Last Saturday I ran in my first-ever 5K, the Solon High School Spartan Fund Run. They had a few hundred folks show up, many to do the half-mile and mile walks, another 83 for the 5K, and mabe a few dozen for a 10K. My sister Rebecca had agreed to run it with me, so we got up early and headed down on the 30-minute drive to Solon.
The race was done well; the organization was good, the t-shirt design was pretty decent, and they had procured a bunch of donated food which was good as a late breakfast after the run.
The one thing this 5K had that I hadn’t trained for was hills! I didn’t realize how flat my neighborhood course is until I got out there and had long uphill climbs at both the beginning and end of the race. And the last half-mile not only did you have to go uphill, but you were running directly into a 15 mph wind. But, we toughed it out. There were 83 competitors in the 5K, and I came in 53rd in a time of 31:12. Rebecca came in 69th in about 35:00. (Reba, leave your exact time in a comment and I’ll fix it here.) I didn’t get under 30, which had been my goal, but at least it was a good test.
I think I’ve got the bug; I’m looking for another race around here yet before the season is over. The one that’s reasonably close and on a day I could make it isn’t a 5K, though – it’s a 5-mile. I’m not sure if I’ll be ready for that by November 12 or not.