Daybreak 5K Recap

Here's the skinny: at one point in time, when the Daybreak 5K/10M race was being advertised back in the fall, I had some grand delusions that I would sign up and run the 10 mile race being offered.
 

Ha, oh man. Not so much.
 

I absolutely signed up for the 5K and the 5K only.
 

This race was also strongly advertised as a flat, fast course with no hills. I know the area where the race was run pretty well and it almost seemed like that would be an accurate description of the race. I still wasn't 100% positive of the "no hills" thing going into it though because I've had too many hills surprise me as of late... so I took a drive along the course after picking up my race packet on Friday.

Flat. Flat. Flat.

All the praise hands to the person who came up with this particular course. It was nothing but flat, straight roads that only had two tiny places that could have been considered "slight inclines".
 

The weather was much more favorable for this race as compared to last few warm Saturdays. Sunny and 37 degrees at race start? Perfect! This #coldweatherrunner was ready to run.


 

Mile 1

{9:11 / mile}
 

This race was run through a super familiar area of town to me: the Devine Street area. We started about a block down from the Strictly Running Store {towards Five Points} and started off running away from downtown Columbia down Devine Street. There was a group of high schoolers less than 100 yards down the road that had lined both sides of the course to cheer all of the runners on which was pretty nice! The course took a right onto Woodrow Street {hey, Craft & Draft!} and continued straight down the road towards Rosewood. Have I mentioned yet that this course was flat? Everyone spread out pretty quick and settled into the run. Before we got to Rosewood, we took a left {on Kiawah!} and looped back around to Woodroow.

Didn't hate a single second of mile 1, so I consider that a win after the last few races!
 

Mile 2

{9:42 / mile}

First of all - where in the world did that 30 second slow down come from?? There were no hills, no breaks for walking, nothing. My only guess is that I got a little bored on this stretch. It was straight back down Woodrow {which we had just run} and then a little bit on a super flat Blossom Street. It didn't feel like anyone was running close behind me and the nearest person in front of me was probably half a block away. Not much motivation to pull from nearby runners. But once again... flat, flat, flat and I was a happy runner to not be encountering any hills.
 

Mile 3

{9:17 / mile}
 

The last mile of the race was as easy as could be. We all took a left on Amherst, ran a block, and then turned left back on Devine to head back to the finish. This is easily my favorite stretch of Devine Street - I ran past the law office where we closed on our house, Eggs Up Grill, Cantina 76, Hand Picked, Westend Interiors, the Lilly store, and Craft & Draft. I tried to speed it up a little once we got past Craft & Draft knowing that there were less than 2 blocks left in the race.
 

Finish

{7:12 / mile}

The last stretch of the race was slightly uphill but it wasn't enough of an incline to really slow anyone down, especially not me once I saw the time on the clock. I knew I wasn't going to PR but I did have a very good chance of not only getting in under 29, but clocking one of my top 5 finish times. SPRINT!

Sure enough, 28:46 was good enough to tie for my 3rd best time ever so I'll take it!


 

Final Results

Watch Time - 28:46

Chip Time - 28:45

Pace - 9:17/mile

Age Group - 4/12

Gender - 22/88

Overall - 61/151



I tell you what - I'm really hitting my stride with the 4th place finishes this year. If my 2nd mile had been more in line with my 1st and 3rd miles, I could have squeaked by with 3rd place in my age group.

This is a race that is bound to do well and to get even bigger in it's second year once everyone else hears about how flat and fast it was. Strictly running did a great job putting this inaugural race together!


 

& just like that y'all, my racing days are this close to being over until the fall. I have one more run next weekend {the YMCA Bunny Hop 5K} in downtown Columbia. This has traditionally been a really good race for me since I've set a PR every time that I've run it. They've tweaked the course a little this year but it still looks like a super flat, fast course that will bring out all the speedy runners around Columbia. Should be another fun race!