Wave 18 runners begin running in the Spring Canyon Park 5k Tortoise & Hare race.

Spring Canyon Park 5k

Two years. That’s how long it’s been since I’ve done a race in Fort Collins—excluding the virtual variety.

That’s not to say I hadn’t been running. In fact, in 2021 I ran nine marathons and one half-marathon, including one of each in Spain. But in October through November, I had a mysterious calf strain that, while minor, kept me from running much out of an abundance of caution. Although that totally healed, I haven’t run a distance longer than three or four miles since then. The only high-intensity workouts I had done involved 30-second sprints.

Hence, I tried to think of this Tortoise & Hare event—a Fort Collins race where slower runners start first and faster ones start later, based on predicted time determined by an algorithm I developed—as a tempo training run. The first one of 2022.

Since this was my first T&H race in two years, I actually had to predict my own time instead of have my computer script calculate it. The time I submitted was 21:55.

Then I started the race running at an unheroic pace, knowing that if I started to have to breathe hard too soon, not only was I going to suffer, but so would my time.

As it turned out, looking at my splits my pacing was good and even—except for a half-kilometer stretch that was covered with snow and ice. Not only was it slippery, but it was congested with other runners without much room to maneuver. I played it safe, made no passes, and basically just tried to ensure I didn’t take a tumble in my Puma H. Street shoes that are traction-challenged on the white stuff.

At least I had enough energy to speed up in the last 300 meters. Final time: 22:11. Not too horrible.

In fact, it was one second faster than the very first five-kilometer race I did back in 1995! It also equaled another I did in Palo Alto in 1996. So in that context, it was satisfactory considering I am 26 years older now.

In addition, a quick calculation revealed that I lost about 30 seconds over the snowy section versus if I had been able to maintain the same pace I had been running before turning onto it. So maybe today was more like a 21:41 effort.

After the race, I talked with my friend Nick, who has been the long-time director of the Tortoise & Hare Series. I mentioned it may be another one or two years until I’m at a T&H again.

“We’ll likely still be here,” he said.

Whether I can still do times I was finishing in back in 1995 is probably less probable, but it will be something to shoot for regardless.

Wave 18 runners pass by Fort Collins Running Club (FCRC) banner in the Spring Canyon Park 5k Tortoise & Hare race.
Wave 18 runners pass by Fort Collins Running Club (FCRC) banner in the Spring Canyon Park 5k Tortoise & Hare race.

Race Data

Final time: 22:11 (7:08/mile)
Official results

Strava
Wave 18 runners begin running in the Spring Canyon Park 5k Tortoise & Hare race.
Wave 18 runners begin running in the Spring Canyon Park 5k Tortoise & Hare race.