A couple weeks ago, I heard from my wife that her boss was sponsoring a local 5K to benefit ovarian cancer research. Shortly afterward, I heard that I was running it! Not one to back out on a promise (even if it was someone else's promise), I was in. Not much training, but a good way to see where I stood after the layoff.
On the morning of the race, it was an early wakeup call after working the photo booth until after midnight the night before. Unlike some overachivers in our household, I hadn't already packed, so I had to grab all my gear that morning. Ever go out for one of those runs where it's just an in between temperature? Everything from shorts to gloves to winter hats went in the bag!
We got over to the race site, got signed in, and met Meredith's coworkers, one of whom lives almost across the street from the race. It was very cute...she had never done a 5K and had a huge spread of oranges, cinnamon rolls, water bottles, juice... she said she had googled for "What to eat before a race". :) We all walked over together and got set for the race. And when I put on my gloves, I noticed something. My left glove fit just fine...but my other left glove didn't fit at all! :P I turned it upside down and just went with one Asics glove and one Nike glove.
There were no chips at this race, so we lined up close to the front, and were off! I hung with Meredith for the first mile (she wasn't racing it), but couldn't quite hang as she dropped her pace in the second mile. Oh, and the other thing about packing that morning? I forgot a watch. Yeah, I was pretty much a mess. But a father in front of me told his son that they were right on their 8 minute pace at mile 2, and I was just fine with that.
As the third mile went by, we caught all the walkers still on the first loop, and the runners got strung out into a single file as we passed them. It was sort of strange, as you didn't see as many people running around you as in an out and back 5K. Finally, we turned back onto the track that held the finish line, and with 100 yards to go a middle school boy decided to sprint by me. I wasn't sure of the etiquette there, so I just let him go and enjoy his moment.
Okay, that was a lie. I outsprinted him to the line. :)
In the end, the results are all jumbled (no chips and people passing in the chute), but my best guess of my actual time is 24:56. That would be good for 5/28 and 49/578 overall. I'll take it! In all, it was a beautiful day to get out for a run and support a good cause! Definitely a race I'd consider again.
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