5 Mile

Category: 5 Mile

March 18, 2024

Kicking off the 2024 Racing Season with the Running of the Green

On Saturday morning I rant the St. Patrick’s day themed Running of the Green, to kick of the 2024 racing season. I finished the five mile course in 41:18 and 414th place.

I was actually a little disappointed with this time given that I was a minute slower than last year, but I still was half a minute ahead of my last five mile race.

My training has felt good recently, even if it has been more focused on the marathon distance than on shorter races like this. Reflecting this training my pace throughout this run was fairly consistent, starting out at an eight minute pace and only slowing to an 8:16 average by the end.

Hopefully this is just the start of an exciting and fast 2024.

November 24, 2023

Trotting with the Turkeys

On Thanksgiving morning I ran the Turkey Trot for the 12th time, finishing the five mile course in 41:44. This was a little slower than I have ran this course in years past, but not too far off my typical pace.

The weather was fairly good this year, and with Brittany running alongside me, I felt pretty good for the first two miles. After that I began to slow down a little bit as I am apparently incapable of running anything quicker than my half marathon pace. Toward the end we were running into a rather significant headwind, but that was more annoying than something that was actively slowing me down.

My next race will be the It’s a Wonderful Run 5k in Seneca Falls in early December.

March 12, 2023

Five Miles for St. Patrick’s Day

On Saturday morning I ran the 5 mile Running of the Green in 40:06. This was slightly slower than my five mile race in January, but this was still a time that I was happy with as it was over seven minutes quicker than the same race last year.

I ran the first mile of this race in 7:30, but had slowed down to an 8 min/mile average by the time I reached mile four. I then really pushed to hold onto the eight minute pace leader for the final mile and to finish with an 8:01 overall pace. The course had gotten a lot of snow the night before, but was melted just enough to not really impact my run. Hopefully this is my last race in the snow until after Thanksgiving.

January 22, 2023

First Race of the Year

On Saturday Morning I ran the Freezeroo 5 mile race in Victor. I finished the race in 38:19 which is a full minute quicker than I ran the same distance at the Turkey Trot two months ago.

The first quarter mile of the race was mostly ice, which resulted in me getting off to a slow and cautious start. However, the course cleared up after that with some hills making the opening mile by far the most challenging of the course. By the midpoint of the race I had settled into an easy pace, and while I spent the final mile pushing to do my best, I was honestly surprised that my time was as good as it was.

My next race will not be until after I get back from Grand Cayman.

November 25, 2022

A Triumphant Return to the Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving morning I ran the Buffalo Turkey Trot for the first time since 2019. I finished the five mile course in 39:21 which is my fastest time on this course since my PR in 2015, which was only a minute quicker.

This was my 11th time running in what is the country’s oldest race so I know the course well. Yet it is always hard to find your pace when there are constantly slower runners ahead of you, and faster runners behind you. Still things went really well with my per mile pace only 4 seconds slower than the shorter 5k I ran a month ago.

My next race will be the It’s a Wonderful Run 5k in Seneca Falls.

March 13, 2022

First Race of 2022

Two years ago the Runnin’ of the Green was the first (of many) races to be canceled due to the pandemic. After having my registration be deferred, not once but twice, I have finally, finally run this race again. Hopefully this is the start of a more normal, more predictable year.

As cathartic as it was to be running in this event again, the morning of the race my expectations were kind of low. I have gotten very few training runs in during the past three months, and awoke to find the streets covered in snow. However, once the race started and I got going, I felt pretty good and was glad to be back to racing after a four month hiatus.

I finished with a time of 47:29 for the five mile course. While this was six minutes slower than when I last ran this course in 2019, I exceeded by goal of staying under ten minutes per mile.

My next race is going to be the Flower City Half Marathon in April.

December 4, 2019

10th Year at the Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving I ran the Buffalo Turkey Trot for the tenth time. The race started in 1896 so I have only ran in 8% of these events, but that is more times than I have ran any other race.

