Race Review: Sleigh Bell Trot 5K

Nov 23, 2011 by Greg Fowler

Had a last minute addition to the race schedule – The Sleigh Bell Trot at Saluda Shoals Park in Irmo, SC.   This is a pretty cool concept for a race – run at night under the holiday light displays.    Two years ago, my son, wife and I all did this race and had a miserable time mainly due to lousy weather – cold and drizzly.

So, this year, when my son wanted to run it again, I was a bit hesitant. The rest of the family wanted to see the lights, though,  and I wanted to keep my son motivated to run, so I signed us up.

We caught a break with the weather.  It was actually a balmy 70 degrees!  Not bad for November 22.  I was hoping for about 60 degrees, but I can’t really complain.  It was much better than 40 and drizzle.

I had one main goal for the race, break 23:00 again.  I had set my personal best 5K back in May with a 22:48 and I was hoping that I could be in that neighborhood again.  My secondary goal was to beat my teenage son.  On paper, he is the 5K champ of the house, with a personal best under 21:00, but he hasn’t beat me head to head because of the timing of the races we have competed in together.  If we were to go head to head during the middle of cross country season, he beats me hands down, but that didn’t happen. Cross country has been over for almost a month, though, and his training has been pretty light since then.  So that, along with too much Xbox on his part, meant I had a slight chance.

So, how’d we do?  Unfortunately, the youngest runner in the house did not have his best race.  He allowed the old man to catch him about the 1 mile mark, then pull away by mile 2.   The old man ended up setting his PR in a 5K with a 22:37.   Not too bad for not doing any speed work recently.  You can see the entire results here.

So, I accomplished my goals, but I didn’t rub it in to my son about losing to the old man.  I really wanted him to have a better race.  Maybe a loss to Dad will get him motivated again.

That will probably conclude my fall racing season.  The new training I’m working on recommends not racing for a few months while building a better aerobic base.  So, I may not race again until February.   I’ll keep you posted.

POFIFOTO & Happy Thanksgiving!