2023 Bowman Cup 5K

 This was the 22nd running of the Bowman Cup 5K and I believe I have competed in almost half of them over the years.   I was more anxious than usual for this one because of the threatening weather predictions leading up to race day.  Race morning my fears were realized with cool temperatures in the mid 40’s and steady rain.  I had prepared for all weather conditions with a car full of clothing and shoe options.   One really nice thing about this race is that pre race activities are held inside the Kent State Recreation and Wellness center.  I was able to stay dry and warm before the race and was even able to warm up on the inside track.  The rain stopped briefly before the start of the race so I quickly changed into faster shoes and shorts.  Just as I headed to the start line the rain started again but It wasn’t too heavy at that point.   It was time to race.

I could tell at the start line by the much smaller than normal race field that probably as many as half of the people registered elected to stay in bed, avoid the rain, and skip the race.  Race officials did a nice job in speeding up the start so we weren’t standing around getting wet and cold.   The gun sounded and I got off to a nice start.  I clocked my first mile at 6:55 which was right where I wanted to be.  With only 100 runners in the race the field quickly spread out along the course.  There was a runner ahead of me I identified as probably in my age division.  I was just behind him in the first mile but after than he increased his pace and pulled way ahead of me.  At the end of the second mile my pace was just around 7:00 but then we hit more hilly sections of the course and I started to slow down.  It was about this time that the rain also started to pick up.  Thankfully the wind wasn’t too bad which made the rain less of a factor.  I was little conservative on the hills and did my best to increase pace on the flatter sections between them.  The last stretch was a little more flat so I pushed hard to the finish line trying to record a good time.  It turns out I finished in a time of 22:05 which was one second slower than last year.  I finished 11th overall and 2nd in my age division.  The runner I thought might be in my age division actually was and averaged a 6:40 mile pace.  I have never run that kind of pace on this course so in the end I am happy with my performance and results.

Another nice thing about this race is the post race festivities are also inside.  Kent State always provides a really nice post race experience.  Tables and chairs with table clothes were spread around the room.  A buffet of bagels, granola bars, fruit, water, Capri Sun, and chili fed all of the hungry runners.  Awards went to overall and age group winners.  Top 3 overall winners received a pint glass, medal, and cash.  1st place in each age group received medals and pint glasses while 2nd and 3rd place winners received medals.  I really liked the mini bib numbers used for the race that included a scan code on them so you could get your race results immediately.  All runners that registered before the shirt deadline received basic t-shirts that were a little disappointing.  The race advertised performance shirts but that was not what runners received.  The race logo in small print on the upper chest made them pretty generic looking and lacked creativity and design.  Last year the same thing occurred and many racers pointed this out when completing the post race surveys but no changes were made to the advertising or the shirts for this year which was disappointing.  In most past years competing in this race the shirts were always performance shirts with some really nice designs on them.  Runners who registered late and missed the shirt deadline were given the option of purchasing a shirt after the race if any were left over.  I wasn’t a fan of this policy.  The runners that registered late also paid the highest registration fees so I think they should have been given a shirt if extras were available and not have to purchase them.   I am all for shirt deadlines but why make runners pay for them if there are extras?  They also used to award as a tradition fedora hats to top winners overall and in age groups in honor of George Bowman, former president of the university that the race is named after who was known to wear that style of hat.  There was some confusion as to the date of the race which is typically held on homecoming day.  This year the race was held on the Saturday before homecoming.  The race was advertised as the kick off to homecoming week.  I am not sure why this change was made but I think they would have more runners if they went back to having the race on homecoming day that way alumni in town may be more likely to participate.  To make things more confusing another department of Kent State hosted their own race the night before the Bowman Cup.  In an effort to try to avoid competing against each other for runner participation they decided to offer an extra award of a rainbow themed tumbler to anyone who competed in both.  I believe  the strategy helped as many tumblers were awarded at the Bowman Cup race.   The race was really well organized and I want to thank all of the volunteers that stood in the rain as course marshals keeping us safe and headed in the right direction.

The best part of the race was spending time and running with so many of our Team ER members and other running friends.  Team ER had 8 members compete and all of them walked away with an overall or division award.  I hope next year the weather is a little better and they have a bigger turnout for the race.  I am likely to be back.