Larry Noel 15km and 3km Race Report

I'm afraid that this is only short report as we are trying to get to the beach as soon as possible for a long weekend at Bethany Beach and then the now annual Delaware Diamondman 1/2 Ironman Triathlon on Sunday.

The Larry Noel 15km race takes place in Greenbelt every year over the Labor Day weekend and is slightly different in the fact that it starts late in the day at 5pm! Oddly enough about the hottest part of the day here in Maryland. At the same time they also do a 3km race and Sarah had chosen that to enter as her first race for a number of years.

Against my better judgement I stepped up the start line and was wondering how much my cold of the previous few days would affect me. The course was a challenging one with significant hills throughout including a major one in the final 2km. I started off strong and led the field through 1km and came to the 1st mile in 5mins 48secs. I then dropped back to 3rd feeling that I would be able to hold that pace.

Through 5km at 18mins 24secs I was still 3rd but had 4th on my heels and a distinct feeling that my legs and lungs were feeling the effects of the cold. At 6km I dropped to 4th and just tried to keep a constant pace that would get me home in a decent time.

I went through 10km and more hills in 38mins 12secs (only 16 secs quicker than my 10km time from last weeks Olympic Triathlon) and was struggling big time. I wanted to go under the hour but knew that the big leg buster of a climb back up to the start was still to come. At about 12km I dropped to 5th and knew I had a bit of a gap back to 6th. Before the race Sarah had said that she would settle for nothing less than a top 5 finish from me, cold or not, and so I had to try and keep that place. Fortunately I think the last big climb sapped everyone else just as it did me and I crossed the line in 59mins 28secs still in 5th and 1st in Age Group.

In hindsight I should probably not have raced and just rested up (or at least not have ridden 30 miles in the morning), but there you go, at least I got a nice beer tankard for my efforts.

Sarah, on the other hand, was fully rested and in full-on race shape. Unfortunately due to the overlap of the races I couldn't see Sarah race but from her race report to me she did a great job of pacing herself and overtook a few who had started out too fast. At 16mins 23secs she came across the line and took 8th overall and 2nd place female, a great effort considering that she only recently started running consistently. Next up for Sarah is the Run For Kathy 5km, which a Bowie Fall tradition.

Next up for me is the Diamondman 1/2 Ironman, which is the finale of three weeks consecutive racing.