The One Where I Won My Age Group

Spoiler: I was the only one in my age group.

(Maybe I shouldn’t have lead with that?)

ETA: a friend shared this with me and I had to include it in this post. 😂

This past weekend Lucas and I took part in the 5k portion of the William T. Nace Tin Man 5k/10k. This race is a small, local race and serves as a fundraiser for a student scholarship.

In its 8th year, the race has raised thousands of dollars to further their nonprofit’s mission, established in honor of their family member, William T. Nace.

With Ali Nace Smedley, one of the race directors. Ali’s law practice is a sponsor of the Healthy Kids Running Series – Mullica Hill/Mantua, which I coordinate.

The race takes place at Cooper River Park also known in the running community as the Cooper Loop. It’s actually where I learned about running and where my son did his first running clinic.

The 5k and 10k races were scheduled for 9:30. The fields were small; 12 5k runners and 16 10k runners. It was easy to grab our bibs and cotton t-shirts the morning of the race around 9:10. There was no prior pickup.

After a quick stop in the lovely heated bathrooms (I did NOT what to leave), the 5k runners walked with a representative of the timing company to our start.

The loop is just under 4 miles which meant that the 10k runners would be doubling back at some point – they had a different start and ran in the opposite direction so we passed them on the far side of the course.

My comfortable training pace has been 12:30 minute miles so I knew I’d probably be able to push the pace with this race. However, I also figured that I’d be toward the back of a very fast pack.

A couple of my Turtle running group pals were doing a training run around the loop, independently from the race, so I got to see them a few times. Always awesome to have familiar faces and cheers!

I ran the first mile straight through and when I looked down at my watch, I saw I’d kept a 10:45 pace, which is awesome for me but also freaked me out a bit. After that I jumped into my 1:1 intervals. I could see Lucas ahead in the distance (but not for long).

The route is a loop around a river. Around the halfway point there was a volunteer with water bottles, which I opted to skip.

On the far end of the course there’s a great view of the Philadelphia skyline. The wind also works with you at that point, which is lovely. However, the last mile back, the wind was right in my face, making it cold and difficult.

Lucas did great, finishing in 30:42 – his sub30 goal is going to happen sooner rather than later. I finished in just over 36 minutes, coming in 10th out of 12th for the race.

Great snack spread for all the runners!

After the 5k finishers crossed the line, the results were quickly posted and awards were distributed.

There’s no finishers medals, but because it’s a small race nearly everyone who crossed the line got age group awards. Additionally they have a few raffles for the runners of each event. Lucas and I won a $25 Visa gift card!

When our awards finished, the 10k runners started to cross the line. The overall winner was a friend of Lucas’ from school; it awesome to see an 8th grader rock her first ever 6.2 distance!

There’s something very special about a small race – you can feel the love and importance of the event to their family. That said, I hope that next year it grows in size and even more students are able to benefit from the scholarships.

Next up… Philadelphia Marathon Weekend, Rothman 8k!

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