The first mile of the course was messy with plenty of puddles. I ran it fairly well with a 6:40 mile split. About a quarter mile into the race, there is a potion of the course that goes over concrete. This complicates things a bit if you are wearing spikes.
The second mile is where I felt like a cross country newbie. The hills got to me. Sadly, I had even walked up one of the hills. My split was a horrid 8:20 mile. Crossing the Henry Hudson overpass is concrete.
The third mile is when you descend down the hills. Descending down the hills in the cross country trail isn’t the same as running down a paved road. The cross country trail is stepped. Every 20-30 feet you go down a step. This is where you need to be careful and not twist an ankle. After crossing the Henry Hudson overpass, there is long downhill. After the downhill you will make your way toward the finish line about a third of a mile away.My third mile good at 6:40. It was a good rebound. I ran hard through the finish.
Before the race, I had asked the volunteers about the course surface. I wanted to know if there are any hard surface. They said it was all dirt and grass. Which isn’t true. To be clear, there are three areas of the course that are concrete.
I have not had a decent 5K race as of yet. Everytime I run a 5K, something goes wrong. Like today in the woods I had to stop and catch my breath going up a hill. WTF? It’s as if I have a 5K jinx. Take a look at the race data from my Gamin Forerunner 305. You will see a big thud in the middle of the red speed graph.
Maps made with SportTracks