Monster Dash 5k After Action Report
10/29/2022
Overland Park, KS
Whew, what a beautiful Fall morning for a race! Temperatures started in the mid 40’s, no wind, with some clouds and sun mixed at the start. For an October race, you couldn’t really ask for better weather. I came into this race pretty jazzed up. I have run this course before and usually I have done it well. I last ran this race on 10/28/2018. I finished up with a time of 40:24.That is my 59th best 5k time. We’ll get to that later.
For most of 2022 my goal has been to get a 5k time back under thirty-four minutes. Last weeks Cliffhanger race came in at 34:04 so I was ready to explode after that. I was so close yet so far. This course though, I knew I had it. This was an easier course than Cliffhanger, so I crossed the starting mat ready to rumble!
The horn blew and we were off. This is a great race, but like every Holiday themed race, it has folks from all walks of life at it. There were a ton of families out in their Halloween costumes and the course was littered with children. As we all know, this leads to a wretched beginning of a race. Just a mass of non-runners who don’t know where to start, how to get lined up in the starting corrals, and just dash across the mat as soon as the horn blows. Even if they know they will be down to a walk in thirty seconds. So the start of this race is an oh-so-fun and oh-so-familiar game of “dodge a newbie”. Thankfully the herd thins quickly and we are off and running!
There is a benefit running a course that you know. You know when to dial it back and when to push it forward. I used that this morning greatly to my advantage. I was prepared for the uphills and accelerated down the down hills. I was on fire this morning! I did everything I wanted to at this race. I finished under the time I wanted and I finished with negative splits over each mile. I ran every step of this race. No walking. I didn’t even walk through the aid station. I was feeling it!
I finished with an official time of 31:55. I blew that thirty-four minute goal out of the water! I got home to find that I had missed a new PR by just FOUR seconds! I couldn’t believe it! I feel like I would have had it if I didn’t have to spend the first half mile dancing around newbies, but such is life.
This is a fun race and is now number two in my best 5k times. The t-shirt is always fun and the medal is always a highlight. I recommend this race, especially if you have never done it before. Just make sure that if you bring the family out, you have them listen to our previous episode about race etiquette. Okay? Deal!
Our next race will be in Lees Summit, MO at the Longview Half Marathon. We’re going to pretend that I am in any condition to do a half marathon since my last one was in June. Oh well, it will be race on! Everyone have a great week of training. We’ll see you at the starting line!
- Kyle