Running The Race

The temperature was in the mid-30s when Amy and I left the house a little after 7 am for the Habitrot 5k this morning. It was a beautiful morning, blue sky, sunny and a light wind. A perfect morning for a race.

The Habitrot is held at the local mall and benefits Habitat for Humanity. We get to run around the mall a day before everyone else runs to the mall.

We parked and headed off to get our timing chips. (I had picked up our race bibs and t-shirts on Wednesday.) Made it back to the car and stashed my warm up paints and jacket, snapped our annual photo and headed to that starting line.

As we waited, we spotted one guy dress up as a turkey and another as an indian. Didn’t see any Pilgrims. Also, spotted my friend David S.

We lined up near the front but when the gun went off. We walked to the starting line.

Once I crossed over the line, I couldn’t find any room to run. This race attracts a lot of families and people who want to do something for a good cause on Thanksgiving. For that I am thankful. But it also makes the start of the race rather congested due to the lack of etiquette. I was able to work my way to the outside of the cones that divided the road and quickly got up to speed.

Mile 1 was more or less flat (7:18). Mile 2 had some elevation changes(7:30). The last mile was flat (7:19).

Just before the first mile marker, I passed the turkey and the indian.

I crossed the finish line in 23:01, a new PR by 10 seconds.

I grabbed a cup of water and headed back out to run in with Amy. With about a 100 yards to go, she took off and sprinted to the finish. Her time was 32:12.

At the finish line, I saw David S. again. Last year he called me later in the morning to tell my that I had placed third in my age group. So I asked him if he would pick up my award if I placed this year.

Amy and I headed home. She headed to the shower and I headed out to run 2 more miles. (Have to stick with the schedule.)

About 10 am, David S. called to say I had placed 2nd in my age group. This was my first time in second place. I’ve had several thirds before, but never a second. I was thrilled. But then again, at my age, I know a lot of it is who shows up. (David S. had moved to a new bracket and snagged first place for the first time at the Habitrot.)

Spent the rest of the morning eating and cooking with Gayle. It was good to have all the girls home for Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving all…for one of the things I count as a blessing is my blog friends.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 at 5:42 pm and is filed under Race Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.