A friend of mine told me about this race a few weeks ago. It's a new race to raise money for a local school PTA. As it is 10 minutes from my house, AND I wasn't going to be in Boston this year, I signed up my two boys and I.
The weather was perfect. 45F, low wind, low humidity. Some people seemed a bit overdressed wearing long tights, long-sleeved shirts, and gloves.
The fun run for the boys went off at 8AM. My 8 year-old (Ethan) took off to the front of the pack, while my 7 year-old and I took a more leisurely pace. The fun run was an out-and-back loop, with a water stop at the 1/2 mile mark. Ethan ran most of the race, with some walk breaks, and finished in about 10 minutes. Christian and I walked when we had to...and finished a few minutes behind. I was proud of both my boys. That was my warmup.
The 5K started at about 8:30. I lined up on the front row, surrounded by grammar school kids. Where were the adults? It seems like the few adults that were there opted to start back behind the kids. Not me..I planned to get ahead of these kids before I ran one over.
The race started, and I quickly got up to my 5K race pace. I was in 3rd place at about a quarter mile, and then we started the long, gradual hill, where I took the lead. I glanced at my watch and saw I was at about a 5:45 pace..which, at this point in my running life, is not sustainable for 3.1 miles, so I dialed it back a little. I crossed the first mile at 6:15. That wasn't so bad, and I was in first place. I never looked back, but I could tell there was no one behind me. I got to follow the motorcycle cop!!!! Yes, the motorcycle cop was leading ME! At the 1.55 mile mark, I turned around and headed back. This was my first view of the chase pack...which consisted of a guy about my age about 30 seconds behind me, and nobody even close to him. I thought to myself that I could possibly win this thing. Is he just holding back?
The second mile as a 6:38. I was heading up hill now. I knew that with 1/2 mile to go it would be a nice gradual downhill to the finish, so I just chugged along. I saw a few of my friends coming the other way, which is always fun!
I never looked back and just ran my own race. The last 1/2 mile seemed fairly easy. As I rounded the corner, someone said "here comes the leader", and a few people clapped, as I crossed the finish line (no tape..I always imagined there was a tape to break...but I guess not :). 20:10. I had just won my first race since grade school!!!!
My oldest boy, Ethan, ended up 3rd overall in the fun run and won his age group and got a medal. Christian was a little disappointed that he didn't get anything. But, I got the "Overall Fastest Male in the first ever Porcupine Promenade" 2 foot trophy!!! (Which I am entrusting to Christian to take good care of for me....it made him happier.)
Most of my other buddies that were there (not my usual speedy buddies from work, but rather the up-and-coming speedsters from my church) took home some hardware, too! It was a fun day, and I'm grateful all the really speedy guys were running another race in Ft Worth or Boston! :-)
45F, Sunny, 5MPH
Here are the results: http://clinesrunningcorner.com/results2011/porcupinepromenade_april16_2011.pdf
| 