Home Run Trot 5k Race

So I get into Hickory on Thursday night and am asked by Ryan McNeal, the strength and conditioning coach, if I want to run a 5k on Saturday. If you don't know, I'm training for a marathon in October. I needed to run 3 miles on Saturday anyway, so I figured I would do it. I wouldn't have to figure out a route and I have never run in a race before, so what better place than here.

Now, having never run in an actual race before, I had no idea what was going on. I got there about 30 minutes early, changed in the clubhouse, and headed out. The GM had already gotten our numbers for us so I pinned it on and headed to the start line. There were probably about 150 people or so running so it wasn't too bad. They told us to start and we were off. It was kind of strange starting out with a bunch of other people. I usually go at a slower pace, but since this was just 3 miles I was able to pick it up a bit, especially with the adrenaline of competition. It was a bit of weaving and winding around people at the beginning for about half a mile where it started to spread out a bit. The other challenge for me today was the hills! Everywhere I have ran in the past has been flat. This was my fist experience with a hill. The ones at the beginning weren't too bad, but just over 2 miles in there was a doozy for me. I made it up, but when I rounded the corner I have to walk for about 10 seconds. After that it was smooth sailing. It was flat for a bit and then a small hill before heading downhill into the stadium for the finish.

It was a pretty cool race to run in and having people cheering you on and seeing the time on the big clock was fun. I know it was just a small little race, but I enjoyed it as a first experience. My finishing time was 26:36 which was way better than my goal of 30:00. My next race will be in Spokane where they have an 8k. I think it will be a little better having this one under my belt. Running 26.2 is going to be an adventure for sure.

One more thing. As a bonus I was announced as 2nd in my age group. I also didn't hear them announce a 3rd, so there may have only been 2 entered! I like to think that I was so excited about hearing my name that I just didn't hear anything after that.