SAFD: Dopey 2018. I was still perfect Dopey, but knew that the 5th iteration would be my last as I wanted to be able to focus elsewhere. I had been attempting the Sextuple PR Challenge in each of the previous four Dopeys. The goal was simple, attempt a PR at all four races. I had come close with a miss here or there along the way in each. But with Dopey 2018 being my last of the perfect stretch, I wanted to give it all.
The 5k opened at 20:06 which was a 24 sec official PR. I got a side stitch part of the way through the 5k, and felt like I had more to give.
During the 10k, I ran inspired and about as hard as I ever have. I came across the 5k split in 19:27. So I beat my official PR from the day prior, and then came across the 10k line in 39:54. So no matter what, I had definitely run a sub-20 5k. The 10k PR was a 3.5 min improvement.
Then came the HM. My hamstring were super tight pre-race, but I just went for it. Crossed the line in 1:30:35, which was a PR by over 8 minutes.
Lastly, the marathon. My body was so tired entering that race. My legs were sore. But I laid everything on the line and attacked that race as best I could. I was aiming for a 3:14 M which was what I had run just a few months prior as a standalone M. When I hit the 20 mile mark of the Dopey marathon, I looked at the runDisney clock and did some math to determine how close I was to hitting my goal. I knew as long as I maintained faster than an 8 min/mile I should have that PR. But as each mile passed and I stayed under that limit, the runDisney clocks seemed to be painting a different picture. As I hit the Mile 25 mark, I realized something had gone wrong with the math, and I was just going to miss it. I ended up finishing in 3:15:59. Turns out the clock at Mile 20 was wrong, and I put too much trust into it. Regardless, I ended up finishing with 5 of 6 new PRs, finished in 20th place out of 7620 Dopeys based on cumulative time, and ended my perfect streak as the #2 perfect runner.
I look back on that accomplishment and remain very proud of myself. I've run several 5k, 10k, HM and Ms since, but those times from five years ago remain my #1 official 5k time, #1 official 10k time, #2 official HM time, and #3 official M time out of 11x 5ks, 12x 10ks, 24x HMs, and 17x Ms. According to VDOT, the 10k time of 39:54 still remains as my best individual race performance. So Dopey 2018 was a truly magical race weekend for me.