Gasparilla 15K Recap

Gasparilla is a local Tampa race that I run every year.  The 5K was my first race ever in 2009.  I've come a long way since 2009.  Back then I thought 3.1 miles was a long way to run.  Now I've completed four 26.2 mile marathons.

This year I registered and ran the 15K, a distance I'd never raced before.  Automatic PR baby!  Gasparilla was one week after the A1A Marathon so I truly just want to enjoy the 15K.

I met up with my running group on a hot and humid Gasparilla morning.  The weather never seems to be nice for Gasparilla race weekend.

 

I started the race with a couple of running buddies but we all eventually went our separate ways on the course.  The Gasparilla course took us along Bayshore Blvd with beautiful houses on one side and Tampa Bay on the other.  It was a hazy morning with most of downtown Tampa cloaked in blanket of fog, but I kept on running.

This was my first 15K so I didn't have a PR to beat.  I estimated that I would finish around the 1:30 time mark.  That particular morning, I didn't feel like pushing myself to ensure 1:30 or faster, though I did consider it as I ran.  Some relief came as misting water fell from two tall sprinkler stations on the course, providing much needed cool-off areas.  And then my iPod died at about mile 6.  I was so glad I wasn't running the half marathon the next day!

I finished with an OK time.  Wait, let me rephrase that...I finished with a new PR!!!

Division: 158/442
Gender: 928/2836
Overall: 2221/5146
Halfway Split: 45:03
Chip Finish Time: 1:32:49
Average Pace: 9:57 min/mile

 

My parents were running the 5K that morning with my sister Angie.  My parents last ran Gasparilla back in the 1980s!  I think all my running encouraged them to complete a race too.  So after I finished the 15K, I met up with them in the 5K corral.  My mom and Angie ran together so I ran with my dad.

 

 

The 5K race was pack with runners and walkers, as usual.  We ran to the right, keeping an even pace, passing walkers as we needed to.

 



Everyone did fantastic!  My dad ran the entire race at a steady pace and finished in 46:03.  Mom and Angie finished in 40:22.  I'm very proud of my parents for getting out there and finishing a 5K!



My dad in the red shorts, Feb 1980

My Parents after Gasparilla 2014



What's your favorite Gasparilla Race distance?