St. Jude's Children's Hospital 15K

The St. Jude's Children's Hospital 15K is a stripped-down, bare-bones affair that starts in Ridgewood at the Saddle River Park Duck Pond and follows the mostly flat trail that winds through the neighboring towns. Normally, one would expect a lot of amenities for a $50 entry fee, but since every dollar goes directly to the hospital, the frills are nil. Simple race, great cause, good people - that works for me. 

All I needed to know was one thing: At the start of the race, I asked Jeff, one of the race directors, "Are the turns clearly marked?" He said they were.

Having knocked out PRs in the 5K and four-mile this spring, plus the 10K last spring, it was time to try my hand at another distance that has had a long standing record in my books - the 15K.

One of the problems with the 15K is that it is hard to find, which is why I had never raced the distance outside of the Run Around the Block 15K on Block Island in 2006 and 2009.  But almost five years later with lots more racing under my belt and having shattered all my non-marathon PRs since then, it was time to seek out a 15K.  It would be the 2014 PR trifecta.

My previous record was 1:00:46 - a 6:32 pace, so a PR would be easily obtained. The bigger challenge was settling on how fast to push it.  Since my half-marathon PR pace was 6:27 and my 10K PR pace was 6:11, I settled on a challenging, but attainable 6:17.

Using Hal Higdon's advanced training 10-mile race training plan, I worked hard for five weeks. Each week included a tempo run, 400-meter fast intervals, pace run and long run; leaving only two days for easy runs plus one optional rest day (the other option is another easy run, which I took).  I felt pretty beat up by race day and I had hoped that one quality rest day would do the trick.

The trail at the park is narrow and was not closed off, so I made sure to get in the front of the pack right away. At the "go" command, I darted out with the front runners, staying in a close cluster with three other people. I was not wearing my GPS watch, but I had a stopwatch and the trail had mile markers at first. With a 6:07, I hit the first mile too fast (as usual), so I hung back.  But I slowed too much and swung the other way for mile 2 (6:23).

After the first turn - with only a chalk arrow on the pavement and the two front runners leading the way - the path no longer had mile markers.  I was on my own and had to judge my pace the old-fashioned way, by listening to my body.  After the turnaround that seemed in the middle of nowhere (again with only an arrow and the trust that the two people ahead of me knew what they were doing), I started to panic a little.  Was that really the turnaround?  Am I being led astray as I have in the past?

As I panicked, I slowed down - the front runners were getting away.  I could not see them beyond the twists and turns of the trail. I pushed again, hoping to at least keep a glimpse of the amazing Maria Danna, who was in second place but far ahead of me.

A half-hour before, the race director assured me that the turns were clearly marked.  Yet I came to an intersection that had no arrows and no volunteer to point the way. Perhaps if I was jogging, I would have had time to ponder the direction of the trail, the placement of the sun or the sign that had indicated which way led to what town. But blazing at a 6:17 pace (I hoped) does not offer such time for this, so I guessed and turned left.

Not long after, I saw Jeff on the trail. "Is this the right way???!!!!"

He said yes and I shouted as I passed him - "Get somebody at that intersection!  It isn't marked!!"

After the next and last turnaround, I could focus solely on my speed.  There were mile markers again, so it was a matter of maintaining that 6:17.  I kept missing it by about two seconds, no matter how hard I pushed. I did not know exactly how much course was left, but when my watch hit the mid-40s, I knew it only had to be a couple more miles.  Push.  Push.  Push.

51 minutes.  Only about a mile to go.  I can do this.  Ramp it up hard.  Dig deep.  Lay it all out there and sprint a six-minute mile. 

With my mind preparing for the final mile, I was suddenly at the trail head staring down the finish line.  "What??  This is it??" I said aloud, with my final time clocking in at 51:58.

The course was short.  I had no doubt about that. "Or maybe you're just faster than you thought," someone said. 

No, I know my body.  I know it so well, in fact, that when I found out from the rest of the runners (all of whom had the same confused looks on their faces as I did at the finish line) that their Garmin's read 8.3 miles, I did some math and calculated my pace to be 6:17.  Exactly in the sweet spot.  Nailed it.  Extrapolate that one extra mile and it is a 58:26.

But again, with all the money going directly to St. Jude's, it was hard to complain about the mismanagement of the course. I will take that 51:58 for 8.3 miles and call it a 15K PR.  Like I said, I know my body, and I know it would have crushed that last mile.

Click here for the full results

Click here for the photos of from Sport Memories