Reaching your BEST... and choosing the right race to do it in.


Looking for a personal best time: If your training has been going well and you are hoping for a personal best time, pick your races carefully. Big races have added excitement and lots of people to run with, but have the disadvantage of the congestion that comes with thousands of runners packing the streets. Even with chip timing, you are likely to lose valuable seconds as you fight your way through people going slower than your goal pace, baby joggers, quasi-runners dressed in tutus and other costumes, and even “gate crashers”—the unregistered runners who jump in from the side of the road a few hundred yards into the race. In contrast, in a well-organized, mid-size race (300-500 for 5k distance), you will have lots more room to run and still have other runners close by to push you. You will also spend a lot less time before the race finding parking, waiting in restroom lines, waiting around for the start—instead of being used up just getting to the starting line, all your energy can go into the race itself.

Thanks for the insight, Anne Hird. 

PS - This is probably a great race for a PR.