The first race I placed - Westerville Rotary 5K

Part of the fun of Fourth of July is getting out and doing some races! I already blogged about the neighborhood race I did on Friday night and how badly I felt. I was looking forward to Monday's race as they were competitively timing walkers. What this meant is that we would have our own categories and our own prizes! The top 3 female & male walkers would get an award.

The weather was perfect for an early morning race - low 70s, clear, and it didn't look like there was a chance of rain at all. I woke up feeling great and was very excited to wear my Race Club shirt for the first time these season! I truly love the shirt as red is my FAVORITE color - so thanks Fleet Feet, for picking it this year! The nice part about being in Race Club is you know there will be other people you know there automatically. I was the only Race Club walker but that's okay! Here is a before shot of the group:

I am hard to see but I am the only one wearing a black hat. I couldn't figure out who we were looking at for the picture! A lot of these folks are very fast runners and were finished long before me! I started out near the middle of the runners this time and stuck close to the edge of the road so any runners who wanted to could pass me but I was keeping pace pretty well. I walked next to a runner I know for the first mile and she ended up having to let me go as she couldn't keep up with me. What a feeling! I got passed by a walker while I was with this runner and she was able to get ahead of me quite a bit but I had an eye on her the whole time. I ended up catching her around mile 2.5 and made a new friend! And possibly a new MIT walker recruit! We walked together until the end but I went ahead of her finishing just 6 seconds ahead of her. When we finished, I assumed there had been other walkers that crossed but when one of the people who organized the race came up to me and asked if the woman behind me had walked the whole time, I found out we had come in 1 & 2!!! My first win!!! My prize is a $20 gift card to Fleet Feet that is just burning a whole in my pocket. Here is my post-win picture:

Here are my split times:

Mile 1: 12:31/mile
Mile 2: 12:16/mile
Mile 3: 11:59/mile
Mile .1: 11:02/mile (if I had done a mile)
Overall finish: 37:50 for a 12:12 per mile pace!! A new PR!

Up next? I have been asked to pace the 14 minute mile pace at the Cinco de Julio Quatro miler this weekend. That will be a 56 minute finish and definitely a good time! Free drinks for all at the end!