Hi everyone! I wanted to give a report on the 5k race I participated in on the 4th of July.
On Friday I received an email letting me know that over 800 people had registered for the race, and that parking was going to be very tight. It was suggested that some people might want to park at the Clubhouse and walk to the race.
I knew that I didn't want to get there early enough to get a parking spot by the race, plus I figured it would be good for me to figure out where the Clubhouse was located.
Saturday morning a little after 7 a.m. I arrived at the clubhouse. It wasn't marked, but there were a few people standing outside who verified that yes, this was the clubhouse. When I asked how to get to the race's starting point, a lady said that she was heading over there herself. So we walked over together.
It was a fairly easy one-mile walk from the Clubhouse to the start of the race. I enjoyed chatting with the person I walked over with, and once we got there, she introduced me to some of the other club members.
After picking up my bib and pinning it on, I headed over to the merchandise table to pick up my free t-shirt (for joining the running club.) However, I realized after picking it up, that I didn't have anywhere to *put* it. So, I ended up tying it around my wrist.
A bit after that I got into the line for the restrooms. While waiting, I used the time to untangle the cords of my headphones. It was perfect timing - just as I reached the entrance, I managed to remove the last tangle. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bathroom actually had ample toilet paper. (Something that doesn't always happen.)
I still had a little bit of time left before the race was to start, so I walked around the circular driveway a couple times. Finally, I saw people heading down the hill towards the starting point.
As I was walking down the hill, I heard some people talking about how they'd had a record number of registrations - well over 820, just online, plus a lot more that showed up on race day.
Since I knew that I would not be running the entire distance, and that even when I would be running, I wouldn't be very fast, I situated myself towards the back. I ended up having roughly 600 people in front of me. I couldn't even see the starting line.
We hadn't even started moving, and already people were sweating. The temperature at 8:00 a.m. was 80 degrees with very little wind.
As race time approached a man on a bullhorn welcomed us and gave a short talk about being proud to be Americans and supporting our troops. Then a young lady sang "The Star Spangled Banner." Not too long after that, a pistol sounded. People around me kind of laughed because the noise was almost unnoticeable where we were - it wasn't until the crowd before us began surging forward that we were completely sure that that was the starting pistol.
As I started to move forward, I turned on my MP3 player, which I had already set on my "running" playlist. By the time I had reached the first 1/2 mile marker, the crowd of runners had spread out quite a bit.
At the first mile marker there was a water and Gatorade stand. I meant to get water, because I hadn't trained with using sports drinks, but accidentally took a Gatorade. I made sure to tell the volunteers at the aid station thanks. At that point, I had managed to run through one song and walk through one. Without a watch, I don't know for sure what my time was there.
After leaving the one-mile aid station, I began to notice some of the people who had started near the front already coming back towards the finish goal. There were lots of thumbs up and way to go's.
I was estatic to see the 5k turnaround point because I was starting to get tired. It felt so good knowing that I was half-way through the race. Shortly afterwards, I had to take a quick stop alongside the trail to tie my shoe. That was very annoying because my shoelaces are supposed to be the kind that *don't* come untied. Quickly though, I was back in the race.
By the time I arrived at the two-mile aid station (where they had a wonderful mister) I was really slowing down. Although I had the goal of running through one song, and then walking through the next one, I ended up doing more walking than running after the 2 mile point.
About at this point in the race, there were a group of about 6 - 8 people who were running/walking at the same pace. It was nice to pass familiar people, and to have them pass you later on.
The whole race I kept thinking about my posture and trying to keep my feet paralell and not striking my heels on the ground. Mostly I think I did okay on this. However, while I was trying to keep my mind on these ideas, I did happen to notice the form of other people running or walking around me. It was quite interesting to see how few people ran with their arms crossing in front of them. Most of them kept their arms glued to their sides (bent at the elbows.) I also noticed this one person walking in front of me who walked with her feet overly pronated -- something I probably would never have noticed before.
Finally I reached the 3 mile marker, and somewhere found the last bit of gusto, and ran in the last tenth of a mile and across the finish line.
My finish time was officially: 47 minutes and 44 seconds. A 15:22 mile.
I really wish I had had my own stopwatch to time myself so I could know what my *actual* time was, but I didn't have one (at least not one with a working battery!)
I hadn't realized how much the heat had affected me until after I crossed the finish line. The only thought my brain could generate was "Water! Water! Water!" Water never tasted so good.
Once I had refreshed myself, I trudged back up the hill. Once I got up there, I snagged a sports drink and drank it pretty quickly. I also picked up a package of peanut butter crackers. Thankfully, the restrooms still had toilet paper. :)
I needed to get on home at that point, so I started walking back to where my car was located. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember *exactly* how I had come earlier that day, so ended up adding a bit of extra distance to my walk. As I was walking back, I ate two of my peanut butter crackers - but my mouth was so dry, they tasted like sawdust.
So, all in all, I walked a bit over 2 miles, and ran 3.1 miles.
