in the 5:30s, I would be happy. After a few time trials, I put my "A" time at 5:25 because that pace was feeling manageable. I love the feeling of mile pace because there isn't time for me to lose focus. I concentrate on breathing, perfect form and relaxing my face and before I know it, it is time to kick.
The elite field for this race was very small. While warming up I realized that there was a clear top three in Marissa, Tracy and me. I was guessing I would be third, but knowing that Tracy was deep into 50k training I thought that if I could hang with her during the race, I could probably out-kick her. Marissa was going for something in the low 5s. I did form drills and run outs at mile pace as part of my 20 minute warm up.
The race started on a downhill and quickly went to flat as we circled the Tallmadge circle twice. I think the fact that we ran on the inside for the first circle and transferred to the outside of the circle for the second loop made the course slightly long. I did not Garmin my mile, just timed it, but Marissa's Garmin had her mile at 5:08 and her winning time was 5:23.
After the gun went off, Tracy went to the front for the downhill, me behind her and Marissa just behind me. By 300 meters or so, Marissa had passed both of us and I had passed Tracy. As we moved into the first loop, Tracy passed me but I tucked directly behind her and pretty much drafted for a few meters before passing her back. The middle of the race hit, which is where I usually start to feel good in a mile. I picked it up maybe a little too much and towards the end of the second loop I started to feel draggy. Tracy passed me with about 400 meters to go. This time I did not tuck in behind her and she put quite a few meters in between us before the final straightaway. I had to make the decision to settle with third or go after her. I decided to go after her. It was kick time anyway, since I could see the finish line. I started to sprint and tried to keep my form smooth, but it wasn't feeling easy. She did not just let me pass her and began to pick it up too. I basically out-leaned her at the finish line in 5:36.
Top overall men and women at the Circle City Mile.
I was hot and tired after this race and the cool-down felt pretty off. Barb had finished with a pretty impressive mile time. This was my first time officially meeting her and I was a little star-struck, but enjoyed talking with her about her USATF masters nationals. There was a very short wait for the awards and it was pretty cool to get an envelope that I knew had actual money in it. As far as I can recall, $25 is the most I have won before and I won $50 for second here. Overall it was a fun race and I am okay with the time and very happy with the place. There is a race called the Midnight Mile in Youngstown next spring that I would like to run and perhaps get a much faster time. I think if I can get into the 5:20s it will have an awesome trickle up effect for my 5k times and ultimately my marathon times.
