The morning of the Sheehan Classic Asbury 5k was chaotic. At 6, I was debating going to the race but decided I would go. I was tired and hadn’t got much sleep, and I’m not someone who functions on little sleep.
Asbury Park is around an hour from me, and I arrived around 7:30. The pickup line was long, so I only had time for about 10 minutes of warmup. Usually, I like to do about 2-3 miles before a 5k, but that wasn’t an option.
When we lined up, I was delighted to find out Governor Murphy was standing right near me. He gave a quick speech, and we were off. Our Governor is a runner, but I never seem to line up at the same races (For those curious, Governor Murphy ran around 28 minutes). I’m still working on trying to get him to come to a south jersey race.
Anyway, the first mile went out fast. The Asbury Park Sheehan Classic (and Belmar 5) races are notoriously competitive and fast. The last time I ran, it was a different course, but I knew the competition wouldn’t be much different.
We went up a small hill, and I hit the first mile in 6:17. I thought I could maybe break 20 minutes. My legs didn’t feel great, but I was moving fast enough; I thought it could be a possibility.
During the second mile; I realized how much my legs don’t have the turnover. My breathing didn’t feel difficult, but my legs just couldn’t move faster. We went up a small hill, and I hit the second mile in 6:26.
During the third mile, I knew it would be close to 20 minutes. I tried to move my legs faster, but they weren’t doing it. When we entered the boardwalk, I saw my watch at 19:20, but I hadn’t quite reached the third mile.
The finish line felt like it wasn’t getting any closer. They told women to stay left and men to stay right. I thought it was unusual for finishing. I crossed in 20:04. I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to break 20 but happy for my effort the day, considering I almost didn’t go.
After crossing, they gave me a number, number 18, which I realized meant 18th female. I didn’t understand why but then they gave the top 50 finishers a cool mug. In all, I’m happy with my race and performance at the Sheehan Classic Asbury Park 5k. From almost not going to running my fastest 5k in a while, I don’t have any complaints.
Questions for you:
Have you ever gotten a coffee mug at a race?
Have you seen your Governor before? (Let’s say the last Governor wasn’t doing road races LOL)
Gov. Christie was constantly out of the state. For example, he spent a great deal of time traveling the country as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Christie underwent lap-band stomach surgery in 2013, but it didn’t seem to reduce his weight.
I ran the Fallen Heroes 5K in Elizabeth, NJ with Gov. Jon Corzine in 2008. His time was 31:50 and mine was 31:53. We spoke briefly after the race.
That’s a cool prize!