Riverside 5000

We went to a wedding just north of Tulsa this weekend and decided to find a run the morning of the wedding. A search came up with the Riverside 5000 - a flat fast 5k in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The run came at the end of a short week of running; I just got in two 10k runs on Tues/Wed, had a migraine after work Thursday so I didn't get to run. Friday was mostly driving and a two-hour delay at the hotel. I was VERY ready to run Saturday morning.

We got to the run around 7:20 and they were just about to start the "elite" division - guys who could easily run under 18:00 5k and women who were probably under 19:30 or so. There was prize money for this race, and they let the women leave 2 minutes earlier than the guys. Interesting.

We got our packets, did some warmup jogging and headed to the start. There were a few hundred people there, and a lot of high-school age kids. This race was two loops on Riverside. So you go straight ahead, come back toward the finish, turn around again and go out, turn once more and finish up. Good parts to this - it was pretty flat and there were three water stops... bad part - three hairpin loops and it was in the 80s.

Started out pretty fast and did the first mile in 5:46. Slowed down for the second a little bit and it went by in 5:56 or so. I was feeling great and passing people here and there. I got to see Erica three times during the race, which was a first. The third mile was tough - just pushing it as much as I could. Skipped the water stop at mile 3.0 and sprinted to the finish, passing one guy in the process but not quite getting by another. Was shooting for under 18:00 but ended up with 18:16 - still a PR! I was 7th overall and 1st in my age group.

After Erica finished we hopped in the car and went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It got to 104 degrees that day! Crazy!



Riverside 5000 Open * 5 km * August 14, 2010
River Parks, Tulsa, Okla.
295 finishers * Cloudy, low 80's, slight wind
USATF certified course, USATF sanctioned event
Administered by Glen's Racing Service
MALE OPEN RESULTS
DIV/TOT IS AGE DIVISION PLACE/NUMBER IN DIVISION: PACE IS MIN PER km
Place Div/Tot Div Name City St Age Time Pace
===== ======== ===== ===================== =============== == === ======= =====
1 1/41 M1619 Erik Alnes Tulsa OK 17 17:32 3:31
2 1/47 M1315 Michael Duke Tulsa OK 15 17:47 3:34
3 2/41 M1619 Kevin Diaz Tulsa OK 16 17:52 3:35
4 3/41 M1619 Josiah Soap Jenks OK 19 18:02 3:37
5 4/41 M1619 Quentin Fowler Jenks OK 16 18:13 3:39
6 1/2 M2024 Dan Matthews Tulsa OK 22 18:16 3:40
7 1/6 M2529 Nicholas Hanson Blair NE 28 18:16 3:40
8 5/41 M1619 Levi Garrett Tulsa OK 16 18:19 3:40
9 6/41 M1619 Brad Arnold Tulsa OK 17 18:19 3:40
10 2/47 M1315 Brandon Ellis Sapulpa OK 15 18:28 3:42