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2018 North Canton YMCA July 4th 5 Miler Race Recap – N Canton, OH

2018 North Canton YMCA July 4th 5 Miler Race Recap – N Canton, OH

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I think it’s really fun to jump into local races when travelling, so last year, when I was in Ohio for the fourth of July, I ran a local community race in North Canton (along with my sister and her BIL) and had an absolute blast! I was excited to return to the North Canton YMCA 5 mile race again this year and hoped that I’d get some positive feedback going into TSFM, which was only a few weeks out at that point.

#tbt to last year’s race with my seester

This recap is a bit delayed per yoosh, but what I can remember most vividly about this year’s iteration of the July 4th race is that it was hot and humid as absolute hell. I recall last year’s race also being hot and humid and windy, but man, this year’s just took the cake in comparison. Race morning is rather busy, since the kids’ race begins first, followed by the 2 mile race, then the pushrim division of the 5 miler, and then the actual 5 miler. Part of the reason I’ve come to love this race is due to its there’s-something-for-everyone nature, but man. A late morning start time in early July definitely makes for some hot-hot-hot running.  

this is apparently the face I make when I’m texting my sister random pics of the sniper on top of a city hall building (kinda creepy, right?)

After grabbing my bib and shirt from the Y that was hosting the event (their process runs like clockwork!), I did a very easy and casual two mile warm-up and was utterly and completely soaked in sweat. As if I needed any verification that the elements were going to make the day interesting, I sure got it early on. When I looked at my phone before I started, I think we were in the 90s for humidity and high 70s for temperature and dewpoint. I hung in the starting area, recognized a local runner I chatted with last year and caught up with her, and before too long, we were off.

Coach Lisa’s plan for the day was to start around 10k pace (and hopefully, be comfortable) and negative split the race, with the intention of finishing the race feeling very strong on the race’s late-stage big(ger) hills. I talked about the race a lot last year in my recap, but for brevity: it’s all run on neighborhood paved streets, most of which have little undulations, and it’s pure sun the entire time. There’s a downhill/flat start, and around mile 4 begins a series of three climbs, with the first being arguably the largest.

Right off the bat, when I was running around 10k pace, I knew that it was going to be very hard to maintain that due to the conditions. I didn’t want to not try, of course, but I knew that the day was going to be more about racing and trying to work against the elements and less about racing against the clock. I think I began the race in the company of a bunch of HS XC boys, just like last year, and within the first mile, I was probably in or very near the top 10 women.

Much as I had predicted, my focus shifted from go for the PR to something more like work hard on the day. I tried pacing as well as I could and intentionally worked to stay in the moment and not fret about how hot and humid it already was and how much it’d likely worsen in the next thirty minutes. When a neighbor had a sprinkler or hose going off on his/her lawn, I purposely gravitated toward it in the hope that it’d offer a reprieve. In the five mile race, I’m pretty sure I hit six different hoses or sprinklers, which was just awesome.

Other women runners started dropping off pretty quickly after mile one, and I tried to carefully pick them off, one by one. The course’s many turns offered a few quick glimpses as to how many women (approximately) were ahead of me, and by mile 2/2 and change, it appeared I had moved up to maybe the top 5 or 6. I passed the woman closest to me shortly thereafter, each of us sharing encouraging remarks to the other (making me think a lot of the Des Linden interviews I had heard recently about her Boston performance and sportsmanship), and as far as I knew, by about halfway, I was around top 4-5 on the female side. If last year was any indication, I figured that most of  the top runners on both sides would be HS runners, so this was going to be fun! 

Again, with my interest being more about racing the conditions than about the clock, I figured it’d behoove me to do whatever I could to mitigate the heat, which meant that, aside from seeking out the sprinklers and hoses whenever I could, I also went out of my way to ensure that I grabbed a water cup around the halfway mark, even though I wasn’t especially thirsty at that point (just hot). After I dumped on my head and/or drank part of the water, I offered the remains to a guy on my left, who was far enough away from the table that he hadn’t gotten one. He seemed genuinely touched (and extremely grateful) that I offered to him what was essentially my leftovers, which in retrospect is kinda comical. 

At this point, much of the rest is a blur. Any runner whom I passed or who passed me offered encouraging remarks — we were all in this hot mess together! — and I tried to finish as well as I could. I remembered the big hill right around mile 4, but I hadn’t remembered the last two in that final mile, so that was a bit of a bitter reality to encounter. By the time it was said and done, I had run a good 100 seconds slower (35:11) than last year’s time but on a far worse day, condition wise. For perspective: last year, I was the ninth woman (and ran nearly two minutes faster). This year, I was the fourth woman, and my 2017 time would have won in 2018. The weather is a beast to race against! 

