On sunday morning I ran the Vail of Three Falls 10k in Letchworth park. I finished in a time of 53:26 which was a course PR, and quick enough for a 5th place finish.
The first mile and a half of this course is downhill, and I absolutely bombed down the hill. I was the fifth runner to reach the bottom of the hill, but I assumed that once the course got more challenging that a few other runners would pass me by.
The next mile is rolling hills, followed by a half mile climb to the turn around point. Remarkably I reached the turn around still in fifth position (and close to fourth) with two runners on close behind me.
The return trip was a back and forth with the sixth place runner, but I took the lead at the start of the final climb, and I refused to slow down and fall out of the top five.
This was a course PR, and the first time that I have placed in a race in forever. My next race is the Buffalo Marathon next sunday.