Sunset Classic near mile 1
Today a few friends and myself took part in the 26th edition of the Bloomfield Sunset Classic 5 miler. The race is held in my neighboring town in the early evening on a weeknight typically in the humid and hot weather of a NJ summer. This year proved very hot and humid.. true to form..
Sunset Classic sneaking by to pass Christine 0.5 mile
We were all there this year Christine,Devang, Duncan and myself would once again do battle. Right on time at 7:30p the race started on Broad st. Running up toward Montclair. The first mile was packed as the field remained pretty close through the first mile. I sneaked by and passed Christine about at the 0.5 mile point, Shortly after mile one I knew it would be a slow race I was at least 30secs slower than last year at this point..
With mile one behind us it was time to make a left hand turn onto Sunset and its quarter mile climb left everyone gasping. Then it was running through then quiet streets of Glen Ridge devoid of cars. crowd support was great, with all sorts of neighborhood folks offering encouragement, cooling us down with water and great volunteers at the numerous water stations.
Running up hill on Sunset Ave.
At about mile two I’m surprise to see Duncan, who passed me .. I thought he had been further up the road already.. nonetheless, with his strong running this year I was surprised I hung in as long as I did..
Christine catches me near mile 3
Approaching mile three, I turned around and of course I saw the telltale sign of the white-hatted Christine, catching up , I knew the pass was inevitable as packs of runners were passing me pretty regularly.. She passed me and I managed to hang on for another mile or so, before losing all contact..
Sunset Classic 2014 post race
At this point I just tried to relax and get the race over with, I knew my time was pretty lousy and I just wanted it to be done with , I hit the track and ran the quarter mile, still losing ground as more runners flew by me.. This year unlike like year I was bringing up the rear.. and was greeted by Devang and Christine and then it was time for the traditional ice cream and hot dogs that are the amenities of this race…