Chilly Dash 5K Race Preview

The Chilly Dash 5K is a great early year "fun run" that draws some competitive runners and is a fantastic course to race and do a check in on your winter fitness levels. I make that statement with the warning that it is completely weather/road conditions specific. I've raced the course on perfectly clear (but cold) days and I've raced it on snow covered roads. Enjoyable experience either way, but you can't beat yourself up if about a bad weather performance. 

Leave yourself time to get to the parking area (Legion) with enough time to get a warmup and bathroom visit in before the bus ride to the start. The bus ride is about 5 to 8 minutes, do you best to stay loose and get off the bus quick and get some last minute dynamic movements in. 

Overall the course is a big net downhill, with the only KM that clearly has a gain being the final KM. 

Start to 1KM

The start is on Country Road, just after the turn off from Salomonier Line. The first half 600Ms of the KM are a very slight net incline with some rolling hills. As usual don't get too caught up in the beginning adrenaline rush, but find your comfortable spot and settle in. The last portion of the KM will the beginning of a long downhill. If you do push too hard on the open, you can settle back in and recover while keeping a pretty good pace.  Overall the net elevation on the KM should be right around 0M, making it very fair. 

1KM to 2KM

This continues the decline as you should just be cruising along here. It's okay if you think you are going a bit fast. Forget the watch and ask yourself how does it feel? Do you feel strong and fast? Fantastic! Why hold back just cause the watch shows a number. It's about holding that steady effort. At the end you'll have a slight incline, but overall looking at around 8M of elevation loss. 

2KM to 3KM

This is a fast KM. It may be the fastest KM you'll get on a race in this Province. It's all downhill. Nothing too steep, just right for some nice fast running without maxing out your effort. This KM will end right as you merge onto the Conception Bay Highway. Ideally you are coming out of this section well ahead of your target for the race. About 24M of elevation loss here, without any rolling hills. 

3KM to 4KM

The first third of this segment is on the Conception Bay Highway and continues with a similar downhill. Be ready to merge right onto the final stretch on North Side Road. At around the 3.5KM mark the course finally levels off. You'll be on a flat/slight incline which gets a little steeper right towards the end. Overall it's still a big net downhill, around 20M of elevation loss, but the course is about to get a little revenge for your fast 4K. 

4KM to Finish

This is test time. While there are a couple rolling lulls in the climb, you can make on uphill running through the last KM. My last couple races this KM has been 18-20 seconds/km slower than the average of the prior 4KM. It's not unexpected, it doesn't mean you are gassed/spent. It just means that where a controlled 5K effort had you running the prior KMs faster than expected, this one one will have them slower, but the key is to leave it all on the course in this last KM to minimize how much time you bleed on the last KM. Find someone you can focus on to close the distance on if possible. About 200M out you should see the finish and hear some cheering, ride that to a strong finish line push.  

This is a fun race to test where you at. I've seen plenty of people who, for the first time, kept up consistent winter running, jump into this course without any 5K specific training and put down a PB or pretty close to it. That is a really great feeling in February. 

And if the weather is shit? Well it impacts everyone, so just make the best of your race. Find someone you want to try to stay with then get ahead of at the end. Make the best of it no matter what. Worst case scenario you get a race effort workout in. 

Good luck to everyone!

RACE STRATEGY:

1) Run the Tangents - Run the straightest line possible. Not hard to do on this route, as you want to hang as close to the center of the road as possible on the first 3K, then as you approach the Conception Bay Highway, get to the rightmost side of the road possible to join the road on that stretch and peel off onto the final road. 

2) Pass with Authority - As I mentioned in the breakdown, slowly close in on people, especially later in the race. Focus on closing that distance, when it's time to pass, hang just behind them for a moment, recover, then push past them like it's easy for you. This will give you motivation and a boost... and hopefully crush the spirit of the person you passed:)

3) Surge Early - Take advantage of this downhill course and put some little surges into your run to gain you some seconds here and there where the course gets particularly favorable.

4) Never Look Back - Don't look back for other racers. This throws your body out of alignment, and takes you out of your stride. If you need to take a peak, wait for one of the slight turns, where you can reduce your head movement and sneak it in.