The Bass Pro 5k was A-okay

I wasn't sure about running a Bass Pro Marathon weekend event. After TCM, the half and full marathons seemed like bad ideas (though I did consider the full as a "redemption" attempt!), so I thought the 5k was my best option, even though I am definitely not a 5k runner. I rationalized that I'd be at the event even if I didn't race; I love seeing so many members of my local running community and the hometown vibe is great! I also figured even if things went poorly I should be able to win masters in the 5k. And of course I'd be running that day anyway! I signed up for the 5k the day that online registration closed, with low performance expectations but high excitement expectations!

These two dominated the half!

I knew the course wasn't certified and from running it in training knew it would read long (it uses the same start line, finish line, and final ~2 miles of the half and full courses, so logistically it makes sense but it either has to be long or short to work within those parameters) - so I had a little anxiety thinking that I probably wouldn't be under 20:00. Then I gave myself the "no one else cares" pep talk! 

I really didn't know what I was going to get pace-wise, and the course is mildly hilly, so I did know I wouldn't get even splits from even effort. I currently have a free trial of Strava Premium, so my main goal for the race was to run even grade-adjusted (GAP) splits by feel. I didn't know what that would look like in actual splits, but it didn't matter - if I had all GAP splits of 6:30 and worked hard, it was going to be a successful day in my mind. In general the 5k is the least competitive distance of marathon weekend, but I found out a couple days before that Claire, a former Drury runner who is now training with the University of Arkansas, was running (she has college track eligibility left but not cross-country). I knew she'd recently run another road 5k in 16:11, so it was clear I would be racing for second female even if I was at my best! I think knowing that I wasn't going to win going in made me less worried about how it would go.

Team photo, that most of the team missed

Team photo part 2 - caught a couple more

On race morning, after running group team photos, I warmed up with Casey and Spencer, who were both running the half. We also did drills and I jogged more while they did strides. The half and full started at 7:00 a.m., and I thought that I had plenty of time between then and my 7:15 a.m. 5k start, but between cheering while waiting for all of the runners to go by and running back to my car, I actually had very little time. The race announced that it was 3 minutes until the 5k start when I was opening my car door with all of my warm up gear and training shoes still on! I got my warm ups off and shoes changed as quickly as I could in a slight panic, while also debating whether I had time to pee or not. I really needed to and almost just went right next to my car on the asphalt (lolol), but was able to tuck into a construction porta-potty then do a ~200 m sprint to the start. Several runners make jokes about me really jumping in at the last minute. I had no time to think, because then we were off!

There were a lot of middle and high school boys in the race, so for the first bit I was pretty far back. I also saw about 5 teenage girls ahead of me, along with Claire who was out in front of everyone right away. I settled into the effort that felt manageable for a 5k and moved into second female position by about a half mile into the race. The really fun thing about 5ks with teenagers is that if you run even remotely close to an even pace, you keep passing them the entire race. And that is just what I did - passed a teenage boy then reeled in the next! My competitive instincts kicked in and I really enjoyed pushing myself.

When we ran the course recently in training, I told my running buddies that it didn't play to my strengths. The hills are minimal but I am not good at running fast up any elevation. Threshold to marathon pace is fine on hills, but 5k pace - oof! However, during the race they actually felt alright. I think passing boy after boy helped. I've raced the final 2 miles of the full and half numerous times on this route, and it's gone both ways different years - sometimes I don't really notice the hills and can negative split, other years they seem like mountains and I fade. Based on how I've been doing lately, I just expected they'd be horrible, but they felt better during this race than on any of the easy pace training runs I did on them this season!

Another thing about 5ks is that they are over really quickly. I got into a final kicking battle with a teenage boy on the homestretch (which I lost), and saw the clock just ticking over 19, which was a nice surprise! My watch read 3.19 miles at 6:02 pace, which was also a nice surprise! That's not an exceptional performance for me and I have run a half marathon at close to that pace before, but for what I expected on this day, it was fantastic! It was one of those cases of Happiness Equals Reality Minus Expectations. Plus, I did not have any dizziness symptoms during or after the race, which was a victory in itself.

I felt even happier about it when I looked at my grade-adjusted paces, to see mile splits of 5:57, 5:58, 5:57. One could only get a tiny bit more even than that! That also means that my GAP average was sub-6, which I would for sure not have predicted. I was at about 18:44 at the 5k point on my Garmin. My official time was 19:13 though.

Proof I can still do this
when I feel normal!

After I grabbed lots of goodies from the finish chute then dropped them at my car, I joined my friends David and Amy to run-cheer for the other races. I loved running around the course and cheering for the half and full so much that it made me just want to run the 5k followed by run-cheering every year, hah! I know the course well so was able to see runners in many places, especially since I ran about 12 miles spectating. My top training buddy Casey, who I also coach, ran a PR half of 1:21:57 and was 2nd overall female, and looked amazing doing it! Rebecca was 3rd overall female in the half. Kimi won the marathon by 20 minutes. I saw so many Ozark Mountain Ridge Eunners and friendly familiar faces out there - I want to do every long run like that.

All in all, this went about as well as it realistically could have. I'm not back to where I want to be, and I still experience dizziness every morning when I first get up, but I'm trending in the right direction. I have an ENT appointment on Dec. 5 since all things point to inner ear, so most likely I will be fine by Dec. 4, hah. I'm thankful I had this race and got to experience the magic of Bass Pro Marathon weekend with my training group, who brightens all of my 5:30a's.

Official results are here. 

My activity on Strava is here.

Articles about the race are here and here, and I also stumbled across this one about last year that I hadn't seen before.

Additional update: I got a sore throat the day after the race (11/7/22) and tested positive for COVID on 11/8/22. I then found out I was exposed at the race expo by one of my running buddies. After not getting it for almost 3 years I sure thought I was in the clear! 

Expo fun

Found myself in the start photo on the registration website, from 2014