I had a great first half of the marathon block, then progress was derailed somewhat after a calf injury which forced me to run the Ottawa 10K as a workout effort, and eventually DNS at the rock n' roll san diego. Fortunately I didn't miss too much and still raced the Vancouver Half Marathon on June 23rd as planned. With 5 weeks between Vancouver and San Francisco, I wanted to get in one more hard effort and July 4th was just about the only week with a lot of races plus being 3.5 weeks out the timing was great for a hard effort. I looked at many local options and also considered the Butte to Butte 10K in Eugene, but ultimately settled on the Will Rogers 10K in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
I settled on this race for 2 reasons: 1) It was about as close it gets for racing- 45 minute drive meant this wouldn't take up much of the day or have an ugly return trip back and 2) the course was very hilly. 450' of elevation gain and loss over 10K is no joke. Manhattan Beach had 250' and felt quite hilly, this would be a real challenge. I do like racing over hills, but the real reason to seek out hilly races is to prepare for a brutal San Francisco marathon course (1,300' of elevation change). Due to the hills, I wouldn't be going for a PR. My PR is relatively slow compared to other ones, but here I was just expecting to run hard, be reasonably competitive, and likely run around 34 minutes which was last year's winning time.
I had a great workout the weekend prior to the race, but felt strangely terrible leading up to the race feeling a complete lack of energy on several days. I slept really bad and felt terrible waking up. I fully expected to run a poor race here, but was also just going for a solid hard effort. I saw that last year's winner, a 14:30 5K runner for Bucknell was returning, which meant I'd likely be running for second.
The parking situation was kind of strange as you had to park about a kilometer way on the shoulder of a busy road and figure out your own way there. I feel that would be problematic for a cold/winter race, but I figured I could just warm-up from the car and with 20-30 minutes to go, change to race gear and head over. I ran over the first time with my phone and ID in hand to get my bib and it was a little awkward running back holding my bib. Finished out the warmup and felt pretty sluggish, but not terrible.
Ran back over to the start and stretched, used the bathroom and hung around until under 10 minutes before. I thought it was strange the announcers said this was the best town in America considering we were in Los Angeles, and that the weather was excellent for running (upper 60s and near 100% humidity). The start line was a bit of mess and very crowded, but fortunately there was an easy spot to slide in the front. This was absolutely one of those start lines where 80% on the start didn't belong there. Right next to me was some metal timing equipment blocking the rightmost 10 feet of the starting line, and I was a little nervous the kids adjacent to me would cut me off as they appeared ready to run in an angle in front of me (if they went straight, they'd trip over the metal stuff).
We went off 2-3 minutes late, which is always annoying. The first mile of this race is 100' downhill on a neighborhood road and I went out really fast. Last year's winner lined up in the 3rd or 4th row which surprised me, but wasted no time in getting out. There were a lot of presumably high school aged runners doing the 5K which would share the first 2.5 miles of the 10K route. Since high schoolers tend to go out really fast, this meant plenty of company through this first mile. The top guy settled in at the back of the top group, and I tried my best to tuck into the chase pack. I noticed the leader 1) had great form, 2) looked like cooper teare, and 3) was looking around frequently at people's bibs around him. I was pretty sure many of these younger guys who had matching shirts were in the 5K, so I liked that I was currently hidden enough that he might suspect he had a big lead for the 10K. I'm so used to running solo in races and rarely get in packs, that several times I got too close to the guys in front of me and kicked their feet. I definitely usually am used to having lots of space doing all my workouts solo and racing in no man's land seemingly 90-95% of the time. Going out with the 5K runners and the downhill combined for a fast first mile of 4:49. I didn't feel bad, but was a little sluggish and I instantly thought my day was over. We had already completed a major downhill, and now would have mile 2 with 100' back uphill. 4:49 sounded crazy to me as I was planning on going in 5:00 and mentally I thought my race would fall apart badly.
The next mile I would observe a frequent feature of road racing - despite being in 10th or worse at the mile, I easily moved up throughout Mile 2. It's almost a part of youth racing, unless you're very good or mature, to go out really hard in the first mile and fade quite a bit. That's exactly what happened here as even though my effort was slowing a bit, I was moving up frequently. Fortunately, I still wasn't close enough to the leader that he knew I was there. Going up the hill didn't feel brutal, but it was certainly noticeable at 5% grade at parts. The mile finished with a flat OAB section- no cone turnaround but a divided road. I was about 15 meters behind the leader, who was behind 3-4 5K runners. Fortunately close enough he didn't have time to look at my bib. I hit Mile 2 in 5:27 which seemed a little slow but was actually a well paced mile with a 5:08 GAP.
