7/4/2022 Scott Orlando and Kris Engstrom The Raintree 5K Green, Ohio

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7/4/2022

The Raintree 5K

Green, Ohio

Scott Orlando

Finish Time:  23:14

Overall Place:  11th Place / 76

Division Place 2nd Place / 12

Kris Engstrom

Finish Time:  23:50

Overall Place:  14th Place / 76

Division Place:  2nd Place / 6

Race Recap By Scott Orlando

This was my third time competing in the Raintree 5K.  I really enjoy this race because of the unique course.  Most races are on roads or trails.  About two thirds of this race is run on the fairways of the golf course.  The rest of the course is on the cart paths and a short section on the roads in a neighborhood development.  This year the race field was a little smaller then in the previous years.  I believe because of the abundance of other holiday weekend races in the area.  The weather was great.  The fairways were pretty soggy in a lot of spots from the sprinklers that had been on prior to the start making for slower running conditions.  This was my first race back from a calf strain.  I had been back to running but my calf had not improved enough to incorporate much speedwork into my training.  From the first mile I was slower then my normal 5K pace but this was not unexpected.  I found myself settled in behind another runner that was likely to be in my age division.  Knowing my speed wasn’t back yet I followed him for most of the race.  As we worked our way through some small hills in the last half mile of the race I found myself catching up to him.  Hitting the last two fairways I felt I might be able to catch him.  On the final turn onto the last fairway I passed him.  Not knowing if he would have anything left I made a kick to the finish picking up pace for the last 200 meters separating from him and beating him to the finish.  He was in my age group and my efforts moved me ahead of him on the podium taking 2nd place in my division and 11th place overall.  Turns out he was the same runner I beat last year when I won the division and he finished in 2nd place.   Josh Ritchie and Mickey Rzymek once again did a great job organizing and managing the race.