Race Recap: Matthew 25 5K

This is the first race that I've done 2 years in a row. It felt different, even though it was the exact same course. I have made a running buddy in the past few months, and I convinced her to do this one with me. I told her about my success last year, since it's such a small race, so we were both out to win! (We're in different age groups, thankfully.)

Running the same course 2 years in a row is actually really nice since I could compare my time against the exact same thing and see improvement.

The weather was great (actually a bit cold, even though it's July), and I felt like I got a decent warm-up in. We were waiting at the line for probably less than 2 minutes before the horn went off for the start. No fanfare, just start. Even though it was shoe-chipped, it's such a small race that there's no chip time vs. gun time kinda thing. So it was very good that my friend and I basically had our toes on the starting line.

I know that my friend is faster than me (we do longer distances together where we just chat and take it slow). My goal was to try to keep up with her, or at least keep her in my line of sight. We stayed together for about the first three-quarters of a mile, and then she took her lead. Around the one-mile mark, I tried to look at my watch, but it had failed to start. Ah, well.

Right when I lost her. Those are my blue shoes and the top of my head behind her.

Around the half-way point, I realized I wasn't feeling so good, with some uh...bathroom issues going on. (I'm not going to delve any further into this one.) I just tried to chug along as best I could, willing myself to go faster if anyone passed me. I got passed a lot because I obviously started out way too fast. I had my headphones in and tried my best to let the music motivate me.

The good news is that I shave a minute off my time from this course last year!

My final time was 27:12 (last year's time was 28:17)

Unlike last year, however, I did not win my age group. But I came in 2nd!!

Here's a not-so-great pic of me receiving my trophy

There were 5 ladies in my age group, and once I saw the 1st-placer get her trophy, I remembered her passing me in the third mile. I tried to keep up, but she ended up beating me by 13 seconds. I came in 24th overall, out of 113.

Aside from my race, the best part of the day was that my running buddy WON the race! Top Female Finisher! She got a much cooler trophy that a local metalworker/artist made. It was super heavy!

Doing a race with a friend was great! I hope to do some more with her again, but maybe I'll just not try so hard to keep up in the beginning.