The NKU Cross Country Series is the replacement of the Brian Rohne Memorial 5K.  Instead of being a 5K on a Saturday night in mid-August (also known as Hell in the Greater Cincinnati Area), they’ve moved it to three Tuesday nights in late July – early August (still known as Hell in the Greater Cincinnati Area).  They’ve also moved the distance down from 5K to 3.2K (3.1 miles to 2 miles)

There’s a few advantages to the move – one is that NKU’s campus is all concrete, so moving to a cross country course on grass means much less intense heat.  The shorter distance means that everyone should be able to complete it without puking (having watched the race only once, I’m going based on eyewitness reports that at least one person would puke near the finish line of the 5K).  The dirt/trail short race is a combo that isn’t easily found in the region – this isn’t the only, but there isn’t many.

The Course

The course is partially in the woods and partially in the open (which is sunny and shady).

Important things:
0.00 Start
0.54 Into the woods
0.80 Turnaround 1
1.09 Out of the woods
1.23 Turnaround 2
1.35 Rejoin the outbound course
2.00 Finish line

Goals

15:30.

Race 1

Conditions: 82°F, very humid, sunny

Time:17:31 (both watch and official time agree!)

Remarks: the course had some slippery spots after a storm earlier in the day.  This made the course a little difficult because i only have my road shoes. My pacing was horrible (8:16/9:15).  I ran with a tank top on, but I wish I didn’t.

Race 2

Conditions: mid-80s, humid, somewhat cloudy

Time: 16:57 (my watch, a bit different from the official time of 17:10.39)

Remarks: The cloudiness was nice, and the course was dry, which was remarkably better than last week.  Pacing was a little better, 8:07/8:50.  I also realized that while the racing ‘line’ goes along a horrible side-slope, if I drop down to the left, the slope isn’t as bad.

Race 3

Let me preface this with this, which I think is what Mother Nature was saying to me as there were torrential downpours in the afternoon:

That being said…

Conditions: 81, humid, course a little soft, but apparently the rain mostly missed Highland Heights

Time:16:56 (again, my watch, a little different from the official time of 17:13.72)

Remarks: My pacing was just as terrible as last week: 8:05/8:49.  It felt a little easier going out and back in, although that last quarter mile is tough.  But I get an age group award (second in my division, out of two, and the first person in my age group ran 12:08!)

Overall

2 Miles is a pretty hard distance.  It’s long enough that it isn’t a sprint, not long enough to get into a groove.  I didn’t meet my goal, but the weather was really working against me.