submitted by Ken Frankenbery
I have been doing the 4th Bike race in Medina for years- this year decided to mix it up, and do the 5k & 10 K running races back to back.
The weather made it tough- 80 degrees at the start of 5k at 745am, by the time we started 10k (9am)- it was 90 and humid.
I did not get the warm up I wanted (big line to sign up)- so after a 10 minute warm up, got to the starting line only to sit for 10 minutes because people were still at sign up, and they delayed start. When we finally took off- it felt like a heart attack! Lots of high school runners make this a tough event. I got into a good rhythm at 1/2point, and was holding a 6:20 pace. As we headed back to square (uphill) – you could really feel the heat (out in sun the whole time) – but finished strong at 19:32 -2nd in my class (guy won with a 17:53 wow!), and 23rd overall out of 609.
The hardest part of doing the 10k is the 50 minute wait between races. Did a short warm up, and when the gun went off, could really feel the heat and humidity- so tried to keep a steady 7:15 pace. Felt surprising good for most of race, but last mile, the sun was really beating down, ended up slowing slightly, and finishing in 45.23 (7.19 pace)- 2nd in my class, and 19th overall, out of over 200- a solid result after the 5k, with the conditions!