Penn Relays Distance Classic 20K Recap

4/17/11

12.5 miles

1:46:10

8:30 avg pace

I used this race as a pseudo-marathon paced run.  I’ll explain the “pseudo” part later.  I didn’t want to go all out with my marathon just 2 weeks away.  This race is very odd but fun at the same time.  The last time I ran it was 2009.  Instead of boring you with a play-by-play of the race, I’ll just give you a few race highlights.

• There were about 100 people running the 20K.  I swear.  It’s the smallest race I’ve ever done.  There’s no chip, no spectators, no pictures, and 2 water stops on the course.  Hard core.
• The people that run this race are FAST.  I have never seen people go out so fast at the start of longish race.  I’m talking 5K pace.  I wanted my overall pace to be 8:30 (hence the pseudo part…my marathon pace is around 8:40) so I succeeded in that respect but I went about it all wrong.  I wanted to start out running 8:50 and then take it down from there; just like I’ve done on every training run and exactly what I plan on doing come marathon day.  Riiiight.  Since everyone took off like lightening, if I would have stuck to my 8:50 plan, I would have been at the back of the pack.  It’s crazy.  So my first mile was 8:23.  Boo.
• My miles were pretty consistent after that but I much prefer starting out slow and picking it up during the last few miles.
• The best part of the race is the stadium finish.  I LOVE a stadium finish!  You get to run the last 1/4 mile around Franklin Field, where the Penn Relays take place.  It’s incredible.
• I’ll probably know my official results in about a week, if I can find them online.  Like I said, this is a super no frills race.  I’m pretty sure it’ll be 1:46:10 since I was at the front when the whole “ready, set, go” went down.