Bloomsday Run 12K Race Report

I'm probably one of the few runners in America that requests a late checkout at the hotel just so I have time to blog about the event that I just ran.

When I filled out my race registration yesterday, I put down a time of one hour, 15 minutes. (I actually didn't remember my time from the Sound to Narrows 12K in Tacoma.)

Today at the Bloomsday Run 12K, under beautiful running conditions, I crossed the finish line in 1:17:57.63 for a slight PR at this distance better than the 1:18:00.96 in Tacoma last June.

Runners in Tacoma last year said that the Sound to Narrows course was much tougher than the one here at Bloomsday. The one thing that Bloomsday doesn't have is for runners to have to retrace the uphill in mile 7 that you took advantage of in the first mile. But actually, the feared Doomsday Hill - part of the last half mile of mile 5 - wasn't the worst of things here in Spokane for me. It was the hills in miles 2 and 3.

And, for me, it was the recovery from going up Doomsday Hill, which is more long than it is steep, that hurt me in mile 6 (other than getting some water.)

At 11:15 a.m. Pacific, the Spokesman Review newspaper is reporting the following on its website, spokesmanreview.com:

Kenyan John Korir, 31, pulled away down Monroe Street to edge John Yuda of
Tanzania and fellow Kenyan Julius Kibet to win Bloomsday 2007 on Sunday.

Edna Kiplagat, 27, won her first Bloomday women's race in 38 minutes and 51 seconds. The Kenyan pulled away after Doomsday Hill to win easily.

Saul Mendoza, 40, of Wimberley, Texas, won his 10th consecutive men's wheelchair race, earning the tight victory in 27:06. University of Illinois wheelchair racer Amanda McGrory, 21, won her first women's race.

I had a chance to speak with Sean Wade about 30 minutes before the start of the race. He indicated that Mbarak Hussein was in "incredible shape" and that the one individual that could make the race interesting for all of the Masters runners has been the recent performances of 44-year-old Dennis Simonaitis.

At 11:45 a.m. Pacific, Sean just reported on his blog that he was the 3rd Masters finisher in 38:00. Last year, he ran the course in 37:45.

Slowed earlier in the year by a left ankle and right quad injuries, he stated, "I am not as fit as last year. However, I did recover much better. I also had had a few more races under my belt before this race last year."

He indicated that his splits today were: 4:50, 4:48, 5:10, 5:07, 5:16, 5:17, 5:10
Last year, he said, they were: 5:01, 4:51, 5:10, 4:58, 5:10, 5:15 ,4:59

Somewhere along as I was running, I was just hoping to be able to be within 5 minutes of his splits! (But more than likely 6, actually.) What's interesting is the effect of Doomsday Hill was about the same - at different levels of ability and work ethic.

Great event. Here are a handful of my thoughts:

+ Pre-race public address announcing was horrible as far as the amount of sound. I was given a green start bib, which put me just before half way in the 40,000+ crowd. We could barely hear our National Anthem being played and, of course, it gave thousands of Americans an opportunity to be disrespectful.
+ They played our National Anthem before Canada's National Anthem. Have you ever been to a professional sporting event and heard it this way? The thought that went through my mind was subversive.
+ The Canadians, though, once again impressed when they all strongly sang their anthem. In my race report in the May edition of "Deer Tracks", the official newsletter of The Woodlands Running Club, you'll read what I heard in the crowd in Vancouver for the Sun Run 10K last month.
+ While there are medical professionals that don't believe that you really need any electrolytes for a run of around an hour, I was still surprised that water was the only fluid available during the race and immediately after.
+ Finisher's T-shirts, of course, at the end of the race. Glad to have it! (I like how they do it. To get a t-shirt, you must finish.)
+ The use of headphones didn't seem as prevalent here as they were at the Sun Run 10K and the Oklahoma City Half Marathon; however, there's a good reason why this race could join Grandma's Marathon in taking a national lead on the matter.

Alright, now for the boring part of the report - my splits!

Mile 1 -- 9:33.32
Mile 2 -- 9:52.57 (19:25.89)

Strong downhill, followed by a solid uphill. Both fairly significant.

Mile 3 -- 10:55.24 (30:21.13)
Mile 4 -- 10:17.84 (40:38.97)
Mile 5 -- 10:57.88 (51:36.85)

I slowly ran all of Doomsday Hill for but about 60 steps 70% percent of the way into the hill.

Mile 6 -- 11:07.78 (1:02:44.63)

Wasted a minute in the early part of this mile just past the hill.

Mile 7 -- 10:36.76 (1:13:21.39)
Last .46 -- 4:36.24 (1:17:57.63)

Still this amounts to a 10:27 minute per mile pace on a hilly course a day after running a 10K!

I'm happy, had fun and am looking forward to next week's back-to-back 5K's and then the following weekend's trip to North Dakota and Minnesota for a back-to-back half marathon showing to register states #14 and #15.

Additionally, I'm very, very fortunate to have some of the opportunities that I do to run in some of these events and that is one of the reasons why I enjoy sharing the information with you.

For complete Bloomsday coverage, please click here.