Race Report: Fifth Third Riverbank 25K (with pictures!)

With over 21,000 runners, the Riverbank Run is probably the biggest single-day event held in Grand Rapids and it's high in the running for largest event in West Michigan. Team Bad Ass was well represented in the race: Matt and myself running the 25K, Matt's dad Jim running the 5K option, and TBA supporter Kayla (for those who read the 10 Miler report) running the 10K.

For the week leading up to the race, the weather forecasts kept getting shittier: wind, rain, cold...locusts. At race-time, the temperature was in the upper 30s with some serious wind. The rain held off, despite a few errant drops here and there. But like I said, shitty.

Matt at his dad showed up at some ungodly hour, as usual I did not get enough sleep. The 5K ran first so the two of them headed down to the start. I used the time to wake my ass up. After seeing his dad off, Matt headed back the few blocks to my place and we got ready. Gold bond and nipple tape were again the order of the day.

We walked down the street to the race start and got our first taste of the cold weather and wind. Downtown was a zoo. Packed with spectators lining the streets and runners waiting to start.

Because this was the longest race we have ever run and because we had the marathon a week later, we made the conscious decision to hold back a bit and run this one slower. We lined up with the 9:30/mile pace group, but found ourselves in front of the group most of the time.

The starting gun sounded and we were off. Because there were so many people, there was about a 3 minute lag time between the gun sounding and us actually crossing the starting line. After a couple of miles, Matt and I both started experiencing some ankle pain. It was odd, because it happened at the same time, and neither of us had felt it before.

Running slower than your average pace (especially in a race) was difficult. Neither one of us likes to be passed by people, certainly not by fat asses that we would normally be smoking past. I actually live by the Bernard Hinault quote, “As long as I breathe...I attack.” (First cycling reference). So doing so took patience, and I do not have patience.

Every half mile or so Matt would catch me breaking away (Second cycling reference) or I would catch him pulling away, and we'd remind each other of the upcoming marathon and we'd back it down.

The route took us down along the Grand River and out to Grandville. At about the half-way point, or maybe shortly before it, the route turned onto Butterworth Street and headed back to the city over some light, rolling hills. Every couple miles there would be a large group of cowbell-shaking spectators, cheering crowds, and even a smattering of high school cheerleaders.

We ran past Millennium Park (Jesus, remember that word?), then down past the John Ball Zoo, before making our final approach back into downtown. Right about the time we made the turn out of John Ball Park Matt felt a muscle cramp up in his inner thigh. We backed our speed down a bit and kind of coasted for awhile. I assume he worked out the cramp because he stopped bitching about it after awhile.

With about a mile and half left to go, the Rocky theme song came on over my headphones and I decided that I was not going to finish this race with anything left in the tank. I made the decision to unleash the hounds. Right after the last water/Gatorade station, I kicked into overdrive and tried to cover as much ground as possible before I collapsed.

The route wound through some downtown streets where the crowds were sometimes 3-4 people deep. “Rainbow in the Dark” by DIO came on the Ipod, and I tried to throw everything I had at beating people to the line. I probably passed about 100 people in the last mile of this race, including one about 15 yards in front of the finish running the last stretch with his 6-year-old daughter. God damn I love doing that..

I flashed the Ronnie James Dio horns as I jumped across the finish line, clocking 2:21:09 working out to 9:06/mile and good for 296/411 in our age group and 2904/5464 overall.

Matt came across the finish at 2:21:53, averaging 9:09/mile and finishing 307/411 in the age group and 2978/5464 overall.

All told, I liked this race. I'm sure we could have run it faster, but under the circumstances I think holding back was the right decision. The overall goal is distance, not speed. And we ought to act accordingly. Next year we can run it for real.

Matt and I were both out of commission after this race. It took my calves a good long time to recover and, now almost a week later, I can still feel some inflammation in my knees. No pain, no gain.

Team Bad Ass is going on the road this weekend for an away game, so check back for the Rockford Marathon race report sometime next week.

Jim out!