Firecarcker 5K - Race Report

Saturday July 4th was the Weaverville Kiwanis 5K. This was my first attempt at a 5K this year.













Prerace

I arrived at the course at North Buncombe High School around 7:00 to register. That taken care of, I set about warming up. (BTW, it really surprises me how you never see anyone warming up for a 5K).

Since the town of Weaverville cancelled it’s 4th of July celebration this year, race organizers had to change the course. This year's course wound through the countryside, starting and ending at North Buncombe High, rather than following Weaver Boulevard through Weaverville as it had in the past. I jogged the course, noting the hills, and headed back to my car for my Adi-Zero racing flats because…Racing flats make you feel fast.

I headed over to the start area, and a last minute bathroom break. We all lined up and waited for the gun to go off.

Then we were off.


Race

My plan for this race was pretty simple. I thought I could manage 7:50 pace, so I set out to run the first 2 miles between 7:45 and 7:50, then I’d see what, if anything, I had left for mile 3. I wore my Garmin to make sure I didn’t go out too fast.

We headed out the gate, turning right for the first hill. I was settling in to my pace nicely, checking my Garmin every other second, when suddenly an older lady scoots right up next to me on my right and starts "talking me through" running up the hill. She says, “Now, hold your arms up higher, and shorten your stride. That’s it. Run as if you’re climbing a rope up the hill.” Well, this completely freaked me out. Several things immediately went through my head, none of which I should mention here. I'll save "race etiquette" as a topic for another post.

All in all, I really enjoyed running the new course, hills and all. I managed to stick to my race plan and finished in 24:05 (7:46 average pace), which was better than I thought I was capable of at this time. The highlight of the race was seeing Josie Weaver cheering people on near the finish. When I went by, I heard him mention to the guy next to him that I was the lady that started Boys On The Run at the elementary school. Finally, fame!


Turns out I won my age group division, but, since I left the race immediately, I didn’t find this out for a few days. Oh, well…