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CoachCraig
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Joined: 23 Dec 2003
Posts: 276
Location: Eugene, OR
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 Posted: 09/28/04 - 19:15 Post subject: Cross Country 5K Race Report
Having not raced since July 4th, and having only done one cross country race in the last 15 years, I wasn't sure what to expect from this. I just tried to keep things low key, and I actually didn't decide to run this for sure until a couple hours before the race.
I was in the "open" race, which was mostly college runners. We had light rain all night, and it continued during the race itself. The course was mostly flat, but almost exclusively on mushy grass, making for a relatively slow course compared to the road and track races I'm used to. I was one of the few runners not wearing spikes for traction.
At the start we went tearing across this field, funneling down before heading up the first hill. I was somewhat surprised to be right near the front at that point - solidly in the top 20. I worked my way up gradually, and by the mile mark I was 9th, but a lot of runners were still pretty close together. By the 2 mile mark I think I was in 6th, leading a chase group.
I pressed pretty hard over the next 1/2 mile to move into 5th, right behind the 3rd and 4th runners, but I lacked the confidence to really attack and move past them. So in spite of having horrible leg speed, I let it come down to a kick. The 6th and 7th runners were right behind us, so it was going to be a close finish.
With 300m to go, I got up into 4th, but this was short lived. The race finished with a partial lap around the track, and although I didn't feel that tired, I just didn't have another gear. Only the leader held his position in the final 300m. I dropped from 4th to 6th, even though I almost caught the runner for 5th that had been in 2nd less than a minute earlier. One runner tore by me so quickly that he most have been close to 4:00 pace for that final 300m, moving from 6th to 2nd.
In the end, I had run a fantastic 16:29 for 5K in tough conditions. My splits were dead even 5:19's for all 3 miles. By best for the year is 16:22 run in perfect conditions on the track, but this cross country race was a much better effort than that. I'm sure I would have been under 16 had this been a fast, road course. Still I'm disappointed that I didn't run a smarter competitive race and picked up a few more positions.
Here is the top 10:
12TH ANNUAL NORTHWEST CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC
September 25, 2004
LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, EUGENE, OREGON
SPONSORED BY STEENS MOUNTAIN RUNNING CAMP
*************OPEN RESULTS************
Place Name Time Pace
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1 Matt Barnhart 16:01 5:10
2 Zach Done 16:22 5:16
3 Damian Baldovino 16:23 5:17
4 Odis Sanders 16:25 5:17
5 John Barreto 16:27 5:18
6 Craig Godwin 16:29 5:19
7 Jeff Droet 16:41 5:22
8 John Gill 17:11 5:32
9 Kyle Stair 17:27 5:37
10 Josh Whitman 18:00 5:48
TRIVIA QUESTION - Special bonus points for anyone who recognizes the names of the 4th and 8th place finishers and can tell us why they are significant.
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fast! 
