This is my second and final race report from the past. I wanted to include my thoughts from this race as well. The Falls Road 15K is a low key race put on by Falls Road Running that runs in Druid Hill Park and on, you guessed it...Falls Road.
With a 7:30 start time and cool temperatures, I had a second consecutive race with solid running weather. Temperatures at the start were in the low 50s with a very light wind. To this point, I had a full week to recover from my half marathon. Though I was not 100%, my legs were fresh enough for a solid effort. I canned my usual tempo run for the week in an effort to save something for this race, since it would end up being a tempo run effort anyway.
While we lined up at the "start" which was just a lamp post (I love low key races...), I only recognized one other runner who would give me competition. I recognized other faces, but knew they would be behind me. A cyclist was positioned ahead of us to lead the way. As soon as the "go" command was given, I pulled away from almost everyone. From the far left, a runner I did not recognize effortlessly took the lead behind the bike. I was quickly 5 strides behind him.
I run in Druid Hill Park a lot and had reviewed the course map, so I knew it would be another hilly race. A good portion of the first mile was uphill, with the actual mile marker on the only downhill portion of the "Mansion House loop." The leader continued to put distance on me, but to my shock, no one else from behind even put up a fight. I had quickly buried everyone else, I didn't even get a race out of a couple of runners that I thought would give me a run for my money.
As far as splits go...I only got the first 4 miles of the 9.3 mile race and cleared them from my watch, so most of this is estimates based on memory.
The first mile felt surprisingly easy. I was shocked to see the following time:
Mile 1: ~5:45
I was planning on going out at around 5:50-6:00 pace mostly to save it for the hills, but with the ease of the pace, I stuck with it. The leader was about 15 seconds ahead at this point, so I still made attempts to reel him back in.
The course looped back around towards the lake, and ran clockwise around it. Mile 2 was not actually marked, though the race director described where it was (yay low key races!!).
Mile 2: ~5:37
I started feeling a bit tired at this point. My legs were a bit heavy and I started wondering if I went out too fast. At this point I decided to stop trying to catch the leader, he was only pulling away. For the first time I could ever think of in a race, I was able to back off and bide my time for at least the next mile.
Mile 3: ~6:06
After running around the lake, the course continued towards the Zoo. There was some uphill in this section, but the slower time was due to my conscious effort to slow down. My stomach was voicing its displeasure along with my legs for most of that mile. The course continued winding along the Jones Falls Trail. It was rather peaceful in this area of the park.
With no one ahead of or behind me, I was constantly worried about taking a wrong turn. The course was mainly marked with chalk arrows and flour on the ground. However, I was worried about following some unrelated arrow. Thankfully, the cyclist looped back to me once to make sure I made one of the more confusing turns.
After running downhill on some very, very sharp turning switchbacks, the course dumped me out on Clipper Park Drive. Two things happened at this point. I realized I was still close to the leader, and my legs/stomach started feeling better. I don't remember my Mile 4 or 5 splits exactly, but they were faster...
Mile 4-5: ~5:50
The course would continue southbound, looping around the east end of Druid Hill Park. It was mostly downhill at this point, so I just let it fly. Mile 6 was not officially marked with a sign, but there was a chalk "6" in the road which I hit at 5:45. After that, I did not see anymore mile markers. I could really care less about my splits at that point. I was feeling much better than I did early in the race, and just continued to let it fly at sub-6 pace.
As the course continued down Falls Road, we eventually hit a turn around point, went back up the hill that we ran down, ran back into the park, and to the finish. After the turn around, I knew I would have a chance to see where the rest of the competition was. That's when I realized I was minutes, not seconds ahead of 3rd place, and I only saw a handful of runners before breaking off Falls Road to go back into the Park. I had expected to see a large amount of the pack, but apparently, I was too far ahead. Very few people had reached the area of Falls Road that I (and the leader) was on.
To get back to the park, one has to run up a 3 tiered switchback. Each 180 degree turn absolutely killed momentum, and running uphill like that at the end of a race, was brutal. Once that was conquered, I was presented with the Wyman Park Drive entrance to the park, which was another 0.25 miles uphill. The course eventually flattened out for the last ~0.75 miles, but it certainly hurt to get there.
Even though I knew full well I had 2nd place locked up, I still pushed hard over the final hills and once I caught my breath a bit, really turned it on for the final flat stretch. Apparently both the leader and I reached the finish sooner than expected as they were barely ready to start taking finishing times!
I crossed the line in 54:12, 5:50/mile pace and a new PR, by 3:41. My previous 15K was on a completely flat course over 1.5 years ago. So two consecutive races on tough courses and two PRs over performances on flat courses. Furthermore, I fought through early troubles to finish very strong. I'm starting to get better at running all out even when I don't completely feel it. Anyone can run their best on their best day, but it takes a true runner to run hard even when they aren't feeling it.
I'm not ready to anoint myself a "true runner" as my Once a Runner quote describes, but I'm a hell of a lot closer this year. I haven't run very many big races the second half of this year, nor will I. I've stayed local and small because it is much, much cheaper. However, I'm excited to enter a couple of big races next year with my newly found running prowess.
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