Acres of Fun 5K

I ran the Acres of Fun 5K Saturday.

It was a warm and humid morning. It rained about 15-20 minutes before the start of the race. When the race started it was still very humid.

I started the race mid-pack and was behind a bunch of people. I was able to work my way around people and found a clear spot to run. I noticed that a girl stopped to tie her shoes just ahead of me. I knew that when I got right behind her she would stand up and start running. When I did get behind her, that is exactly was she did. I put my hands out to stop myself from running her over.

I was able to clear more people and found myself running next to an older lady. We were step for step for a while, then she started to pull away. When she pulled away, she didn't get too far. My goal for the race was to catch her. I ran a nice pace and thought it was even. I passed a few more runners during this time.

At the second mile, I was getting closer to the lady. I kept thinking to myself that I had less then 10 minutes to run, why not give it all? I ended up catching two guys and passed them. A man who I passed a while ago, passed me back for good. All the while this was taking place, I was gaining on the lady who pulled away from me the first mile.

A spectator was yelling to the runners, "one more corner, then it's all downhill." I loved hearing that. I knew that I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to have a shot at that lady. After turning the corner, the lady was just head of me and the race was almost over. When I saw the time clock and finishing line, I picked up my pace. I was able to pull myself right beside the woman and then finally pass her. In the process of passing the woman, I was able to pull away from a guy that was right behind me. I saw the clock read 26:xx and I so wanted to finish with that time. I just fell short. I finished the race in 27:05 and placed second in my age group.

Once the race was over, I was thinking of places on the course where I could have gone faster and improved my time. That is the best thing about races, there are so many around where I live. Take what you learned in one race and apply it to the next one.