Yes I am Finally a Runner
Yesterday the day finally arrived for me to run my first official 5k and I successfully achieved my goal of not only finishing (I knew I would finish), but to run the entire race(no walking breaks). Here is the GPS proof of my accomplishment -Race for Grace 5k. Now you might notice a nice straight green path, I ran the red path. It turns out that due to last weeks flooding they had to change the course. I drove the original course a few weeks ago and it did not seem too hilly, the new race path was very hilly. My running partners and other runners agreed that it was a hilly event.
While I would consider supporting the Race for Grace event again, the course was not clearly marked at all and thankfully we were able to follow other packs of runners along the race route. The race was a small event, I would estimate that there was maybe 80 runners/walkers. Because it was my first 5k, I am kind of hoping it is an annual event and I can run again in years to come. I found out upon checking in that this was only the second time the event was run and the last time was two years ago.
The weather was almost perfect, upper 60's, no humidity, sunny and windy. I could have done without some of the wind, but in reality it kept me nice and dry during the entire run. I did notice how accustomed I am to running at night, the Sun felt a little brutal when I ran in full sunlight. I found myself seeking out the shade from trees along the race route.
Running with someone was a nice change and my friend Thom is a veteran of a few 5k events. He assured I did not start off too fast, which was something I was worried about doing. We both setup camp at the very back of the field prior to the start. Unfortunately this meant we had to dodge a few walkers at the start, but I do not think this slowed me down at all. I felt like running at a faster pace to start the race, but I made sure I stayed along side Thom and we trudged along as most of the 1st mile was uphill. I felt good and was able to talk the entire run, although around the 2 mile mark I had about had enough of running up and down hills. It felt like we ran uphill a lot more than we ran downhill, but obviously since we went in a circle we went down hill as much as we went uphill.
A friend of mine had suggested starting at the very back of the field to start the race and I found this worked perfectly for us. We passed a lot of runners that started out faster than us, some eventually ran slower and we reeled them in. But there were a lot of runners that we caught late in the race who started out too fast and could not will themselves to run the entire 3 miles. Not a single person passed us the entire race. I look at it this way, if I had walked any of the 5k I could not honestly say I ran a 5k. This might not bother some people, but when I ran the Harrisburg mile in 2008 and I ran the first quarter mile in 1:36, I walked at least a quarter mile if not more of the event and finished in 9:44. I felt like I had failed, because I did not run the entire event. That might not have bothered some people, but it bothered me and I wanted to make sure I ran every inch of this 5k.
I finished in roughly 35:42, passing two more runners in the final sprint to the finish. This was not a blazing time, but it was about what I expected and best of all, I ran every inch of the 5 kilometers and a little more. It is like I finally got a monkey off my back and I cannot wait to run another event. I am hoping I can manage to schedule at least a couple more events before the end of the year. Yes, I can finally call myself a runner.
