Race #211
2 Miler #2
2023 Race #8
2023 2 Miler #1
Freedom Flyer 2 Miler #2

It’s been several years since I ran this race, mainly because for a few years they turned it into a 5k rather than the more unique 2 mile format. 

Mom and I headed down with enough time to pick up our bibs (and decline the shirt which confused the volunteers) and run a mile to warm up. 

I didn’t feel as fresh during the warm up as I had hoped but I reminded myself that this was just the warm up. 

After the warm up we made our way to the rather ambiguous start line (the sideline of the soccer field) and waited for the start which came slightly delayed because the organizers did not start all the pre-race stuff until 2 minutes before the scheduled start. 

Then we were off. 

I started as quickly as I could but it felt weird to have the whole field wide around me since they did not narrow where we actually started on the sideline. Quite a few people made it to the trail before I did but I did not mind since running on the trail made my stride feel much more manageable. 

We took a right onto the trail for the shorter portion before a turn around. It took a little while for me to find my race stride but about a quarter mile in, I finally found it. 

When the front runners first came back the opposite way, I tried to see how many women were in front of me. I thought one young girl was in front but that was it. Turns out that that was a boy and I missed another older woman. 

As soon as I made the turn I got more than a bit frustrated. We shared the trail and the runners behind us choose not to love towards the right forcing the fastest runners onto the padded pavement (I don’t know what it’s actually called) that’s as wide as a lane on the track. The runners in front of me still included several kids who I knew would slow down (and did) forcing me to try to weave around them and not run into the runners going the opposite ways, none of whom moved over. Several times I shouted out “move over”. The padded pavement has not seen any touch ups and at many points has separated from the pavement which poses a tripping hazard.

After another quarter mile, we finally made it past the ridiculous clog and I could focus on pushing the pace rather than making sure that I didn’t trip and face plant. 

I went into the race with a goal of sub-15 and thus tried to push the pace faster than I have gone in quite a while. 

A little bit before the mile mark, I noticed another woman in front of me. As much as I wanted to pass her and figured that I could, I focused on maintaining the pace. 

Shortly after that a girl passed me looking strong and running a much faster pace than I knew I could hold. Keeping up with her never crossed my mind. Instead I focused on continuing to push and trying to pass that other woman I had seen in front of me. 

The mile split came at 7:15. 

Just a little after that we approached the other turn around. I did not see when I passed that other woman but I noticed at the turn around that I had done so and this tried to keep my pace up so that she wouldn’t pass me back. 

Things started to feel really difficult with about half a mile to go. Instead of letting myself relax, I told myself that this sort of race is supposed to hurt. 

With about .35 to go, the woman I had passed earlier passed me back. I tried to go with her but could not quite match her pace. I kept her in sight though. 

A tenth of a mile later we turned back onto the soccer field. I groaned internally when I saw that we had to run around the outside of the field. When I’m that close to the finish, I do not want to have to make 3 tight turns. 

A quick glance behind me showed me that I had a little bit of space before the next runner so I tried, even though not much remained in my legs to get as close as I could to the woman in front of me. I pulled to just an exact second behind her!

I felt really pleased with my sub 15 pace, especially since my second mile came in as a 7:19, much faster than I thought based on how I felt in that last mile. 

Overall – 14:50