Arcata Marsh 5K

Going into this race, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Since I've always focused on longer distances, I stink at the 5K. When Matt wanted to run the race and actually do some speedwork before it, I said that I'd tag along. I'm not one of those people that can sit on the sidelines and watch all the fun....nope, I was racing. I just go out with no specific training, hit the gas, and hold on to my breakfast. This is how I always run a 5K. I have no desire to change it and I just compete against myself. Hopefully it all works out the way I hope.

My hand trembled as I clumsily filled out the race registration form. Ah, twitching means just enough coffee for a 5K, perfect, I thought to myself. Friends and former runners, Shaina and Ryan, came to cheer us on. I tried to convince them to run too, but they weren't having it. Maybe the next one. :)

After being completely blocked in by walkers and slow joggers at the last 5K, I was determined to line up further ahead than I thought I should be, just to keep from having to walk on a bottleneck when the trail narrows. Matt toed the starting line with all the other fasties, I was just a few feet behind him. Hopefully, I won't get mowed down, I wished, only half believing what I was thinking. Before I got the chance to chicken out and move further back, we were off. Everyone around me was going my pace!

By mile 2 marker, I began passing. People were nice enough to let me pass when I announced "On your left!" despite a narrow single track trail. After passing ten more people or so, I caught up to two teenage girls that were going precisely my pace. We were really close to the very end. I glanced at my watch and was impressed how even their (and my) splits were and how it didn't feel that bad running at a 7:30/mi pace.

Until we turned a corner. Then the wind knocked all the speed out of me. I struggled to keep up the pace, slipping to a 7:40/mi, and tried to use one of the teenagers as a wind block. Yeah, they were too short to do any good. But our competitive auras mixed and somehow we all kept each other going.

Mile 3 opened the trail up a little bit to a gravel two-track. The terrain was harder to keep up the speed, but a grassy patch between the tracks seemed to work the best for the girl ahead of me, so I followed her.

The final 200 yards or so were into the wind. With my breakfast gurgling in my throat and running on sheer guts, I ran for it. With every footfall, I thought I was going to collapse, but somehow I caught one of the girls (the slower one) and passed her. As I pulled ahead, she finally realized I was ahead. Delirious and only eying the finish line, I didn't even see her coming. She sprinted past me in the last ten paces. She beat me by less than a second. Glancing at my watch, I saw it : 23:48. My new PR.

A PR by seven seconds isn't much. But there is a difference for me at least between road and trail race pace. On principle, I only like to race myself (because, let's face it, there's always someone faster and slower than me, and with the field constantly changing, this is the most consistent way to track progress), but it was really cool to see that I was 10th woman and 2nd in my 20-29 age group.

Matt ran the course at a blistering pace of 6:26/mi for his new PR of 19:54. Not only going sub-20 (which he's been wanting to do) he finally broke a PR he set almost eight years ago! He was 14th overall and won his age group! He was also really happy that only one little kid (this pre-teen was third overall) and that only one woman (sixth?) beat him. Apparently, chicks and kids half as tall as him are his personal kryptonite.


Matt : 19:54
6:26/mi
Overall : 14/209
Male : 13/86
M 30-39 : 1/17

Myself : 23:48
7:31/mi
Overall : 42/209
Women : 10/123
F20-29 : 2/15


We had never run in the Arcata Bottoms before. The flat marshland is only a few miles of farmland from where we do all of our road running. Plans on how to connect the two are currently in the works.

With the PR gap closing to under 10 seconds, it's probably safe to say that I won't get much faster without actual speedwork. Winging it probably will stop working soon. But that's cool with me. I HATE speedwork. :P