It is the second Saturday in December and that means it is time for the Wantagh Snowball 5 Mile Run. This is a wonderful local race with a very flat course - it is very popular with many local runners on the south shore of Long Island. I don’t always do it because of the early 8:00 AM start, but this year decided to since a PR was likely. Can’t get enough of those PRs!

This year the weather was excellent: cloudy with temperatures around 35 degrees with no wind and a little humidity. My goal was 43:45 (8:45 pace). I went out pretty strong with an 8:25 pace for the first mile; at the second mile I was at 17:05 (slipping to an 8:33 pace). I was feeling heavy in the quads; so much for the two glasses of cabernet the night before. At mile four I was at 35:07 (8:47 pace) and feeling a little stronger and confident I could pick up the pace for the remainder of the race knowing I was on track for a PR.

I finished (Results) ahead of my goal with a PR of 43:37 (8:44 pace). This was 1 minute 31 seconds faster than my previous 5 Mile PR from 5 years+ ago and a course record for me by 2 minutes and 8 seconds. My left hamstring was ok throughout the race except at the last 100 yards or so when I kicked and it started to bother me a little.