R and J in the USA

October 12, 2024

It was a sunny and crisp 50-degree Saturday morning for the Bridge to Brunch 5K in Spokane, Washington.

The run was put on by MultiCare to benefit the MultiCare Inland Northwest Foundation. Proceeds from the run will help sustain and expand access to behavioral health care in the Inland Northwest.

The course was a spur and loop through the University District of Spokane. It began with a 1/3-mile northward run through lawns, parking lots, and sidewalks on the Washington State University Spokane campus, did a clockwise loop formed by paved paths on the south and north banks of the Spokane River connected by bridges on the west and east ends of the loop (skirting the edge of Gonzaga University along the northeast section of the loop), then retraced the 1/3-mile spur through WSU Spokane back to the beginning. Though the run was billed as a 5K, the course clocked in at just shy of three miles.

600 plus people participated in the fun run, which was followed by a fun post-run with waffles, mimosas, and live music. (That was the ‘Brunch’ part of ‘Bridge to Brunch’.)

A true fun run, the race was not timed and results were not tracked. As a result, we don’t know where we placed in our age groups or overall. We do know that we finished somewhere between first and last, even if Ricky Bobby says that’s not possible.

Detailed Race Report for Running Nerds

This was a decent sized race and we were both somewhere between rested and tired, so we set off deciding not to try to be heroes out on the course, but also wanting to go for a decent run. We did a short warmup. While heading to the starting line, Ryan said he was going to run no slower than eight-minute miles, but not push it beyond that. Eight-minute miles are, of course, the best Julie can do when she is most in shape and well-rested. Now that Ryan is in shape, they are his relaxed pace. Julie’s plan was to run solid, but not hard.

Julie was hopeful that her hard-to-control-in-the-heat-of-the-race competitive instinct would be controllable, since the race would only be awarding the top male and female finisher. She knew that wasn’t in reach, so she looked forward to just enjoying a nice 3.12 run.

Julie headed into mile one feeling strong, clocking in at 8:39 and feeling confident she could hold that for the duration, with hopefully small increases for each mile to get her coveted negative split goal. Apparently having learned nothing yet, Julie forgot that, other than the first handful of races of the trip and a few sporadic ones since, the feeling of a “maintainable” pace is not what it used to be. She now needs to run something that feels slow to her on the first mile to be able to improve on it throughout the race.

She clocked the second mile at a pace close to the first, but still slower at an 8:43. Her heart rate in mile 3 was climbing higher than she was interested in – into the lower 170’s. And she was feeling a little too warm. Confident there was no glory on the line this time around, she stopped, yet again, to take off her long sleeve layer and run the last mile slightly cooler, sacrificing time on the clock to do it and dropping down to a 9:08 third mile. If she hadn’t stopped, she might have been able to have a fairly consistent pace over all three miles. Still, she was happy enough with an average of 8:49 for the duration.

Julie enjoyed her fastest finish line sprint yet, likely because it was also the shortest. Though this race was advertised as a 5K, the finish line was only 0.02 miles away from the three-mile mark. Julie and another fellow decided to sprint to the finish. Julie clocked in a 4:12 pace for that short distance. The gentleman racing alongside her just couldn’t keep up. They shared a smile and a high five on the other side of the finish line.

Ryan ran the race at a decent but comfortable clip. Not too fast. Not too slow. He ran at a faster pace than intended, but still felt comfortable. Ryan had no trouble sticking to his goal. His mile splits were 7:48, 7:28, and 7:06, for an overall race average of 7:31. Not bad for “taking it easy”. Given that he wasn’t pushing himself for a fast time, he was surprised to see that this was among his fastest race paces so far. He took this as a sign that his fitness was improving. 

Julie is feeling pretty good about her prediction that, by time we get to California, Ryan will be clocking in somewhere in the 21s, and before the trip is over, Ryan will be one of those sub-20 runners we’ve been admiring.

If it is still worth tracking, Ryan 15 – Julie 8.