Tonight I ran in the 3rd Annual Cinco De Mayo Cuatro Miler which was billed as “There’s no better party in town…and running event”. Although it was 4 days after Cinco de Mayo, the event was presented as a grand time and a big party afterwards. I had zero interest in the party part, but running an Arnold Palmer golf course sounded fun. I have no idea what I was thinking….
My “game plan” entering this event was to go all out and try to see how fast I could finish. My final prep run on Thursday was right where I wanted to be (30:12) for this event. I set the bar at 30 minutes and was determined to hit it. That would be a pace that I have never run a race, let alone trained for. Somewhere along the way I forgot that this was a world class golf course.
Golf courses have hills.
Lots and lots of hills.
This course was brutal. From the start to the finish is was up, down, up, down, turn, twist, up, down, turn…you get the idea. This was like nothing I was prepared for. Brutal doesn’t even describe it.
All that to say, I missed my 30 minute goal by 1:36. Considering the terrain, I am not too upset about where I finished. I’m also never going to run a race that includes a golf course again. Here’s the numbers:
Final time: 31:36
Avg Pace: 7:54
Place: 80th out of 682
Age Group: 14th out of 49
Next up: CHEERING for my wife in the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure next weekend. I’m sitting this one out.
AARON CONRAD 