Marilyn Arsenault: Back to School
Black Press 5000m
May 25th, 2009I ran my first race last week since Worlds. I have been focusing on aerobic conditioning for the most part since the middle of April with the some not so intense tempo-paced runs so jumping into a 5km on the track seemed a bit crazy. The race was the Black Press 5000. Chris Kelsall (journalist for Flotrack) organized the event in about a week as a fundraiser for Easter Seals. He also wanted to give the Victoria running community a chance to race a sanctioned 5k on the track. I wanted to support the event and Jon thought it would be a good test to see where my fitness was at off of the volume I have been doing over the past six weeks.
Because there were only a few women running in the elite women’s field, a couple of us thought it would be best to just combine the men’s and women’s elite race . However, we found out that Lucy Smith was aiming to beat the Canadian Master’s record and she asked if Nancy B and I would mind running the race separate from the men. That way, if she did beat the record, it would be legit. We agreed to run with just the five of us so she could have a shot at the record (16:41). The all-comers race was the first race, followed by the men’s elite. We were the last to go and In all honesty, I was in no mood to race let alone run around a track on my own for 5k which I knew was pretty well what was going to happen. I knew Lucy would be aiming for 80′ per lap so I paced myself about 3″ behind her and her partner Lisa on the first lap. I thought the pace felt a bit brisk but figured it was because I hadn’t been on a track in a while and was just not used to a faster pace. Turned out Lucy went out a bit quick in 75″ so that meant I went through in 78″. I quickly pulled up and relaxed and let the girls go and they quickly gained about 80m on me. From that point on I just focused on maintaining a steady pace. Brad gave me lap splits which gave me something to focus on. Thanks Brad Baxendale! Soon into the race I saw that Lucy dropped Lisa and I was slowly gaining on her so I focused on bringing her in. She was a ways away from me so I took my time and tried to close in a bit at a time. I eventually pulled up beside her and then took the lead hoping we could help each other along but eventually I pulled away. Lucy by this time was too far ahead for me to even see her so I had a very long 5 laps. I finished in 17:29. I felt strong tonight from start to finish. Considering I haven’t done a lot of faster running in a while, I was ok with the time and the effort was good so I will get a lot out of that.
Lucy just missed the record. She ran the entire race solo so I am sure had she had someone helping her out she would have done it.
Chris and all the volunteers obviously did a lot of work to make the event happen and the attention to detail was impressive. He even had bouquets of flowers to give out to the top finishers!
Stay tuned as Chris is planning on organizing more track meets and races!
Black Press 5000m – Oak Bay Track, Victoria, BC
OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
5,000 Metres – High Performance Women
Pos. Name Club Age Time Halfway Split
1 Lucy Smith Lifesport/PIH 42 16:57.2 8:31.1
2 Marilyn Arsenault UVic/IRR 41 17:29.8
3 Lisa Mensink Lifesport 32 17:54.8
4 Nancy Baxendale Prairie Inn Harriers 47 18:28.3
5 Chloe Hegland Peninsula Track 12 19:37.5
5,000 Metres – High Performance Men
1 Ryan McKenzie Pacific Athletics 30 14:02.8 7:10.2
2 Scott Simpson Prairie Inn Harriers 29 14:21.7
3 Kyle Jones Prairie Inn Harriers 24 14:37.3
4 Trevor O’Brien Pacific Athletics 30 15:22.8
5 Ian Hallam Prairie Inn Harriers 37 15:48.8
6 Paul O’Callaghan Prairie Inn Harriers 44 16:16.4
7 Walter Cantwell Prairie Inn Harriers 41 16:39.6
8 Simon Dejongh Pacific Athletics 30 16:52.9
9 Gord Christie Prairie Inn Harriers 47 16:58.0
10 Mike Lord Prairie Inn Harriers 37 17:27.7
5,000 Metres – All-Comers Women
1 Sophie Hegland Peninsula Track 14 25:29.1 12:33.3
2 Christine Thate Prairie Inn Harriers 50 30:13.6
5,000 Metres – All-Comers Men
1 Darren Skuja Comox Valley RR 47 17:58.2 8:59.7
2 Mark Ritchie Prairie Inn Harriers 41 18:04.8
3 Pierre Ballester Island Road Racers 45 18:41.9
4 Rui Batista Prairie Inn Harriers 48 18:41.9
5 Ted Hill Unattached 38 21:09.9
BC Athletics Officials: David Hopkins (Referee), Keith Newell (Starter), Doreen Newell, Ann Juteau, Evan Fagan (Lap Scorers), Lin Hopkins, Anne Lansdell, Bob Reid (Timers)
Race Director: Christopher Kelsall
Results produced by: Bob Reid, 2009-05-15








