It’s all my fault. I measured a modified 5km course for the Halloween 5km that used all of Mine Road with a little spur up Embrey Mill Road. This year, the race organizers decided to use the new Halloween 5km course for their Frosty race, changing from the traditional 3-mile distance.
Today was the return of the Frosty 5km, replacing the Frosty 3 Mile. The race is held at the Rouse Center in Stafford, Virginia. I completed this race for the fourth consecutive year, one week after the Blue Gray 1/2 Marathon, and still under COVID recovery restrictions.
From 2017 to 2019, the Rouse Center hosted this race as a 5km using the same roads as the Stafford Christmas Parade. In those years, I timed the race with Race Timing Unlimited.
By 2020, Arsenal Events took over race management, and Mine Road construction was completed. Arsenal wanted to avoid the big uphill of Embrey Mill Road used by the Halloween Race. They asked me to measure a 5km course that stayed on Mine Road.
After measuring, a 5 km course would block either the entrance to the Rouse Center or cross Austin Ridge Rd. Neither option was acceptable to the Stafford Sheriff’s Department. So, we reduced the race distance to 3 miles.
The Frosty 3 Mile was held from 2020 to 2022. Using the little uphill spur, the race returned to a 5km.
The Frosty 5 km was the last race in this year’s Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix. The Grand Prix is a year-long series, managed by the Fredericksburg Area Running Club, of 12 races in and around the city. The series brings out the region’s faster racers. With my COVID restrictions, I needed to determine what effort I wanted and needed to run.
This past Wednesday, I had an appointment with my primary care physician because of headaches related to COVID. She is treating me for a bacterial infection. I asked when I could get back to running with purpose. She responded, “Wait about four weeks, and then you can run fast if you want.” That opinion matches my doctor daughter’s recommendation. Stressful activity while recovering from COVID may cause permanent heart and lung issues.
Using result screens on runfarc.com, I extracted data for the runners in my Grand Prix age group. Prerace, I can not be caught for third place in the male 65 to 69-year-old age group. There is a possibility that one of the runners in my age group will be moved into the Grand Master’s award category.
I was 8 points behind the second-place runner. If he registered and ran, I could not catch him. He did not register.
I would need to be the 61st or better male to catch him. Last year, in this race, I finished 55th and 44th in the Halloween 5 km. I finished 58th in this year’s Halloween 5km, so I doubted that running hard would improve my Grand Prix placing.
I wanted to run harder than I had since COVID, so I decided to run the downs and walk the ups. This course has very few flat sections. It would be nice to finish in 33 minutes.
The course is a simple out-and-back on Mine Road with a .05-mile uphill spur on Embrey Mill Road. To the Mine Road turnaround is 1.5 miles. The spur starts at the 2-mile mark. There is a kid’s mile race before the 5 km race. So, their turnaround point is 1/2 mile from the start. With the 1-mile turnaround marked, taking 1/2-mile splits is possible.
The morning forecast was temperatures in the low forties, sunny, and headwinds under five mph for the last 1.5 miles.
With a race start time of 9:30 am, I started my warmup at 8:50. I ran on the bike path that paralleled the racecourse, doing three repeats of 2-minute walks and 6-minute runs. I turned around at the kids halfway point.
By 9:20 am, the actual weather was 42 degrees with a 29-degree dew point, partly sunny skies, and four mph winds from the south. I decided to wear shorts over compression shorts, a singlet over a long-sleeved shirt, a neck gaiter, gloves, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 20 shoes.
I shuffled through the start corral to a point where most people in front of me did not appear to be roadblocks. I did not want to go out fast, and I didn’t want to weave through slower bodies either.
Buddy the Elf fired the starter’s pistol, and we’re off going uphill. I’m running at a restrained, relaxed pace. After 200 meters, the course heads downhill. The first 1/2 mile is 4:21, 2 seconds faster than 2022. Most of the first half mile is downhill.
Shortly after that, I started walking the ups and running the downs. My second 1/2 mile is a 5:06, a good first mile. I’m not feeling any strain and sticking with my plan.
The third and fourth 1/2 miles continued to roll. I did those segments in 5:17 and 5:27. At the Mine Road turnaround, it was chilly heading into the wind, so I pulled my gaiter over my ears. I’m a wimp.
Then, we turned up on Embrey Mill Road.
I ran 6:50 for the next .6 miles, and my last 1/2 mile was a 5:24. In this final 1.1 mile, I walked the ups and ran the downs, except the final little uphill to the finish.
My mile splits were 9:27, 10:44, 11:19 and 0:55. I’m happy with what I ran.
I crossed the finish line at 32:29 for 206th overall, 119th male, and 13 of 17 in the 60 to 69 age group.
Did I make the correct decision not to run hard? If I ran the same time as I did on this year’s Halloween 5km, I would have placed as the 82nd male for no Grand Prix gain.
Even though I was not breathing heavily, my Fitbit recorded my pulse above 160, which was higher than desired.
I ran an 8 minutes cooldown. Then, I hung around for the awards ceremony and a Krispy Kreme chocolate-covered doughnut.
This race was the fifth in the 2023 Stafford Race series. After finishing all five, we received series ornaments and backpacks. For males, I finished eighth,
That’s a wrap for 2023 racing. I need to watch the extra calories through the rest of the year and COVID recovery. On January 1, I’ll be back to stressful running.
This race was my 204th and 46th consecutive finish in Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix events.