Run 4 Your Life LBRR

Since I hadn't raced since Broad Street, it was about time to get out and race, just to see how things were. And I hadn't raced a 5K since the fall, so I figured this would be interesting. Then I looked at the flyer again, and had thoughts of a very crowded event, like on Mother's Day. So I headed out early; so early in fact that it took less than 15 minutes to get there from South Philly (love those empty highways at 7:30 AM).

So I registered and did a short warm-up run. As I was looking for a spot to stretch, I saw the Kenyans. And I knew the day was shot. Then I saw Kevin G and Mike C from NERCC and talked to them for a little bit. Stretched, and then went on the "pre-race find out what's still too stiff" jog. And I saw Ian and Veena R, who just kicked some serious arse at Grandma's Marathon, qualifying for the Olympic trials!

During final warm-ups, I saw Cecily Tynan and her baby jogger, complete with number on the baby jogger. Made a mental note not to finish behind her (personal pride in not wanting to finish behind someone only a few months removed from having a baby and running with a baby jogger).

Started out with Kevin G. Opened in 6:10. Not bad, and I was feeling good. Oops, thought that too soon. Started slowing down heading towards the turn, after I saw the Kenyans on their way back. (Damn those guys are fast! More on than in a moment.) Hit the turn at 9:20, and mile 2 was 6:30. I could feel myself getting slower, mostly due to the heat and that I was once again in running no-man's land by myself. The only good thing is that only one or two people passed me after the turn. Hit the finish line in 20:18, or something like that - about one minute off my PR. Not that I was expecting to PR.

I checked the results online today. Before I tell you how fast the Kenyans went, make sure that you're not drinking anything; I don't want to be responsible for you doing a spit-take at your monitor.

The results are online at: http://users.erols.com/runadvte/. You can see the winning time of 14:09, and that the first seven were all at 14:33 or under. And FYI, Simon Wangai, #5 overall holds the Broad Street course record.

As for me, at least I finished ahead of Cecily, albeit barely.