Pt Mugu New Year's 5k Run

I signed up for this race on a whim, without any time goals in mind. I've never run a New Year's race at the crack of midnight, and I figured that now was as good a time as any to commemorate a very successful year of hard running training and a successful debut into marathoning.

The only race I found in the SoCal vicinity was a midnight 5k hosted by the Point Mugu NAWS Naval Base in Ventura County. I'd assumed there would be more, since after coming from NYC, I was accustomed to hearing about several "midnight" 5ks, but surprisingly, here, despite the perfect SoCal weather, this was the only one - and an inaugural event at that. SoCal folks are spoiled!

It took a bit to figure out how to sign up for this race, as it wasn't widely advertised. I ended up finding it on a website, but had to email the organizer for the forms directly. I don't think she was a runner, as she marked "3-mile race" all over her email, so I'd assumed this wouldn't be a true 3.1 mile 5k. (That 0.1 mile difference seems like a trivial number, but is equivalent to 36 seconds at the pace I run for a 5k - which as a HUGE difference if I were racing for time.) I didn't know that this race would be a 5k until, well, just now, as I saw the results online. In retrospect, I reviewed the PDFs she sent, and yes, the race is in fact, a 5k , listed in several places, including the headline sentence: "This unique 5k begins in the year 2007 and by the time you finish, it will be 2008!"

I'm actually quite glad I didn't know it was a true 5k, as I definitely would have felt more pressure to "run a big PR" to prove something even though now is not a great time for that. Especially for an inaugural race run in darkness! So, I decided to just have a good time out there and run this one as a substitute for the 3x1600mile VO2 session that's scheduled in this taper week. I even went out and ran a fairly brisk 12-miler earlier in the morning, since I had no worries whatsoever of my time in this race.

It took me about an hour to drive out to the airbase, which is near the Pacific. It was warm in Santa Monica, but by the time I got out to the base, there was a fierce 20-30mpw wind kicking up sand and debris, and it was feeling pretty cold out there! Luckily, we were herded into a gym to await the race start, and 180 of us just hung out for the hour before the race. Not many folks my age there - lots of older folks and their kids. I think all the 20s-30s folks were drinking it up (as they should) over the New Year's - I was glad not to be doing that this year, because I absolutely did NOT want to risk catching a cold by going to a big mass party (I caught two colds that way in the past several years after going to large clubs over New Year's.)

Perhaps the highlight of this race for me was not the race itself, but a few older runners I met while awaiting the start. I noted that one guy in his early 50s was wearing a Boston Marathon shirt, so I asked him about his running past. Turns out he runs 2:55 marathons as recently as last year, and PRd at 2:51. His buddy, who was now 65+ and also running the race, had set the marathon records at Big Sur for multiple age categories in his 30s and 40s, and ran a 2:2x in the Boston Marathon for a PR. A third sporty looking but unassuming and charming 50 year old woman with them had just won the Palos Verdes marathon with a 3:14. (!!) Amazing, and humbling at the same time. I wished them well, and they were very enthusiastic about my upcoming Houston marathon. Marathoners are the best!

The race started really casually, but I was surprised to see that they had full chip timing systems in place. Nice! (I did think it was weird for a race with no awards and a weird 3-mile distance - it makes more sense now that it was a 5k.) We all were given glowsticks and some folks opted to wear bells. Lots of funny costumes out there and very few "competitive" runners. I looked quite out of place in my technical tank top, Racereadyshorts, and FENIX flashlight stuck to my head, while most other folks were in cotton sweatshirts, and other non-hardcore gear.

The course was run in the dark. I have no idea how most of the people managed without lights - it was DARK out there, even with the few miniature lamps they set out on the course. Fortunately, my FENIX flashlight was more than up for the task, and I could actually see where I was going - although there's no way that I could run maximum speed while concentrating on the road. I lined up in front with 3 fast-looking guys (the only ones) and took off at a ridiculously fast pace (I'd guess 5:20/mile) for 400 yards before thinking, "this is insane!" and slowing down. a LOT. As I'd expected, the youngest of the fast guys (likely a HS freshman) who was leading the race by a large margin at the half mile mark, faded fast, and I passed him not even a mile into the race.

This is pretty much what I wore during the race. Except the backpack, which I left off.

It was a weird feeling to be running that fast in the dark. The two guys in front were pretty fast, and dropped me after the first mile, so I was running alone. An incredibly nasty headwind battered us for long stretches, and enough dust was kicked up that I could barely even see at times. I started coughing a lot on the course, because of the dust. (Actually, I'm STILL coughing that dust up today!) Fortunately, I wasn't out to prove anything, and slowed the pace more until it felt just comfortably hard, like a fast tempo run, and focused more on having fun. That did the trick!

It was neat to see all the folks out there with their glowsticks trotting down the road. My FENIX headtorch (my review with lots of pictures is here) was by far the strongest and brightest thing out there - it was brighter than the lead bike pacer's bikelight! Among the other mildly humorous mishaps was nearly getting singed by some errant sparks from a small bonfire blown into me as I turned the corner, and nearly running over a lone guitar player who likely volunteered to hang out at the first station. I felt bad for him - it was cold as all heck, and the wind was blowing so bad that you couldn't see OR hear him until you nearly ran over him. I gave him a shout of support, but I don't think it helped much.

Pretty soon, the race was over, and I got back to the startline. It was a nice feeling to finish not gasping for air, and this time I could actually be polite and cordial to the nice folks cutting off my timing chip! I congratulated a bunch of other folks finishing behind me, and then grabbed my gear soon after and drove home.

Didn't check the results until this morning, and didn't even know it was a 5k until I checked the results. I actually feel sort of guilty about this PR; I feel like I didn't "earn" this one, since I took it so easy, but hey - I did run a lot of miles in the last 5 months, right?

WILLIS HUANG   18:42    6:01 pace    M32

8 second PR 69.5% AG - and I didn't try too hard!
(Also ran a 12 miler earlier in the day!)



Link to race results

In summary, I felt that this was a very successful inaugural event. Inaugurals can often get screwy with all the unforeseen logistical errors, but this one went smooth as a whistle. The darkness definitely makes it hard to be a "normal 5k", but there was ample warning on the race packet to bring your own lights if necessary, and they gave out glowsticks and bells to everyone who wanted them. Loved the timing chips, and I was even more impressed that they got the results online within hours of the event - on New Year's Day no less. (It normally takes up to a week for most races to get their act together online.) Very professional for a "casual" race. I'd do it again and bring some folks with me next year!

2 more weeks until Houston!