2016 Spring Lake 5 recap
Hi.
Happy Sunday. I ran the Spring Lake 5 yesterday. It was the 40th anniversary of the race. That’s a lot of years! The race is held in Spring Lake, New Jersey which is on the Jersey Shore.
While the race doesn’t start until 8:30am you have to arrive fairly early to park, usually around 7am. Normally that would mean me heading out at about 6:20 (from Mr. SOTSS’s house) but yesterday started out even earlier. I left about 45 minutes earlier because Lisa’s Jeep was having some technical difficulties the night before so we made a last minute plan that involved her trekking via subway from Brooklyn to Penn Station and then another train to New Jersey near Mr. SOTSS’ house where I scooped her up and then we traveled down to the race together. While I’m sorry about the Jeep it was actually awesome that we had the 45 minute ride in each direction to chat. We haven’t been able to do much running together and had lots to catch up on. (like 5 months worth!) (P.S. her Jeep issue is most likely a short in the ignition which isn’t too hard or expensive to fix. Fingers crossed!).
We were super early arriving at 6:45am. But by the time we walked to the start area tent to get our shirts and other swag and then walked back to drop it all to the car we then met up with her cousin Bill who is actually the UPS driver for the area of Spring Lake (which is such a hoot because he’s like the mayor! Everyone knows him) and then we met up with my friend Jane and said a quick hello to Elvia too.
Jane and me on the beach before the start
Ultimately we were all hanging out by the corrals about 40 minutes before race time and just casually chit chatted. I like not being rushed on race morning and I really like when the social aspect of the race is almost more important than the race itself 🙂
corral group selfie
A sea of runners
Jane was dressed for Memorial Day weekend with her all-american shorts 🙂
Getting ready to start
There were over 10,000 runners and while they had pace signs up to help the runners (and walkers) line up appropriately they didn’t do a wave start which meant it was super crowded for the first mile or 2. Interestingly my fastest two splits were miles 1 and 2. I was keeping a 9:30 pace. But I knew at the halfway point that the heat was getting to me already and I slowed down a little more with each mile.
It was HOT yesterday. Even at the start it was already 75 degrees and probably 80 when we finished. There was very little shade on the course which meant the sun really beat down on us. The local fire dept trucks were spraying their hoses out on the course which was awesome.
Rutgers represent!
And there is so much crowd support at this race. I love it! Lots of bands playing and neighbors out cheering us on.
I am proud of myself for running the entire time with the exception of walking through 2 water stops because if this wasn’t a race (with a medal waiting for me at the finish) I would have probably quit running and just walked back to my car.
I finished in 51:12 with an average pace of 10:15. (Overall: 3646 of 10290 • F40-44: 170 of 714) Not too shabby for me. I’m guessing if it were a 55-60 degree day I’d have come in closer to 49-50 minutes but really, my finish time wasn’t important in the least.
Loved the medal. It was pretty and Springy
These orange slices were the bomb!
After the race Lisa her cousin and I had brunch and then I took Lisa back to the train station for her trek home. I spent the rest of the day mostly indoors.
We all like air conditioning over 95 degrees
This morning I met my other friend Lisa for brunch and now I’m relaxing on the sofa before I tackle some freelance work and some chores.
Say hello to my blueberry waffle with lemon curd and best iced coffee i’ve had in a while.
Tonight I’m headed down to the “Jersey Shore” to play some mini-golf and enjoy some other amusements on the boardwalk with Mr. SOTSS and his girls. Still hard to believe it’s not 4th of July weekend because it feels so darn summery.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend.
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