Notes
More or less a hard tempo but my racing instinct kicked in more than I wanted - 3rd OA, but ran off course and tacked 800 meters or so. Thanks to Mikey for the support and pacing.
Report:
Race started about 10 minutes late and I was getting impatience as I wanted to be loose and warm given my hips being so messed up the last week. Chatted with some guys at the line which kept things relaxed and allowed me to keep a "tempo run" mindset. Only a couple guys looked to be front-runners and I realized I might be a top 5 contender - I was hoping for the opposite as I have trouble holding back if I'm in the running.
We got started and I was in 4th almost immediately. Half mile in I was passed but then overtook a younger guy at the mile. So there I was in 4th and basically alone as I let 3rd place put some distance on me - I wasn't looking to race and at this point just wanted to make sure I'd be able to complete the distance at a solid effort. The course was challenging in the dark and with numerous turns on some rough pathways. Mile 2 marker seemed to be correct after the inaccurate mile 1 and I was right around 6:20 pace. Mikey joined me a bit later near Montrose and gave me a nice boost for a few minutes...then I was on my own again. However as we came to the southern most part of the course I could see I was gaining on 3rd, which was good as I was often questioning if I was still on course due to the inconsistent cones and volunteers. At the turn around (a dangerous 180) I had really closed the gap and my competitive drive started kicking in - he had maybe 10-15 seconds on me. I followed his lead around the belmont harbor bend and this was a mistake as we were meant to jump back on the lakefront trail. A minute later I was convinced we were off-course and sure enough he had realized it too. I slowed and turned so he could join me and I started chatting with him quite a bit (he didn't say much!). I was frustrated but pretty relaxed and kinda just wanted to navigate the course with him for a bit as we were again heading off the lakefront trail and onto rough paths. Mikey joined a bit later and stayed with us till the finish. I kinda felt bad about wanting to beat this guy under the circumstances...without the mix-up it would have been different. Anyway, we proceeded on and the pace picked up...and then we merged in with the 5k runners who at this point were in the 8-9 minute pace range and spread all over the pathway. This got rather dicey but I was able to put in some really good surges before closing very quickly over the final stretch to take 3rd by 4 seconds.
Between beating that guy for 3rd and running the extra distance I don't feel great about the situation - I never like having my "official" time poorly reflect my effort. Officially I ran a 10k at 6:37...which is a quite different effort compared to the 6:15 pace I held. I also feel as if I stole 3rd place from a deserving runner - although I also ran off-course and slowed up for him it just feels off, especially since I was only going to tempo this one.
The course was bad - way too many turns, poor markings,rough pathways and a severe lack of volunteers. It was way too dark, which I can understand given it was a night race - but they could have had some form of lighting in the darker areas or used alternate pathways. They did use lighting in some places, but it wasn't nearly - fortunately I don't think anyone was hurt by the occasional giant pot holes.