My First 5k - Makin' Tracks

Today was the day.  The day of my first 5k.  The officer and I ran the Makin' Tracks 5k in the Piedmont Founder's Day celebration.  The kids participated in the one mile fun walk/run with my sister and her children.  

Last night I looked at the weather forecast for the morning.  90% chance of rain.  High of 72 degrees.  Yay.  And I do mean yay.  I would rather run in the rain and cool weather than weather in the 80s.  The officer, however, was not looking forward to it.  

The race was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. with check-in starting at 6 a.m.  It was going to be an early, early morning for this homeschooling family.  The officer wanted to be there at 6 a.m.  Later I found out he thought the race started at 7 a.m.  We woke the kids up at 5:20 a.m.  We left the house at 5:45 a.m. and headed to Piedmont.  It was raining.  At 6 a.m., we picked up our race packets.  And then.....  we waited.  We went to a local McDonalds to wait some more.  We were all nice, dry, and warm in there.  :)

Around 6:45 a.m., we headed back to the race.  We met up with my sister and her three littles.  We stood outside for about 30 minutes, getting a little more wet with each passing minute.  We'd all be soaked to the bone by the time we are finished.

The race official lined us up at 7:25 a.m.  I told the officer there was no need to get up in front and be in everyone's way.  All the 5kers were going to be running in one directions and the one mile fun walk/runners would be going in the opposite direction.

The starting pistol was shot and we were off.  The 5k was to help raise funds for the Piedmont cross country team.  My niece was volunteering during the race.  She was at the standing at the first turn directing runners.  She took this picture of the officer and me.  I was all smiles then.

It wasn't long before all I saw was an older gentlemen in front of me.  Most of the other runners were far ahead.  My only goal was to not stop running.  The officer stayed with me the whole time.  I know he probably got a little bored running so slow, but he hung in there with me.  He may have run some of the race backwards.  I may have even seen him skip a few times.  Maybe not.

It wasn't a difficult race.  I enjoyed the rain and cool weather.  In fact, about a mile into it I was getting hot and wanted to take off my sweatshirt, but I thought I would probably have to stop for that so I didn't do it.  As I rounded my last turn, I saw my niece, son and daughter running toward me to finish the last leg.  As I closed in on the finish line, the officer was encouraging me to finish strong and my sister and her children were waiting and cheering across the finish line.  I was terribly slow, but I completed my goal for my first 5k. I ran the whole thing - in 43:01 minutes. 

 

 

  

 

After I was finished, I stayed around for medals.  I was pretty sure since there were three people behind me there would be no reason to stay, but the officer said I may have done well for my age group (41-50 year olds). Turns out he was right.  I got third place for my age group. 

There may have only been five people in this age group and two of the five may have walked the entire race.  I think you can see them behind me in this picture.

The kids all had fun during the one mile walk/fun.  Son said he ran the whole thing.  I think they enjoyed walking and running in the rain too.

 

After the race, the officer and my son had to go help set up the Trail Life booth for Founder's Day.  They were going to help spread the word about Trail Life, sell cowboy cookers and vanilla ice cream topped with Magic Shell and bacon!  Daughter and I headed home to change clothes and pick up some more dry clothes for son.  We went back to Piedmont to watch the parade. 

Daughter was very excited to have her rain boots.

Son did a great job spreading the word about Trail Life.

Overall, it was a great day.  I never, ever thought I would run a 5k.  Like. EVER.  I didn't think it was possible for me.  If I can do it, anyone can.  It all started out with one little walk around the block about a year and half ago and a run around the blog this past June.  I will do another 5k.  The officer said we need to focus next time on doing it faster.  I agree, but I think I'd like to run another one, just to do it and enjoy it before I try for quicker time. 

I'm so thankful for the officer though.  He has encouraged me this whole time. Always acknowledging the hard work and encouraging me to keep it up.  He may have not enjoyed running slow in the cool, rainy weather, but he never complained.  He just encouraged and photographed along the way.  Love him.