Chanukah Run a Latke 5K

Doug Bollen was selling this race to Krissy and I the other night. It sounded like a decent way to break up a Sunday morning and keep the journey of miles interesting. The start and finish was outside the Chabad Hall on Burrill St in Swampscott which is 100 yards away from ocean and Kings Beach which is an awesome place to run either toward Nahant or through Swampscott to Marblehead.

I got on the start line after running the first mile for an out and back. I jumped out into the lead and had some company on my heels. I was not sure who it was and did not peek back. I went through the mile around 5:39 and it got quiet. Then the footsteps came right back as the course began to climb. The runner, Sean Kay, passed me and put in a decent little gap (maybe 10 seconds) through mile two. I was trying to keep it together while running into the wind on Humphrey Street. 

I noticed that I was closing the gap and this gave me some confidence that we might just have a good race for the win at the end. I got within a stride at the top of the last hill, 3 miles, and he looked back and took off using his 4:42 mile speed to the finish. I surrendered and finished 5 seconds back in 18:09. Full results. He revenged a 5K loss to me at the Dory Run in run over some of the same roads in the past.

I went out immediately for a cool down after giving Sean a fist bump. Upon return to the temple, Sufganiyah (a jelly doughnut) and coffee was waiting for me. I scored a Dunkin Donuts gift card for placing first in my age group. I caught up with Sean who is continues to run some personal best times in cross country and track for his high school team. He will be breaking 10 minutes for the 2 mile before the year is over. 

Krissy and I after the race with the cool shirts we bought