Firecracker 5K

North Port, July 3, 2010

This was a small race down in North Port, about half an hour away. I drove down with a new running friend, Liz. We got there with plenty of time to spare. My friend Karen showed up just as we did, so we headed over to pick up our bibs and T-shirts. Just cotton shirts, but they are nice ones. The price of the race was only $12 for preregistration, so I wasn't expecting much! We hung out and talked for a while until it was time to line up for the start. The course was out and back. Not the most exciting. We ran on a road that's on the side and back of a housing development, with not a lot around us, just trees. The sky was overcast, so that made the summer conditions much more easy to run in.

I started off a bit fast, but found a good pace that I could keep. Mile 1 - 8:25
There was one water stop at about the half way point. I was happy to grab a cup and walk for a few seconds while I drank it down. I had been thirsty before we even started! Mile 2 ended with another good time - 8:44.

The last mile was a bit tough. A woman just ahead of me was making a lot of loud grunting noises. As I was about to pass her and ask her if she was alright, the guy in front of her stopped and talked to her. He got her to stop running and just walk a bit. I then came up to a father and young son. They had been ahead of me the entire race. I told the kid he was doing great and asked the dad how old the kid was. Seven years old! (He is in the photo above) Mile 3 - 8:53



In the last bit before the finish, I heard the father tell his son to pick up the pace, this is were they race it in. They both passed me! I finished strong though. :)last .1 - 0:46.

My time was 26:48. I got 5th out of 19 in my age group. I am very happy with this time. It's 50 seconds faster than the 5K from last month. Considering I had no taper at all, I ran 18 miles this week and rode 16 miles on Tuesday, I was very surprised to have run so well. :)