Harold Schumacher Passaic Valley Rotary 5K River Run

One of the first 5Ks I ran when I moved to Little Falls in 2008 was this one, which starts in town and passes through Woodland Park and Totowa. Since then, I have run it every year except 2012. And in a banner year that has included my two fastest 5Ks ever, I ended up with the best result of my five stabs at this course. Not bad for a guy pushing 40.

I was sad to see that participation had dipped a bit this year, but who could blame people for staying away from a race that was jinxed with disaster two years in a row - first, getting postponed from its new Halloween date in the freak blizzard of 2011, then run in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy last year?

It is not an overly challenging course, but the hill on Riverview Drive that comes in the second mile can be quite the PR-breaker. Luckily for me, I have been training on that road so I feel I have some home field advantage knowing in advance how much energy to save and then expend on it. After running the first mile in under six minutes, I pushed up that hill and passed a couple of people in doing so. See you later, guys, this is my town, and my hill!

Actually, the race completely belonged to Rob Albano, a young man from Pompton Plains who won the Apple Chase 10K (at which I also nailed a PR) back in May. This kid is crazy fast. HE owned the course yesterday, finishing in a jaw-dropping 15:47.

After losing a bit of steam in the end of the second mile, through the residential south end of Little Falls, I picked up the pace and finished strong on the downhill to the end. I knew I ran a good race, but 18:39 was pleasantly unexpected. That is a mere 11 seconds off of my PR.

Meanwhile, as I huffed and puffed past the finish line, winner Rob was already hanging out in the parking lot. Amazing. The second place guy did a sub-17, but the next bunch were more in my competitive range, so I ended up with a 9th place result overall (of 144), taking second in my age group (which only consisted of nine men ages 30 to 39).

Still, that placing got me a $25 New Balance store gift certificate, so I am beyond thrilled with yesterday's experience.

Plus, I was home in five minutes.


Full results here: https://runsignup.com/race/results/?raceId=1075&eventId=11650