Schonning 5k

August 25, 2015

Roger Schonning 5k

17:30, 3rd

Results

Westerly Sun Article

The Schonning 5k is one of those races that is pretty much locked into my calendar every year.  It's a great race but the real reason I run this one is to support Steve, son of the man who the race is held in honor of and a good friend of mine.  After a poor performance at Battle of Stonington 5k, I was not feeling too confident about my abilities going into this one.  Quite frankly, I thought about the race being over well before I got there.  It wasn't so much the suffering of racing that was bothering me, it was my diminishing performance.  

Pre-race

I came directly from work to the Westerly Y to get ready for the race.  Arriving a little after 5 pm, the race chute and timing was all ready to go and I found teammate and friend, Mike B. hanging out in the parking lot as he prepared for the race.  Shara, who was women's defending champ, would be joining me at the race after making a quick stop home from work.  After a brief warmup with the usual suspects, it was almost race time.

The race

As the gun went off, I tried to settle in a smooth yet steady pace.  Based off my current fitness, I knew I needed to be careful not to go out too hard as I knew I'd pay for it.  Sizing up competition, I noticed Matthew Walker, who I predicted to win the race,  his Dad and my friend, Jeff (Gazelle), a younger dude with headphones, and Mike Tammaro from the NRA.

After the opening 1/2 mile, a bunch of us were jockeying for position and it seemed like no one wanted to make a move.  I knew Gazelle was not afraid to push the pace and certainly is not one to let others do the work for them out there.  As for Matthew, I knew he was getting faster and faster and that he had a very solid summer of training.  I thought the headphones dude would drop and was concerned about Tammaro sitting on me and making a move at an opportune time.  As for me, I was concerned about getting dropped and my low running fitness.    We basically ran in a pack until the turnout around cone which is more than a mile into the race.  After the cone, I remember Matthew making a small break with Tammaro, Headphones, me, and Gazelle in tow.  I knew I needed to run as smart as possible and do my best not to let Tammaro or Headphones get a big gap on me.  I also needed to watch out for Gazelle, who very nearly took me down at the BOS.  Running back towards town and with less than a mile to go, I was able to pass Headphones.  At this point in the race, I disregarded the fact that he was wearing headphones and respected his running.  Unfortunately, I was never able to catch up to Tammaro.  In the end, Matthew took it, Tammaro grabbed 2nd, and I crossed the line in 3rd at 17:30.  

Post race

A little over a minute and a half after finishing, Shara cruised in at 19:10 to become the repeat women's winner and owner of a new 5k PR.  Mikey B. finished shortly after her to win his division.

We took a brief group warmdown, chatted it up with friends, and ate a little food before the awards ceremony.  On a personal level, I was somewhat pleased with my race.  Here's why: 1. I ran 30 seconds faster than the Battle, 2. My pace was consistent, 3. I really haven't been running much (not going to run sub 17 off 12 miles a week.  Shara had another strong win and her ability continues to amaze me.  It was also pretty cool to see Matthew Walker take the win..it's been fun to see him progress and he earned the victory.  Jeff and Mike both ran strong and it was a great family event held in honor of a friend's Dad right in Westerly.  Moving forward, I'm hoping to continue to strengthen my knees and run a little more this fall so I can run some better 5k times and live up to my name.

Strong showing by WTAC