Goodview Gallop 2007

The Goodview Gallop was a rainy one this morning. It started sprinkling about when I hit mile 2 and was pouring by the finish. Nonetheless, it was a good, fun run. When I ran the Gallop last year, I knew that it would quickly become a regular race for me and not just because I live so near. I love the fireworks they shoot off during the star spangled banner, the small town feel of having the announcer wish community members "Happy Birthday", the flat course, and the playing of "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" right before the gun goes off. The ambiance of the race is priceless.

Anyway, my biggest complaint, the only complaint, is that the only place results are posted appears to be the Winona Daily News. So I will wait until tomorrow to see what my official time is. In the meantime, I know from having mentioned the Goodview Gallop in another blog that I am not the only person that has been frustrated trying to search for the results. I am including the Goodview Gallop 2006 results in this post and will create another post with the 2007 results.

I really noticed a difference in how I felt racing after having tried an actual 5k running plan that included intervals and some hills work. In all honesty, I probably should have pushed myself further with the plan. Even so, the race felt more comfortable than any race I have run in a long, long time. I know my splits at the 1 mile and 2 mile intervals were pretty close to exactly where I was training for. However, I forgot to stop my watch when I was crossing the finish line, and didn't hear a time, so I will have to wait for official results. The downpour prevented me from getting my time before coming home. I have some early indication that my time dropped dramatically from my last 5k in January.

I did start too far back in the pack and probably cost myself a couple of seconds there. With all the pre-race activity, it is difficult to stay warmed up and not find yourself in the back of the pack behind walkers. Walkers pushing strollers.

Speaking of which, I haven't mentioned my favorite part of the race. Near the end, there was a small redhead and a bearded man looking my way and a quiet "Go, Roars" cheer. Thank you, my little family. It made the race special.