It wasn’t easy, but I survived the Rocky Run.
The results of the Rocky Run are in!
This was my first time running competitively, and I was surprised at how well things went.
I mentioned last month how hard I was training for this race. The month or so leading up to the race I conditioned myself to run long distances, culminating in me running a practice half-marathon two weeks before. After that, the plan was to taper my running until the day of the race.
But the week before the race, disaster struck.
The weekend before the race, I decided it was time to take my air conditioners out of the windows. I tweaked my back, but it wasn’t bad enough to really cause problems, so I continued my usual regimen.
The following day, I did plate twists. I twisted a little too much, and my back went. I spent the next two days just barely able to walk to the bathroom. Attempts to sleep it off were futile, since if I so much as breathed wrong my entire core spasmed and I was hammered with pain.
When I finally did fall asleep, I woke up to a stomach ache and chills. A back injury and a stomach bug in the week leading up to the race? Things weren’t looking good. I was worried I’d have to bail out of the race, but the race gods were merciful and allowed me to heal just in time to run that Saturday.
As a result, my training for the week leading up to the race was virtually non-existent, save for a quick 2-mile run the day before just to make sure my back injury wouldn’t act up. I wonder how much this affected my performance on race day.
Getting down to the Art Museum wasn’t bad. The Uber barely cost $30, which is way less than I expected it to be. I’d rather spend the money than take SEPTA and deal with crackheads and smelly homeless people.
I paid the extra money to pick up my race packet at the event and avoid having to go to the cesspool that is Rivers Casino. Packet pickup lines weren’t bad at all, I didn’t even have to wait. So after pinning my bib to my shirt, I headed to my corral for the first race, the 5K.
This shit was crowded. I later found out that over 18,000 people took part in the 5K. Here’s a pre-race picture from where I was standing:
Things got off to a rocky start (pun intended). Either everybody lied about their speeds and went to corrals they didn’t belong in, or the corralling could have been executed way better. I’m going to be generous here and assume it was the former of the two. I typically run an 8 minute mile, but since it was my first race I figured I’d go a little higher and tell them 9. Big fucking mistake. I got put into Corral C, and people were weaving in and out at Mach 20, while other people were walking or running way slower than me. People would bolt to get in front of me, then slow down to a snail’s pace, and in some cases outright stop. I felt like I was driving on I95. My 5K time took a huge hit as a result, and it took an extra six minutes to finish. Next time I’m lying about my time when I register. Hell, maybe by this time next year it won’t even be a lie.
For the 10 mile portion, I said fuck that shit and snuck into the back of Corral A. There were still a few slowpokes who definitely didn’t belong there, but for the most part things were better and I was able to run at my usual pace of 8 minutes a mile. I even managed to hit 7:45 a couple of miles, and actually set a new PR for 5 miles, doing 5 miles in 40 minutes.
Mount Drago was brutal. Holy shit. I trained for this by running up as many hills as possible, but I had no idea how steep the Mount Drago hills actually were, and it still took a lot of energy. As good ol’ JR would say, it was a real slobberknocker.
The last three miles were a real slog. I’m ashamed to admit that during the last mile I walked for parts of it, switching between walking and running as needed. I guess I didn’t walk as much as I thought I did, because my mile was still only 11:20. Of course, I ran the last half mile or so to the finish line, collecting high fives on the way. There’s few things in this world that make you feel cooler than when little kids reach out from the sidelines hoping you’ll high-five them (no Diddy). Also, shout-out to the people with the “Hit to power up” Mario mushroom signs. I don’t know what Harry Potter magic y’all used on those signs, but I swear they worked.
Speaking of work, the workers were all on point. I never found myself having to slow down too much at the hydration stations, lines moved fast or were basically non-existent, and everyone was surprisingly polite for being from Philly. Props to all the Rocky Run volunteers, you guys (and girls, we don’t discriminate here at AJnet) are the real MVPs. Especially the lady with the water bottles and the guy with the bananas after the 10 miler.
I completed the entire thing in just under two hours. I’m not going to say my exact times and rankings since I don’t want to dox myself, but for the 5K I placed in the top 25% of 18,400 people, for the 10 miler I was in the top 15% of 11,686, and for the Italian Stallion Challenge I placed in the top 20% of 7,489 people. Not bad for someone who couldn’t even run a single mile this time last year.
My long-term goal is to one day qualify for and run in the Boston Marathon, but I think that’s at least a few years off. The next big race I run will probably be the Broad Street Run in 2026. But between now and then I’m sure I’ll be running smaller races, like 5 and 10Ks. For the next couple of months though, I think I’m going to focus more on my weight training, which means scaling back on the long distance running just a bit. Now’s the perfect time to focus on speed and work towards that 5 minute mile.
All in all though, this was a fun experience, and it makes me want to train even harder so I can do better next year. I’ll definitely be running this again in 2026.
Here’s me flexing my medals:
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