Percy Sutton Harlem 5K

Today was the Percy Sutton Harlem 5K, a race run by the NYRR, but not in their home stomping grounds of Central Park. I was my second chance at hitting my 2010 goal of running a sub 19 minute 5K.

Having just run a 19:06 in Maine, the goal seemed within reach, but I didn't know the Harlem course, so it was hard to predict what might happen.

It turned out to be a beautiful morning -- the weather has been brutal in NYC this summer, and this morning was a welcome break. I jogged the 2.3 miles up to the start where I met up with MC. The start area was really nice. We hung out in St. Nicholas Park until it was time to enter the corrals. There, we met up with DK, completing the Fearsome 3 (OK, I just made that up, but it's sure to catch on). We also saw JEF (no, not Jeff, J.E.F), one of my Flyer idols.

The pre-race announcements went on longer than usual, and I started to get antsy. Then, when the starter asked "do we have clearance on the roadway?!", the answer came back "no!". That was a first for me. The delay wound my springs up some more, and when the horn finally sounded, I took off like a lunatic. I flew by JEF (a sign of very bad judgement) in the first few hundred yards. I knew it wasn't right, but there was no stopping it.

After a half mile, we hit the one big uphill in the course, and it was a steep one. I hit mile one at the top of the hill in 6:10. I would have to pick it up from there, but there was only flat and downhill ahead.

Mile two took me 6:18, which surprised me a bit, since it was flat, and I didn't feel like I had slowed down. Then came a big downhill and the sprint to the finish. I did mile 3 in 5:59 -- it wasn't looking good for breaking 19 minutes.

In the end, I had a 19.05 -- a one second PR. It still blows my mind that on a completely different course, a different day, different... whatever, I race for 5K within a SECOND of my last time. How does that happen?

DK, MC and I jogged home together, and MC pointed out buildings in Harlem that he had been looking at. They looked really nice. Just a few minutes jog to Central Park, in what looked like an up and coming neighborhood.

When I got home and checked the official results, I saw that I was 3rd in my age group, and on the awards page, it listed me as 2nd (!). The reason appears to be that the fastest guy in my age group finished 2 overall, so they aren't giving him the age group award as well.

So, on one hand it's really exciting to place in an NYRR race for the first time, but at the same time, it's really humbling to look at this 2nd place overall finish. This is a 45 year old guy, running a 5K at a sub 5 minute/mile pace. That is crazy. His AG% is 92.5. So much for me claiming to be "fast for an old guy".

As for the sub 19 goal, the NYRR only has one more 5K on the calendar, the December 11 NYRR Holiday Run in Brooklyn. That's cutting it a little close...