4/8/2023

The Black Squirrel 5K

Kent, Ohio

Scott Orlando

Finish Time:  22:04

Overall Place:  16th Place / 256

Division Place:  1st Place / 15

Asad Khan

Finish Time:  24:25

Overall Place:  34th Place / 256

Division Place:  3rd Place / 15

Steve Zenar

Finish Time:  25:05

Overall Place:  42nd Place / 256

Division Place:  2nd Place / 7

Christine Churpek

Finish Time:  25:33

Overall Place:  49th Place / 256

Division Place:  3rd Place / 15

Peter Heroux

Finish Time:  25:51

Overall Place:  57th Place / 256

Division Place:  4th Place / 12

Kevin Christensen

Finish Time:  27:52

Overall Place:  83rd Place / 256

Division Place:  3rd Place / 7

Race Recap By Steve Zenar:

I had a wonderful morning running the Black Squirrel 5K.  I always enjoy this race and running through my old stomping grounds at KSU! I placed 2nd in age group and improved my time by almost 2 minutes from 2022.  It was also really great to see so many Team ER team members there.

Race recap by Scott Orlando:

I haven’t run the Black Squirrel 5K since 2015 because of schedule conflicts.  I was happy that this year in the 11th annual year of the race I was able to compete.   I had 2 goals in mind heading into this race.  I wanted to beat my time from 2015 and win my age group.  I am not sure why, but for some reason I was overly nervous about competing in this race.  The week before the race I found myself reviewing the race registration website and scanning for participants in my age group.  With each day the list grew and I found myself more anxious seeing so many registrants in my division.  I had to remind myself to focus on my own race and not worry about anyone else.

The morning of the race the weather was cool with some gusting winds and bright sunshine.  It was a little cold but running conditions were favorable.  I took advantage of the indoor track at the host site of the Kent State University Recreation And Wellness Center to warm up.  The registration site indicated close to 350 entries and of that 256 were listed as finishers in the final results.  I knew a lot of runners competing in the race.  We had 6 Team ER members in the field plus several of my neighbors ran as well as members of other run groups I train with, and other running friends.   One of my neighbor’s competed with her daughter who is a professional soccer player for Racing Louisville FC and the daughter’s boyfriend who is a hockey player for Ohio State University.  As the gun sounded I quickly found myself running with the professional soccer player and Ohio State hockey player.  The Hockey Player made his way ahead of us and stayed there for the remainder of the race.  The professional soccer player and I went back and forth passing each other.  I would pass her on the flats and downhill sections and she would come back strong and pass me on the hills and there were definitely hills!  The first one was short and steep and really took my breath and speed away but I managed to recover and get back to my pace.   I was better prepared for the rest of the hills.  As we headed into the last half mile I again passed the professional soccer player only to find that she slowed down just enough to catch her breath for the final push to the finish.  She suddenly sprinted past me and I was unable to catch her.  I finished just a few seconds behind her.  She was the 2nd overall female finisher.  I was 16th overall and won my age group with a finish time of 22:04.  I had achieved my 2 goals and was happy with my result.  After the race I was joking with the professional soccer player how I thought she was just toying with me each time I passed her and she quickly passed me back.  She explained that was her strategy to slow down at points to recover.   In the end I felt pretty accomplished in that I was able to keep up with the hockey player and professional soccer player that I doubled in age.

After the race runners were treated to a nice buffet of bagels, fruit, chili, and juices.  It was so fun to see so many of our Team ER members, friends, and neighbors win awards.  Age group and overall winners received nice custom medals of gold, silver, and bronze colors.  All participants received green t-shirts with a race logo that included a gray squirrel on it which had many of us joking and questioning why a race sponsored by a school who’s colors are gold and navy would have green race shirts with a gray squirrel on them when the race is called the Black Squirrel 5K.  Kent, Ohio is known for it’s black squirrels which were introduced in 1961 to help control the gray squirrel population that was getting out of control.  So if you know the history the choice of a gray squirrel on the shirt is even more perplexing.  The race was well organized and I loved the mini race bib that were used.  I whish more races utilized the smaller bibs.  Just prior to leaving the race we took advantage of the black squirrel photo op set up that included a wifi enabled photo printer that produced free photo prints with race branding on them.  I must say that was a nice touch and we had fun taking pictures.