Race Report: Pi Miler

by Audrey Perlow


I spent all week telling my boyfriend Justin how I was going to go sub-20 at the 3.1415926 mile race as well as win the thing-so watch out world!!
 
The race was of pi miles distance and benefited the local magnet science high school.  Justin reminded me I should wear my Maxwell's equations shirt.  Yes, I have a t-shirt with the equations that dictate how light acts.  The shirt was a gift from a proud MIT alum.
 
At the start of the race I couldn't get quite on the starting line because the local HS cross-country team (girls and boys) was up there but Justin and I were pretty close to the front.  The race started, I took off around 6-6:10 min/mile pace, and I found myself in fourth (women's) place.  What what?  I guess different people showed up this year.  Surprise to me!  I stayed focused on myself and tried to keep my brisk pace as I didn't feel too badly.  The course was hilly but I felt like there was more downhill than uphill (on the loop course) which is an odd feeling I have pretty often when I race.
 
Around a 1/2 mile in I passed one girl.  Yay!  I started to gain on the 2nd place woman who was gaining on the 1st place girl.  I also started passing, and would continue to pass, boys who had gone out too fast.  At mile 1.5 there was a brief tie for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd as all of the leading women, myself included, ran together in a line.  I pulled ahead.
 
I caught up to Justin and I was super heavy breathing.  He talked to me but I could not talk back.  He and I ran next to each other with him trying not to let me ahead and me pushing the pace b/c I was worried about the women behind me.
 
At mile 2.5 I was dying and we turned a corner, giving me a chance to discreetly (kind of) look back.  I didn't see any women.  Thank god!  I did slow down during the last .6 as I was really hurting.  I looked back one more time when I hit the 3 mile mark and there was a girl coming up on me even though I hadn't seen her all race.  She had passed a lot of women in the last mile.  I hit the 5K mark and then the finish line at pi.  I was 1st overall, 12 seconds ahead of 2nd.
 
The third place woman asked if I attend school there-at the high school-and now I love her even though I know I do not look like a high schooler.  The 2nd place girl told me that she and her x-country teammates noticed my equations shirt at the start and they liked it!  I said something like, Me, English major, shirt is blue.  She explained to me that the shirt had to do with physics.
 
I won a pie, a gift certificate to the movies, a t-shirt, and a metal medal that the students made at school.  Justin and I agree it was a pretty cool race and we both liked it a lot. As for my time-20:54.  FAIL!!  Justin and I think the course was a touch long, but still, blech.  I have been stuck at 20+ min/miles for 5K (or today, for pi) for years.  It's frustrating.  Justin pointed out in my training I never ever run as fast as I race.  It's true.  I miss track workouts with my club every single week and the hotels I stay in for work don't have tracks nearby.  I need to do speed work on regular running trails b/c I want to go sub-20 and it is not happening no matter how many miles I seem to run! Aloha from DC to all of my BTT friends!  I miss you guys and ladies!!