Race Report: Lake Johanna 4 Mile

It was a nice, warm day on Saturday, March 12. With the race starting at 11:00 a.m., the temperature had already crept above 60. There wasn't much wind, the ice on Lake Johanna was sparkling, and the sky was clear--similar conditions to the 2015 edition.

I got to the race about a half an hour early--there was no line to speak of to register. The Lake Johanna 4 Mile is one of three races that's included with the MDRA membership, so I thought there might be more people registering the day of since there are no real benefits to mailing a registration in (I don't remember if there was much of a line to register last year's race).

Since I finished registering so quickly, I had time to chat with a couple of runners before I did a warm up jog and a couple of striders. I saw Peter, a runner Laura and I often see at the YMCA, and Angie Voight, a doctor who treated my broken leg in 2012 and also a frequent expert on C Tolle Run.

Right before the start, I ran into the Burnsville High School cross country coach and a couple Burnsville High athletes. I have the privilege of helping out a little with cross country this past fall, so it was cool to get to race with one of their better high school athletes.

The race itself went OK. I definitely came out a little fast with a 5:51, which would turn out to be my fastest mile of the race.

It was a hilly race, and hills in the middle of mile three and the beginning of mile four took their toll on me. I haven't been running a ton of tough hills, and definitely haven't been running fast on any hills.

I finished 5th overall--the same place I finished last year, in a time of 24:08. I'm happy enough with my time, which was under my B goal, but it's hard not to think about the fact that the pace I ran is still slower than my PR half marathon pace. I suppose that just means I have a ways to go if I'm going to race well this fall.

My 5th place finish also meant that the top finishing times this year were a fair amount slower than last year's times. Had I run the time I ran last year (22:05), I could have competed for the win.

Happy Running!