New to the Arkansas Grand Prix Series this year is The Great Pumpkin Run 5K in Lonoke, AR. This race was started in 2011 as way to raise money and awareness for the Open Arms Shelter for abused and neglected children. In addition to the race, there are all kinds of interesting pumpkins for sale, vendors and live music. And of course food! I love races like this that have a festival type environment and raise money and awareness for a good cause.

Never having run this race before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew the course was flat and other than a loop in the middle, was pretty much an out and back style course. My race plan was to go out between a 7:10-7:20 first mile and work my way down to a 7:05 final mile. The flat course and favorable weather conditions made me feel like this was a realistic plan. Temps were in the mid 60s, it was overcast and foggy, but also a little humid. 

I went out right on target and patiently pulled up when I saw that my pace was a sub 7. The first mile was right on target at a 7:11.

As the crowd began to thin and runners settled into their race pace I found myself in a familiar place: running alone and slowing down. I made the decision to surge and catch up to the man in front of me. My hope was that I would have someone to run with who would push me. Instead he slowed down and I passed him. Once again I was running alone.

Mile 2 was a 7:29. Not the direction I was hoping for. The crazy thing is it didn’t feel like I was slowing down. There was a group of 3 runners in front of me. I’m not really sure why I chose not to surge again. In hindsight I’m pretty sure I could have caught them and at least had help maintaining my target pace.

Just before mile 3 a female runner from the Little Rock Roadrunners started to pass me. I worked to hold her off and was initially successful. I knew I was the third runner for my team, Searcy Rush and finishing ahead of her would be crucial to how we scored as a team. I went through mile 3 at 7:36. 

Even though I fought hard the girl passed me in the final stretch. I ran the final 0.1 in 43 seconds! My finish time was 22:59. At least I broke 23 minutes!

While it wasn’t quite the race I wanted, I always try to take away something that I can learn from and improve next time. In my next race, I will work harder not to run alone, especially if there are runners as close to me as the group that was in front of me in this race. I will also fight harder to maintain my pace. I’m at the point in my training where my pace should be more consistent than this.

Next race I am going to experiment with the pacing feature on my Garmin. I have used it on a couple of speed workouts, but have yet to try it in a race. Have you ever used it in a race? I would love to know your thoughts on how it did or didn’t help you so if you would please leave me a comment below!