Bandit Baby

My family has a history of running bandit. Yeah, we’ve been cool before it was ever cool to deny a local charity some much needed money in exchange for a cotton t-shirt and a stop-watch timed event. But we have principles, we don’t cross the official finish line and we don’t eat the donated food. And I sleep fine at night thankyouverymuch.

So, on the 4th I laced it up without pinning on a bib. A 15M run in the hills north of Boyne City awaited me on the 5th, mandating a conservative race approach. The Boyne City Independence Day 10K is mostly flat and run along the bay for the first five miles (the course is basically an out/back). The sixth mile brings the only uphill, and it is only a ‘mild’ hill. It is a small grade but slightly over a quarter-mile. This uphill is only notable because of the downhill finish. With roughly half a mile left a steep rollercoaster-type hill propels racers flailing down. It is my favorite finish ever.

I ran a comfortable pace and tried to pick off runners, and ended up running even splits. I finished in 40:40, hitting a 6:33/M average. My time would have put me 6th in my AG and 26th overall. It seems there are a lot of fast kids that show up to this rather quaint and small race.

The following day I ran 15M in beautiful and hilly country. FIRST called for a 7:45/M pace average, and I personally hoping for a 7:30 average. The first and third miles were 7:37, and all else were sub 7:30. I was actually getting faster and stronger in the latter part of the run, and I finished with a 6:51 mile (my fastest). This was a nice run to cap off a sweet weekend with the family and on the beach.