She Runs by the Seashore

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I went into the Salisbury Fire Department Downtown 5K Fun Run with a loose goal in mind.

The Olympic women’s 10K took place the previous day. The winner ran a 10K in 29:17. When I saw the time come across on Twitter, I was thinking (and tweeted) that it was actually pretty close to my 5K time from last week at the Summer Cross Country 5K Series.

So, I thought in my head, it would be nice to get under what that top runner got — in my 5K race, a race half the distance. On a very hot day, I did that — by four seconds. My time for the 5K today, Saturday, Aug. 13, was 29:13.

This time replaces last week’s 5K as my new slowest 5K race, but given the heat, I was happy to just finish without problems. I know I wasn’t the only one whose time was impacted by the heat.

While I didn’t really feel a cloud of humidity surrounding me, the sun and the heat were really getting to me. I was sweating a lot, and I ended up taking two walk breaks.

This was the inaugural Salisbury Fire Department Downtown 5K, and upon hearing about it, I thought it sounded like a cool event. Eastern Shore Running Club, of which I’m secretary, rented the clock to the organization for this run.

The 5K preceded an Open House hosted for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. The course started at the Salisbury Fire Department’s headquarters on Cypress Street, not far off Route 50, and went into the downtown area. We first ran around the Riverwalk and then went back toward Route 13 in the downtown area and back the other way, through the Downtown Plaza and back to the firehouse.

My watch had logged exactly 3.1 miles when I turned it off — when I crossed where the clock was set up. The time of 29:13 comes from my watch, as well.

As I ran in the heat, I was really hoping for a water stop. I had pretty much given up on one when there were people handing out water bottles after we passed the Mile 2 mark, close to Route 13.

I gratefully accepted a water bottle and drank some of it and poured some of it on myself, taking one of my walk breaks there.

Once we got back to the firehouse, there were plenty of giveaways — I didn’t happen to win one — and water, Gatorade and snacks. The heat made it a tough one, but it was still a good way to start the morning.

I also got Bib No. 4. It’s always cool to get a single-digit number! I think this has only happened to me twice.

By the way, the Salisbury Fire Department is hoping to add to its ranks of volunteer firefighters, according to this Daily Times article. Maybe you could be a good fit!

Update: Somehow I forgot to mention this race was FREE! That was of course a nice bonus. 

Splits, according to my watch:

Mile 1: 8:50

Mile 2: 9:43

Mile 3: 9:50

Last .1: 0:50

Average Pace: 9:25

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