SPIRIT RUN 5k Disguise (and re-cap)

Kinda psycho eerie lookin'...

The Spirit Run in Rochester is the annual event that features a 5 and a 10k.  Both races start and end at the top of the hill at Holy Spirit school.  Costumes are encouraged, but I haven't really dressed up in the past for it--I think I've done it two or three other times.  This year I thought I'd dress-up--sort of.  I basically wanted to disguise myself so who ever I ran with would have no idea who I was....it worked.  The same 3 of us as last week at the NightBeat 5k ran together again: Dallas Davidson, Andy Shulha, and I--they had no clue as to who the freak was that was running with them. 

I started warming up about 25 minutes before the start.  With about 3 minutes till start time, I moved along side all the people that were lined up to start.  With 1 minute to go I worked my way up to the front right behind Andy.  Once we started, some kid (later identified as Shane O'Leary--last years 5k winner) darted out in the lead as if this was a 100 yard dash.  He got a good 50 yards on us within the first couple hundred yards.  Within a minute or so, Andy, Dallas, and I were grouped up.  No one was within a block behind us, but we weren't really gaing on Shane--who looked back every minute or so to see if we were gaining ground.  He had to fade--right?  Andy and Dallas both glanced at me a couple times and I could tell they didn't know who I was.  By the half mile mark, because of the neck/face warmer, I was having trouble breathing.  Exhaling was fine, but breathing in was hard--I could tell the fabric was preventing the air from coming in.  At 3/4 of a mile I pushed the neck warmer down then at 1 mile I threw the wig.  Andy and Dallas were elbow to elbow so I just ran with them stride for stride right behind them. They had no reason to look back so they still wouldn't know who was latched on and pacing off them.  There were people on the trail (Douglas trail, paved) watching--eventually someone knew both Andy and I and, using out names, cheered for us a bit.  Hoax up....  At the turn around we really started to gain on the leader.  When we were heading up an overpass I told Andy/Dallas that one of them have to catch him (Shane) after the hill.  We were just over mile 2 when we started to spread out.  Dallas pulled ahead--making his move to catch Shane.  Andy pulled ahead of me, but couldn't gain much on Dallas and Shane.  We were heading to the final hill for the finish--I saw Shane a couple hundred feet from the finish, Dallas back far enough to where he wasn't going to catch him.  Andy was crossing the line just as the clock was hitting 23 minutes (deduct 5 for the delayed start) so he was right around 18 minutes--maybe under 18--and I crossed at 18:07.  I said to Dallas "I was hoping you'd catch him."  He says: "I didn't think I'd get him."  What?!?  I said "You caught him?" He said: "Yep, but barely."  Wow!  Dallas has some 'kick' ! 

So that's how the top 4 turned out: Dallas, Shane, Andy, and me.  I believe Joe Ryan rounded out the top 5 guys.  Rachel Vaubel was the women's 5k winner followed closely by Jenny Shulha.

When they post the results, they can be found here: RTC Results page