Took half a mile to make a few more turns and onto the much wider/main road of Sunset Boulevard. I had raced a few miles on this road during the marathon, but not this section. It was here when we split off from the 5K and the leader finally looked back, now about 20 meters ahead and he looked shocked and maybe a little scared to see me. I don't think he was at a disadvantage and likely had more gears, but it's never a good feeling thinking you had a big lead and realizing the race was far from over. That said, I still not only would have to close the gap but make a move of my own and then hold on to win. But it was nice to be the chaser and not the leader. If I caught up and won, great. If I didn't, I'd still hold my position. I didn't have anything to lose here.
Mile 3 was largely flat but finished on a downhill, and I could feel I was slowly gaining on him. I tried to really hammer the downhill and get everything out of that. I was surprised he wasn't picking it up after spotting me. I definitely felt sluggish and tired here, but perhaps being in a close race distracted from the pain. I didn't pay much attention to the split, but did note 5K in about 16:03 (?), although net downhill at that point. 5:07 third mile.
The next mile would make or break the race, with a 210' foot climb from 3.3 to 4.3, a windy switchback road to Will Rogers State Park. Average grade only about 5% but a long climb, and one of the hardest ones I've done in a road race. I handled this hill really well and ran it about as well as I could have expected. I was only 10 meters back at 3.5 or so, but the leader was an excellent uphill runner and put the race away. He opened it up to at least 60-70 meters from there and the race was over. The top of the hill featured a flat quarter mile and I was shocked how difficult this felt. The actual long hill was neither as slow or felt as bad as I was expecting, but this flat section after I really struggled to get back on pace and felt quite tired. I wasn't able to hit the next downhill as hard as I wanted from the fatigue as it took a little while just to get going again. Mile 4 in 5:31 and 5 in 5:14.
I knew I was on a solid pace, better than expected but closing out the last mile would be hard. I enjoyed the last bit of downhill back on Sunset but now it was 100' of climbing back to the finish. Not a gradual climb either as most of that was in the next half mile. There were many people running the other way now and I got a lot of cheers "You can catch him". The spectators simply don't realize I'm not closing a 60m (probably cut down 10m on the downhill) gap on an uphill. Of course they didn't watch the race unfold, but I found it a little funny because from my perspective, his, and probably the lead bikers I had pretty much no shot of catching this guy.
I was gassed this last mile and he definitely had a little bit saved in the tank, using his uphill strength to his advantage and likely doubling that gap by the finish. I had my worst mile for the last one, but tried to stay tough, get through the uphill and manage a respectable close. I was rounding the last turn when I heard the announcer say the winner crossed the line in 32:46 and I was shocked to hear that as I hadn't thought about the time and was still probably expecting a 33:45 at best. Now I might break 33? I kicked a little, but it was far too late as I finished second in 33:05.
This event and performance by me far exceeded my expectations. I fully expected to show up to an amateur race with only partially closed roads, a mediocre course and struggle to run a 34 flat. Instead I had an 18 second PR despite 450' of elevation gain, fought hard and ran strong throughout, and the event was really well done. Despite expecting a local 5K atmosphere, all cars were off the roads, organized well, many lead bikers, every kilometer and mile marked. Smooth experience and only complaint was the price ($70?) was a bit expensive.
As for my performance, I proved that 1) I was in excellent shape, 2) I was completely prepared for hills. There was a good chance that L.A. might be my only PR in 2024, so it was great to pick up another one. For 15 minutes I kept thinking about how surprising that performance was as I really wasn't expecting a big one here. My GAP was really even throughout the race, fast first mile at 5:00 but consistent 5:06-5:08 GAP through 5 mile then slipped a little bit to 5:15 with the fatigue. Overall GAP of 5:07 which would be put me pretty close to 32 flat on a fast course. This is the first 10K I've really knocked out of the park, and of course so much time to take off on a faster course. One of my best performances of the 2020s for sure. Onto San Francisco marathon with some increased confidence.
