I got there at 8:30AM to register for the 9:00AM race. I hadn't preregistered because I wasn't sure if my schedule would allow me to run the race. There was also a hike to a local waterfall that some folks from church were planning.
After registering, I said hi to to some acquaintances and then decided to go for a warm-up jog. At this point, I realize that I have no clue what the race course is going to look like. It was not published with the race info. I had assumed that it would just follow the local roads for some sort of out and back. As I began my warm-up I pass one of the school's P.E. teachers who offered to show me some of the course. It turns out that there is a whole network of trails behind the school--touring through some really pretty pine forest. I did about a mile of warm up and decided I had better get to the starting line.
The other thing I found out from the P.E. guy was that there was no water provided on the course. No biggie, it's just a 5K. I'm a water kind of guy on runs, so I decided to bring water along, even though I would only take a few drinks.
At 9:00AM, they walk us down to the start line, briefly explained the course (I sort of quit listening here, because I wasn't familiar with the street names anyway and I figured only the first place runner really needed to know). They did a quick head count and there were 64 runners toed up. Away we went.
I usually check out the runners near me and look for someone that I might aim to pick off during the run. There was an gentleman about 20 years my senior who looked really ready to go. He was wearing a bright red shirt and I thought he'd be easy to keep track of. The course started with a loop around the parking lot and then a left turn on the road. Red shirt guy took off like a rocket up the steep incline--I guess I'll pace off of someone else.
The course followed the road for roughly the first mile and then turned onto the forest trail. While the turn was marked with chalk and a cone, a runner two guys ahead missed it and went about 50 feet out of his way. I hollered after him as I made the turn. He caught up and passed me pretty quick. The trail portion of the run was a pretty, but technical. Lots of hills and some pretty sharp turns. I almost rolled my ankle, but saved it just in time.
The trail portion lasted for a little more than the next mile. I think my poor GPS was getting poor signal in the dense forest, because the distance seemed to be off. The course turned back out on the road and somehow meandered back to the same parking lot we started in. It went through the parking lot and into a back school field and then briefly onto some more trails. Since my GPS distance wasn't correct, I had no idea we were as close to the end as we were. A final sprint to the finish!
My official time: 22:42, a new PR by 17 seconds. I managed to come in 6th out of 64 and grabbed 2nd in my age group. The guy in fifth place had been at the CareNet race two weeks ago and had been determined to beat me. He ran a great race.
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