Midnight Sun Run 2017: Brief Reprieve

Had a great but quick trip to Fairbanks last week, capped off with the Midnight Sun Run 10K. The event is one of my favorites there, and I enjoyed the return. I came in with what seemed a distant hope to run under 36:05, which would be an age graded 90% and an all-time personal best. In March I ran 36:09 at sea level, which was an agonizingly close 89.9%. Some friends said that I could round up and call it good, but I wanted a legitimate 90%.


Going in last week I didn't think I had it in me. After a busy spring of racing, including a marathon in early May, I figured I was post-peak and would need a full summer to recover and rebuild. Nevertheless, in the week or so leading up to the race I resolved to just go for it and if I blew up at 3 or 4 miles so be it.


Race night couldn't have been better. After raining much of the day, the skies cleared in the afternoon and evening, temperatures hovered around 60 degrees, and the gusty wind from the southwest seemed to dissipate to a breeze of about 5 miles an hour.


I warmed up with my son, and had the opportunity to say hi to a few old friends. We lined up and the cannon went off, what 3-4 times. I hate that thing! (but in a funny way). Everything came together. The miles clicked off in 5:52, 11:40, 17:20, 23:03, 28:48 and I finished in 35:43.

Age 50+ course record (2 sec faster than I ran back in 2009, and 52 seconds faster than the 55-59 time I had run in 2013), and 90.99 percent age grade an all time personal best!

Conditions, my training and sharpening seemed just right.