Midnight Madness 5K - race recap

 

I’m all about returning to fun races, year after year. 

After all, can one have too many favorite races? The Midnight Madness races certainly fit that bill for me. 

It wasn’t until after the day following that I realized I had not raced a 5K since this very event last year  (Wow, seriously?) … so how did this play-out?

Read on…

The Midnight Madness races are affiliated with the Summer Iowa Games (a statewide series of sporting events...comparable to the Olympics, but on a much smaller scale). In years past, there was both a 5K and a 10K offered, with different start times, so many participants opted to do both (Barb and myself included). In recent years, the events took place at the Ames Fitness Club. This year, though, the venue returned to downtown Ames, where it had originated.

With an 8:00PM start time, there was a lot of time to kill prior to the start line. I arrived on the scene around 6:00, and grabbed my packet. There may have been a fun pic with Policeman Cy (Sidenote: Cy is the Iowa State University mascot and there are numerous painted statues of him in Ames, which is home to the ISU Cyclones). Did I mention the Cyclones are the big inner state rivals to my University of Iowa Hawkeyes? It was only appropriate that I wear my Hawkeye gear for such an occasion, LOL.

 A short while later, I found Barb. Our friend Chuck found us not much longer. I’m all about reunions with fun friends as well.

My experience with the Midnight Madness festivities began in 2016 (recap), and it didn't go well. Let's just say this particular event, in that particular year, holds my one and only DNF to date. I returned in 2018 (recap) and redeemed myself with a third place AG in the 10K. The momentum continued in 2019 (recap), where I set two new course PR's (for the 5K and 10K) and brought home 3rd place AG hardware for both. In 2021, I scored a third place AG in the 5K (recap). Finally, in 2022, I broke the "bronze barrier" and snagged a first place AG in the 10K (recap). I missed it in 2023, but returned last year and brought home a 1st place AG in the 5K (recap).

L-R:2018 (3rd place 10K), 2019 (3rd place 5K and 10K), 2021 (3rd place 5K), 2022 (1st place 10K)
Bottom center: 2024 (1st place 5K) 

Despite a chilly start to the day (low-60F temps, #BRRR), the air was warm and humid by the evening. 

Barb and I did a mini warm-up (abut a 1/4-mile easy-paced jog) before heading to the start line. I didn’t really have any finish time goals, since I hadn’t really done any 5K-focused training. I was hoping to at least place in the top-3, since I’d done so before…but that’s never a guarantee. I’d brought my water bottle along, not to save time at the water stations, but to simply have water at the ready to help combat the heat.

Right out of the gate, ugh, it was feeling steamy! We headed west on 5th Street, eventually crossing the Grand Avenue Bridge. This took us onto Northwestern, and into a residential neighborhood. As in years past, there were numerous residents on their lawns, and along the streets, lending their support. The route looped around, and took us back to Northwestern. It didn’t feel like I was going especially fast, but my Garmin showed 8:31 for the Mile-1 split. OOPS.

Next, we headed back to the downtown staging area, on 5th Street, and took a left turn on Kellogg. Now going north for a couple blocks, the next turn was on 7th Street (going west), followed by a quick right turn (going north again) onto Burnett Avenue. About halfway towards 12th Street, we passed the 2-mile mark. The Garmin showed an 8:37 split this time…still a bit faster than ideal, but definitely a bit more comfortable in the heat. 

Speaking of the heat, I was really glad to have my water with me! Although the water was pretty warm at that point, it still was nice having it accessible. This last mile, though, treated us to a gentle decline…and that felt great!

The route continued to 12th Street, then a quick left turn on Clark Avenue. After a short jaunt on 11th Street, we were back on Burnett for a short while. A few blocks later, we took a left (back on 7th Street for a couple blocks), then headed south on Kellogg. Despite the gradual downhill, these final blocks felt tough. I gotta admit the temptation to pause for a short 10-second walk was overwhelming…but I resisted.

It wasn’t long before we were back on 5th Street, with the finish chute a short 1/2-block sprint away.

Whew! It felt amazing to cross that finish line! Other than the final 1/4-mile or so, I had felt strong the entire race. This was the first race, in a long time, that I hadn’t taken any walk breaks. I hadn’t been feeling fatigued, but the humidity was something else. It really tested my perseverance and grit.

So, how did I do? My final split (for Mile-3) was 8:47; thus, my 26:32 finish time was more than satisfactory. Typically, I can run a 5K in the 27-minute range, so this was one of my faster 5K’s, especially in recent years. Yes, I was totally good with that!

The race stats showed I finished 173rd out of the 452 participants, 46th of the 214 women, and 2nd place (of 12) in my age group. Yeah, I was good with those numbers as well.

A nice thing about the route was that it was very similar to the original route, from years ago, but this time it was run in reverse. It was nice being back on familiar streets.

The blue arrows represent the first mile, the black arrows are the second mile, and the red arrows depict the third mile.

The swag wasn’t anything excessive, but I do like the bright color of the (cotton) shirt. The logo is also quite catchy.

I’m not a fan of finisher medals for a 5K (on the right), but these are pretty sweet. The silver medal, obviously, is the second place AG, with the Iowa Games logo. 

Some final thoughts…

***Overall, I am very pleased with how well this race went for me. I’ve said this before, but I have no idea what kind of pace I’m running until I see the mile split(s) on my Garmin.

***I had not been doing any of the “runner’s math” while running, nor had I paid any attention to my time on the Garmin (it’s too hard to read while in motion). Seeing that I’d finished well under 27 minutes was a very nice surprise.

***Running in the heat and humidity of summer is not an ideal setting for most people. Somehow, these very conditions seem to agree with me, LOL. That said, I love the heat, but I also respect it. It felt like I was in a “robotic” mode, and not like I was pushing my pace or in any kind of “racing” mode. 

***Fun fact, this 5K, which wasn’t quite a true 5K (3.07, according to my Garmin), was almost a course PR. My 2019 finish time was 26:57, but that was with an actual distance of 3.15, so my pace was a tad bit faster (8:33). I did run the 5K, in 25:06 (in 2021), but that was on the other course (and also “only” 3.04 in distance).

***Another fun fact, after several years of bringing home the bronze, and a couple recent golds, I now have a silver medal to add to my Iowa Games collection. It’s the little things, right?

Have you ever surprised yourself with a faster-than-expected finish time, in the summer heat? 

I'm linking this with Zenaida and Jenn for the TuesdayTopics Linkup. 

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