What a perfect day for a race! I love doing this one because it is close and really a fun event. Last year, by default, I won 1st place in my age group of 30-39, because the real first place winner won overall, and they decided to not have them place in the age groups also. This year, they didn't make that distinction, but I got lucky and took the first place all on my own today :) Wasn't sure how this would go today, as my runs lately have felt a lot slower. And, I've been tired. And, I've done quite a bit of emotional eating (you know, lots of coke and chocolate). So, I haven't been feeling like I've been in my best form lately. However, I set out to just give it my all, and see where the cards fell. We started off, and I quickly set my pace, which I knew was faster than normal, but knowing it was only 3 miles, I figured I could handle that. There is a bit of a hill in mile 1, but once you are past that, it is some gradual downhill and flat. I got to mile 1 in just under 8 minutes, and was feeling pretty good. The next mile wound down through some neighborhoods, but there was a lot of short up and down and flat, so it wasn't too bad. Hit mile 2 in just under 8 minutes, also. Knowing that my time was looking pretty good so far helped me to keep up the pace, even though I was getting a bit winded. After hitting mile 2 the course took another uphill turn. Struggled a bit on this one, but made it to the top. Then, it was flat and another bit of an uphill, but I knew that was the last, and really, it was mostly all downhill from there. Once I hit the downhill, I started increasing my pace just a bit. Then, we hit the turnoff and I started to increase a bit more, but I was holding back just slightly, because I couldn't remember for sure how much farther I had to go and didn't want to kill myself before the end. Saw the last turn and knew I was almost there. Then, 2 bad things happened (which I didn't really think about till after my husband pointed them out to me at the end - he was a little irritated for me). I came around that last corner, turning left, and there was a car trying to make a right hand turn. Where the car came from right there is anybody's guess. It was less than 100 meters from the finish line. So, I had to dodge the car, instead of being able to keep the momentum going around the corner. Then, a girl decided to race me to the finish line. So, I sprinted with her. However, she managed to cut herself in front of me, instead of staying to the side (there was PLENTY of room to cross, mind you), which also cut into my momentum. Really, she was going to beat me anyway. She was obviously younger, so youth was on her side. But, she didn't need to cut me off. Like I said, I didn't really think about these things till after, but my husband was pretty frustrated for me. I guess actually watching it happen puts it into more perspective than being in the action. After the race, I found my time and saw that I had placed first in my age group. Pretty excited :). I had a good friend with me who had run her second ever 5k, and my son and his friend had also done well on their 5k times. I was excited for the awards as I had placed so well and had good friends and family there. So, they announced the winners of my age division: 3rd place was 37 minutes, 2nd was 36 minutes, and 1st was 36 minutes something. HUH?!?!? Did I miss something?? Feeling a bit stupid, I walked up to the awards people to ask, if, in fact, that was for my age group. It was, and I was told to go check with the chip time guys to verify that I had actually won. I went over there, and was quickly joined by the other 2 girls who were supposed to have won 2nd and 3rd in my age group. Made me feel a little less stupid :) Sure enough, somebody made a computer glitch, and we were the actual winners of our age group. So, back to the front to correct this mistake, they read our names in, had to call the people back that they had incorrectly awarded, and got it all straightened out. It was all fine, but a bit of a downer on the excitement, having to deal with it that way, and we felt bad for those people that had inadvertently been awarded in our place. Thought it was interesting, though, that the awards people didn't question the fact that the top finishers in this age group were finishing in the 36 to 37 minute range. A little strange, don't you think? Anyway, it all worked out, it was a fun race, great raffle at the end, and everyone left happy. Sure gonna miss this race next year. It really is a fun little fun run.
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