The post-race party was similar to last year, so I happily partook in the free massages from the LMT students and apologized profusely for my prolific amount of sweat. I eventually learned that I was the fourth woman overall and had taken first my age group like last year, which was fun. Of course, I wished I could have run faster or raced harder on the day, since I feel like my fitness now is better than it was at this time last year, but it’s all good. I think I did the best I could, given the day.

Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam were walking around and gave me around 20 mini American flags to take home to all the people coming to my sister’s party, and between those and the random beach ball that someone else gave me while I was waiting for a massage (and the bag I had won for my AG win), I figured my family would be happy when I came home with “prizes” for them. Shortly after dropping off all my spoils, I ran another three mile cool-down, posting 10 for the day and absolutely dripping in sweat, and called it at that.

my AG win! and a very wet singlet!

 

flags and a ball!

Just like I said last year, if you’re in the northeast Ohio area over the fourth and want a fun race, I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s inexpensive, has effortless logistics, offers race distances for everyone (with great courses!), and definitely has that small-town America vibe, which is super cute and quaint, especially on the fourth. It goes without saying, but of course, anytime you’re running or trying to race in the midwest in the middle of summer, the weather is a crapshoot, but eh. Life’s too short to bitch about the weather incessantly, right? Do what you can on the day, and be happy and grateful.

forever grateful for the opportunity to race (and for the volunteers who make this stuff happen) (PC: YMCA fb page)

Almost go time for SF … but first, Wharf to Wharf!    

2017 North Canton YMCA July 4th 5 Miler (N Canton, OH) – Race Report

2017 North Canton YMCA July 4th 5 Miler (N Canton, OH) – Race Report

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A confluence of events conveniently coalesced (whoa, consonance) while I was visiting family in northeast Ohio: a nearby town was hosting a race on the 4th of July; the distance (5 miles or 2 miles) coincided pretty seamlessly with where I was in my SF marathon training; it was inexpensive; and finally, I had childcare locked down — all critical elements for being able to race. Before the North Canton YMCA July 4th race, I hadn’t yet completed a race on the 4th of July, so I was excited to race in an atmosphere that I imagined would be similar in vibe to a turkey trot. As a huge bonus, my sister and her husband’s cousin (her unofficial BIL) were going to run the 2 mile race that set off before the 5 miler, and one of my nephews, and my sister’s BIL’s son, were also going to run the kids’ race. It was going to be a fun morning.

Coincidentally, the North Canton YMCA July 4th Race (so succinct) celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, and it’s the second of at least three races I’ve run/will run this year celebrating the ruby milestone. It was evident from the get-go that the Y, and the city of North Canton, had been doing this stuff a long time because everything was clockwork on race morning. The town’s central area was decorated to mark the Independence Day festivities, the Y effortlessly ushered tons of runners and walkers through its doors to get packets on race morning and/or use their (very nice) bathrooms, and the central square brimmed with local companies, vendors, eateries, massage therapists (praise the lord) and even an animal adoption area (PUPPIES!) for participants pre- or post-race. I have no problem supporting new races and giving them a chance, but it’s always so nice to go through the motions at an established race that clearly has figured out what works and what doesn’t.

I can only recall racing a 5 miler (not an 8k) one other time before, and coincidentally, it was also here in the Akron area, and shortly after giving birth to A way back in 2011. Based on workouts and where I was in marathon training, I figured that I could probably shoot for around a 6:4x pace at the YMCA race — about what I’d run my tempos and not too far off the MMD 10k in May. I purposely went into this race with very untapered legs (and thus, an untapered mind, if that makes any sense) because I wanted it to mimic the final grind of 26.2. Plus, with the whole “racing in July in the humid midwest” factor, I figured that if all else failed, I could at least make a decent workout of it and have another stimulus before toeing the line at SFM. I knew nothing about the course — I realized at the race that I managed to not even look at a map beforehand — so I was flying blindly for a change.

After an easy but humid 2 mile warm-up, I connected with my sister and nephew, and my sister’s BIL and his family, to cheer the kids on in the kids’ dash. I so love watching the unbridled enthusiasm and energy of kids’ races. Shortly after, my sister and her BIL began their 2 miler, and it was equally fun to cheer for them as they began their footrace.   

 

my sis and her BIL (fun fact: they used to work together when they were teenagers, and we had a running joke that I’d marry him. No idea).

 

seesters! pre-race

 

kiddos’ firecracker race. how cool that it was free!? my nephew is in the orange. (PC: sister)

Not long later, the 5 mile runners and I lined up and waited for our signal. I immediately noticed the rather, uh, dearth of non-teenaged runners, so I figured it’d make for a good ~35 minutes of chasing folks a fraction of my age. Why not, right? I also noticed that there were virtually no women near the front of the pack, which was a little disconcerting. Call all these observations great reminders in the importance of just run your own race, and don’t overthink things.

