Race Report: By George 5K, 2/14/2026

I ran the By George 5K on Saturday, finishing in a time of 23:24.

I went back and forth on whether to race this. I had assumed that the race wasn't happening after the Snowcrete storm of late January left the DC area encased in....snowcrete.  This race was to be held on Hains Point, which was a very low priority for being plowed (for completely understandable reasons, since there are no residences or businesses on Hains Point).  

As of the beginning of this week, Hains Point was still under about 8 inches of snowcrete, and thus completely unrunnable.  But, on Tuesday, Hains Point was plowed, and the race was on. Now I just had to decide whether I was going to run it.

I haven't been able to do any long runs in the past month due to the weather.  Since I'm now about 9 weeks out from Boston, I asked my coach whether it would be better to race the 5K or do a long run.  He was firmly in favor of the race, so that was an easy decision.

***

The race started at 8 am, with bib pick-up at 7 am. I got there around 6:50 in hopes of getting a 5 mile warm-up in.  Things like putting my shoes on and getting my bib took a bit longer than I expected, so I only got 4 miles in, including my normal 3:00 minutes/4x30 second/4x10 second fartlek.  That would have to do.

It was a chilly morning - between 28 and 30 degrees, depending on which source you consult.  I've learned that getting cold will wreck my race - it's pretty common for people with Parkinsons to discover that their symptoms get much worse when they are cold, and that has definitely been my experience.  In particular, my muscles get very tight, which then makes it challenging for me to run fast enough to warm up.

So...I need to stay warm.  Since this was a short race, I decided to err heavily on the side of warmth, with thick tights for my legs and a tank top plus two thin/breathable jackets and a buff.  I warmed up in this outfit, thinking that I'd remove one jacket for the race.  But I never felt too warm during my warm-up and this was a 5K, so I stuck with both jackets. Definitely overkill for most people, and the bulk probably slowed me slightly.  But I am confident it was the right choice for me - I was comfortable for the first half of the race and only slightly warm for the second half.

***

The race started right at 8 am.  I was able to jog around until about 3 minutes before, which I hoped would keep me loose at the start. As it turned out, I was a bit looser, but still tight.  I think some of this was from having to navigate around other runners, and some was because the urge to chase down others tends to make me tense.  I dealt with the latter by telling myself that the first mile was for relaxation, not chasing.

That mental technique worked decently, and I was able to find my groove earlier than usual for a race (win!)  From there it was just a matter of building pace while taking a bit of care on the course. There was a bit of ice on the inside of the course against the curb, and wet pavement meant that the painted lines and bicycle markings on the asphalt were a bit slick. I stayed a bit wide, rationalizing that any time lost from running with was much less than the time I'd lose from being overly cautious on slick pavement.

When I hit the halfway turnaround, I was already working pretty hard, which felt like a win.  From there it was just a matter of staying loose while continuing to build all the way to the finish, passing a few people along the way. And for the second time in two months, I had the great feeling of finishing a race knowing that I had given it my best effort.

Splits ended up being:

Mile 1: 7:41
Mile 2: 7:33
Mile 3: 7:14
last bit: .13 in 56 seconds (6:40 pace)

This course had no mile markers, so all splits were from Garmin autolap. The course was definitely accurate - that little bit of extra was a mix of Garmin satellite error and me running wide (mostly the latter since my current Garmin seems to be extremely accurate on Hains Point).

All in all, I was pretty happy with this one.  Technically speaking, it's not as good a performance as the 10 miler I ran last month.  But...because it always takes me about 2 miles to get up to speed, I know that my 5Ks are generally not going to be as competitive as longer races.  

When assessing my fitness from a shorter race, I'm more looking at relative stuff - just how bad was my first mile (in this case, much better than previous races).  And how fast were my final miles?  In this case, 7:14 is the fastest mile I've run in any workout or race (including some 3000s that I've raced) since last April, when I closed Cherry Blossom with a 7:08 mile.  So, to be able to run that fast and then pick up the pace from there for the kick makes me pretty happy - my training is on the right track.

Other notes:

• I wore the Hoka Rocket X3 for this race and was pretty happy with it. For a supershoe it's pretty stable and doesn't throw me forward the way many other supershoes do. It is definitely going to be my racing shoe for the One City Half Marathon and the Boston Marathon.
• I think the fact that I was so bundled up helped my race more than it hurt it.  I was starting to overheat slightly in the last mile of the race.  But...that was my fastest mile, so overheating didn't hurt me.  In a longer race, I think I probably would have gotten rid of one of the jackets.  But for a 5K, this was the right choice.
• My last 5K race (in October of last year, in perfect weather on a fast course) was 24:40, so over a minute slower. So, again, progress.