Celtic Soltice

Place   Name         Age          Place Age Group   Time       

357/1926    Darren Biggs    33    56/133  M 30-34   38:34.60      7:43/Mile

As part of my off season I am trying to run a bit. I don't mind running, but my body seems to. I have found that my body can usually only take running once a week. I am working to run twice a week and then once biking season starts run once a week. Some of my big motivation is running with Sara. The Celtic Solstice is a race that I have done twice before, but never for a time. This year I wanted to push myself and see what I could do. I have only run like 15 times this whole year, but have been running once a week since mid Nov. to get ready for the race. The Celtic Solstice is a great 5 mile race that is only $12 with ChampionChip Timing.
I had run the weekend before to find a time that I would shoot for at the race. I had originally thought 40 minutes would be a good goal. I timed my run at 5 miles in 48 minutes by going on the song times I'd listened to on the run, which could've been off, so I lowered my expectations to a 45 minute goal.

We got there late, and I ended up lining up towards the back. We start the race, and I went out quick. I wasted some energy and a little time getting around people. I heard the first split and realized that I was going at a pretty good clip. If the race was a 5k I would have been money. I was moving through the group and finally found people at my pace. I was having a hard time staying with this one girl and then I started to feel my foot move around...my shoelace was coming untied! So I wasted some more seconds and fixed that, and kept pushing the rest of the race. I have a good engine (lungs, heart) from biking but it is my legs that let me down. The last 2 miles of the race I was having a hard time staying with people around me. Most of these people were regular runners that get negative splits as the race goes on. So I kept up as best as I can, and then during the final downhill, I must have had like 20 people go by me, as I can only move my legs so fast. I was totally stoked, though, with my time of 38:40 or 7:42 miles. I have a couple more races this winter and I might cap it off with the Fred Events Mt. Duathalon in April.