After a slight downhill right off the bat, on a commercial street, we immediately made our way into some residential neighborhoods and basically stayed there for the near-entirety of the race. Even at 8:30 in the morning, many of the various neighborhoods’ residents were already out in their devilstrips, grilling, drinking, and cheering on the runners. (Eds. note: over time, I’ve learned that “devilstrip” is either an Akron word or one that only my family uses. Either way, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, here. I honestly don’t know of any other word to describe it). Most of the streets were fairly flat, though there were periodic blips or undulations — I wouldn’t exactly call them hills — that necessitated a quick change in gears for a few seconds. The most dramatic hill, what the RD referred to in pre-race emails as “THE HILL,” was after mile 4 and only lasted about .10-.15 miles and was by far the most dramatic. All the other hills were gentler and more often than not, longer.

see me? racing with HS XC runners casually carrying a flag; one guy in that mix was also wearing a firefighter’s hat throughout the race. God bless teenagers. (PC: YMCA fb page)

This race was a blast. I loved the positive energy that the community members threw out all morning long, and hell, even with the warmish temps, pure sun in many sections of the course, and slight wind and humidity (natch, it’s July), it was fun. I went out of my way to run through sprinklers 3 times mid-race (midwest summer racing at its finest), and I tried to not dissociate when things began to feel hard or tiring. As usual, I rarely looked at my watch and only caught my splits maybe half the time, but I focused on running evenly and strategically, reigning in people slowly but surely and not pacing like a tool. I passed four women between miles 2-3 and eventually got passed by 2 sometime after mile 4 — who looked really young — making the short race a fun little cat-and-mouse game for a while.

Once we cleared “THE HILL” and made our way back to the downtown area, we had an ever-so-slight downhill into the finish, back on the commercial street where we began, a short jog away from the start line. I tried desperately to outkick a guy close to me and to close the gap more on the women in front of me but failed at both (though apparently, the results reveal that the guy and I finished with the same exact time). In the process of my final kick attempt, I heard my family on the sidelines screaming for me (I LOVE YOU, SISTER!) and focused on turnover until the finish line was behind me. The result: 33:31, a near-8 minute PR for the distance, 9th woman, 1st AG, and 52/583 overall. (For funsies, here are the top 10 women’s ages: 19, 41, 19, 49, 20, 18, 28, 12 [!], 33, 19. Apparently I was the token 30-something).

 

not far from the finish line (PC: sister)

 

trying to catch the dude in front of me and coming up short (PC: sister)

 

failing but determined, anyway! (PC: sister)

I’m really happy with how this race went, especially considering my purposely less-than-fresh approach. Even though this pace was slower than what I did at MMD for 10k, given that it was about 48 hours post-20 mile workout, and again, in the thick of 26.2 training, I was thrilled. It is often tempting for me to begin to lose focus when racing gets uncomfortable, but I’ve been trying to actively stay with it — to stay present in each and every mile and not get far ahead of myself, wondering how I’ll be feeling in the next 800m or the next mile or whatever, particularly if I’m not feeling fantastic in any given second. I’m slowly learning that I can still find flow and not dissociate when it seems like my natural course of action. I guess you can say that instead of riding the train, I’m trying to conduct the thing for a change. It’s a work in progress.

Post-race, I got a massage (lovely), ran another 3 miles as a cool-down, picked up my useful mug that I earned for winning my age group, and got back as soon as I could to see the tail-end of my family’s hood’s 4th festivities for the kids.  

 

I missed the parade by about 20 minutes, but the pics sure are cute! Two of my nephews in the foreground (PC: sister)

 

she slept in for the race, but my dad woke her up for the parade. G slept through both the parade and the race. (PC: sister)

 

runner by early morning, cyclist by late morning (PC: sister)

This North Canton YMCA July 4th race was a gem and one that I’d definitely repeat. If you care about the detail, it wasn’t USATF certified, but even still, I registered 4.95 for the distance — a pretty reasonable margin of error, IMHO. The volunteers and community support was great, the premiums were nice if that stuff is important to you (a tech T and medals, tons of post-race food, and mugs for AG and OA winners), and the price was right. Plus, the field was super fast, which just made for an even more fun race experience. I’m appreciative that I found this race, that it worked out with my schedule, and that I got one final race stimulus before SF. It left me feeling encouraged that I can still grind when it’s absolutely critical, which was kinda the point in doing it in the first place. Mission accomplished.

Hard to believe the next bib that’ll adorn my Wolfpack singlet will be for TSFM!