She Runs by the Seashore

I didn’t run quite as fast as I thought I’d be able to at the Mike Sterling 10K, but I had another chance to test myself just five days later at the Run, White & Blue 5K. And this time, I was pleased with my result.

Sept. 5 marked the 11th Run, White & Blue 5K at the Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus in Georgetown, and this was my ninth year in a row participating, including a virtual year in 2020.

Just for fun, I had decided to ask Chat GPT what it thought I could run for a 5K based on the 1600-meter time I’d just run of 8:33. First, it said 26:42, but I then asked, “You don’t think I’ll slow down at all over 5K?” The new estimate, using the Riegel formula, was 28:36.

AI is not always accurate, but this time it was — my race time was 28:37.

This was my third-fastest 5K of the past five years, the others being last year’s Firecracker 5K and this race five years ago.

The weather was nice for the 6 p.m. race — 75 degrees with a dew point of 62. It was a pretty big event for this area, with 393 5K finishers and plenty of people who did the accompanying walk.

The race is always held near Sept. 11 and supports scholarships for veterans and first responders. This year’s race was dedicated to Thomas Wilson Berry III, a local firefighter and EMS logistics technician who died while providing aid to someone who had been in a car crash, according to the Cape Gazette. He was only 23.

Incidents like that certainly put life in perspective.

The course consists of two loops around Delaware Technical Community College, with the second loop being a little shorter than the first. It’s flat and fast.

I ran the first mile in 8:47, but after that, I slowed down. I stopped for water once, but ran the next two miles in 9:32 and 9:28, sprinting the last bit in a 7:47 pace — 51 seconds. I still got out-sprinted at the end by someone who looked young. There are a lot of high school students who run this race.

During the race, there was someone running nearby carrying a large American flag, which is always impressive. I was pushing it to run without a flag, and my time was 28:37, a 9:14 pace.

I did grab a bottle of water after the race, but then, my first stop, as always, was the Vanderwende’s ice cream truck, where participants could get a free cup of ice cream. The line did get longer later, and I never want to miss out on the ice cream.

After that, I got in the food line. There’s always a full dinner at this event, all included with registration. The chicken had run out, but there was still plenty of other food, including pizza and snacks/sides. I also had some beer from Big Oyster Brewery.

I was also able to connect with some Eastern Shore Running Club friends before and after the race.

As always, this was a fun way to spend an evening for a good cause, and it was nice to run fast. I don’t run a ton of 5K races, so I’m glad I got a fast one in as I work on longer distances for the rest of the year.

Splits

Mile 1: 8:47
Mile 2: 9:32
Mile 3: 9:28
Last part (.11): 51 seconds (7:47 pace)
Final: 28:37 / 9:14 pace on results ; 28:39 / 9:13 pace on watch