I finished the 5 miles in 40:37 which was a minute and a half quicker than last year, and only two minutes behind my PR from 2015 (and 18 minutes quicker than my first time on this course).

This race is always a mess of people that have no idea what they are doing and this year was no different. I started as close to the front as I could and still ended up starting behind a guy carrying a canoe and hundreds of walkers. However, once I got going the run wasn’t too bad. It was cold, but far nicer than last year, and inexplicably at the finish line they gave everyone a loaf of bread.

March 17, 2019

First Road Race of 2019

On Saturday morning I ran the five mile Running of the Green race for the fourth time. My finish time of 42:19 was quicker than last year, but still behind my time from 2016.

The race had pace leaders this year, and while I wanted to run eight minute miles, that felt like starting far too close to the front. Inevitably I ended up catching up him by the first mile anyhow. I fell back from this pace before the turnaround, but I still felt good with my speed overall. The run felt pretty consistent and was a finish time I was ok with given my limited winter training.

November 26, 2018

A Cold Turkey Trot

Thursday morning I ran the Buffalo Turkey Trot for the ninth year and finished with a time of 42:02. This was a little slower than last year, and for that I mostly blame the cold.

With a race time temperature of just 16 degrees, I believe that this is the coldest the race has ever been since I started running it. The race also got off to a late start, which only increased the amount of time we had to stand around in the cold. Once the gun finally did go off, I still took over six minutes to reach the starting line which also made the run more difficult.

This race has always had a large number of people who have no idea what they are doing, but getting stuck starting so far back only increased the number of walkers and oblivious runners that I had to deal with. As such I could barely run the first mile, and I was still ducking and weaving around all the way to mile three, at which point the race is already more than half over. Once I finally had a little room to run, my feet went numb from the cold, so I never really got a chance to push the pace anywhere on this course. Maybe next year the weather will be nicer, and I will have the opportunity to push for a better time.

March 18, 2018

Starting the season with a St. Patrick’s Day race

On Saturday morning I ran Johnny’s Runnin’ O’ the Green for the third time. I finished the five miles in 43:09, which is quicker than I was in 2013, but slower than 2016.

While I already knew that I was out of shape, I now have the data to prove it. Now that season has restarted, I will be running the Spring Forward 15k next week.

November 27, 2017

Buffalo Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving I ran the Buffalo Turkey Trot for the eighth year. I finished the five miles in 40:34 which is a minute slower than last year. This is almost identical to the pace I held for a shorter 5k a month ago.

After 122 years, the Turkey Trot continues to be the oldest race in the country, but it is likely to be my final road race until the spring.

November 26, 2016

Seventh Year Running the Buffalo Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving morning I ran my final race of the season, covering the five miles of Turkey Trot in 39:35. This was quick enough to put me in the top 10% of the race’s finishers.

This was the first time in the Turkey Trot that I didn’t improve upon my time from the previous year, but my time was only a tad over a minute slower and more or less where I expected to finish this year.

March 13, 2016

Runnin’ O’ the Green

My first road race of 2016, was Johnny’s Runnin’ O’ the Green which has a remarkably high 6:10 ratio of apostrophes to words. I finished the 5 mile course in 38:34, which is just 13 seconds off of my PR at this distance that was set at the Turkey Trot in November. It has been three years since I last ran this particular course, and I greatly improved on my time from then.

My next race is a 15k at the Spring Forwards Distance Run in Mendon Ponds.

November 27, 2015

Finishing the year with a Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving morning, I ran the oldest race in the country at the Buffalo Turkey Trot. I finished the five mile course in 38:21 which is 19 seconds quicker than last year. This put me in 883rd place, meaning that I achieved my goal of finishing in the top thousand. Additionally I placed in the top 7% of finishers, which mostly just indicates how many non-runners are in this race.

This was my sixth Turkey Trot. I have improved my time every year since I first finished with a time of 58:20 in 2010. Overall that is a twenty minute improvement between my first Turkey Trot, and this year.