Race Report: Race for Every Child 5K, October 18, 2025

 I ran the Race for Every Child 5K on Saturday, finishing in 24:40.

My original plan had been to run Army 10 Miler the week before, but when it was uncertain whether Army would happen this year I switched to this 5K. I would have preferred to do the ten miler because a) it's more relevant to marathon training and b) I'm generally more competitive the longer the distance. But either race offered what I really needed - a chance to practice running fast in a large chaotic crowd. 

To explain: I tend to struggle in my running when there's a lot of movement around me. There's a few different reasons for this.  One is that my vestibular sense is not great, and so motion around me, especially unexpected motion, can throw my balance off. (To experience a bit of this yourself, try balancing on one foot while staring at a fixed point in a quiet room.  Now try balancing on one foot while people are walking around you, stepping in front of you, doing jumping jacks behind you, etc.  A bit harder now, right?)

Another reason is simply that running for me is like a big plate spinning contest, where I have to get all the plates spinning (i.e., get all the muscles firing the right way) and then keep them going.  Any time I have to change speed, direction etc, it figuratively stops a few of the plates and I have to re-establish my gait. Thus, weaving around people can be challenging.

So, running in crowds can be hard, especially when its people going at different speeds (common at the beginning of a race).  All of my races since June have been on the track, with no more than 7 other competitors, so I haven't had to deal with a mass start in a while.  And I badly needed the practice.

***

I warmed up with a bit under 4 miles of running, including my normal 3:00 at marathon to half marathon effort, 4x30 seconds faster, and then some 10 second strides. I could tell that my meds were a little bit off because I was having some trouble running over the crosswalks on Pennsylvania Avenue, which are a slightly different surface from the pavement. It's a big tell for me - when my meds are working just right, I can handle changes in surfaces without losing my balance.  But when the meds are a bit off, those changes throw my balance off.

I debated taking a small dose of extra sinemet (medication), but I wasn't sure whether I had too little or too much already in my system (it can be very hard to tell the difference).  Since things weren't too bad, I decided to stick with my current status.

After warming up, I lined up in the corral by the 8-10 minute pace sign - I hoped to run faster than that during the race, but I also start slowly.  There were a lot of people ahead of me who looked like they were new to racing and probably didn't have a good sense of where they should line up, including kids.  This was going to be messy.  Which was fine - that was exactly what I came for.

***

The gun went off, and it took me about 4 seconds to cross the start line.  Just as I had expected, the first mile was people weaving all over the place.  Between that and the crosswalks, it was a rough mile. And a good chance to practice staying relaxed and trying to be as efficient and lose as little time as possible.

After that, things started to open up some and I was able to pick up some speed, though I was still a bit stiff.  Unfortunately, the course had two 180 degree turns that I struggled with a bit, losing some time there. 

Then we turned back onto Pennsylvania Avenue to head back to the finish.  By then, I was feeling pretty good and able to pick up the pace to what felt like a hard tempo effort.  I would have liked to have gone faster, but my gait kept getting tripped up a bit by the crosswalks (mile 3 was mostly mile 1 in reverse).  The end result was that I crossed the finish line feeling like I had run the first three mile of a longer race, rather than a 5K.  Which I guess isn't the worst thing in the world, since longer races are my target and I generally run them faster anyway.

Splits were:

Mile 1: 8:16
Mile 2: 8:05
Mile 3 plus last bit: 8:18 (7:30 pace)

As a 5K, slower than I would like. As the first three miles of a longer race (which is what this felt like, since I couldn't get going until well into the second mile) not too bad.

Other notes:

• As I warmed up, I noted that my legs felt a bit heavy. At the time, I assumed it was because I had done a bit too much trail-running the day before.  But in retrospect I think it was also that I've been doing breathing training daily, which fatigues my intercostal muscles and diaphragm. Mental note that I need to taper the breathing training before my goal races.
• I wore the Asics Metaspeed Edge Tokyo for this race to test it out. It feels like a very good shoe for me for the half-marathon and beyond, but not as good for me for shorter distances like 5K.  I think this is because my footstrike changes based on the distance, and the Edge feels best when I am landing further back on my foot and rolling through.  The funny thing is that most reviewers seem to prefer the Edge for shorter stuff. In contrast, I've read reviews saying that the 361 Flame 4 is a shoe for all distances, but it feels much more comfortable at faster paces for me, and very awkward at tempo or marathon pace.  I guess we're all different.
• Absolutely perfect weather for this race - 56 degrees Fahrenheit with low humidity and little wind.
• Even though it was in the 50s, I wore thin tights with a singlet.  I've discovered that my legs just work so much better when they are warm, and too warm is much better than too cold.
• This was a big race for my tunning team - Capital Area Runners - since the race benefited Children's Hospital and the son of one of my teammates was one of the mascots.  We ended up as the top-scoring team, which was fun.  And it was really cute to see Elliot wear the medal the team won.