Gabriel and I had a goal of finishing the 5K in 25 minutes. I thought I was running strong, but he kept up with me the whole way, fading back sometimes, then catching up. That's harder to do!
A photographer was taking shots along the way.
(I love this shot, what a treasure.)
When the finish line was in sight, Gabriel and I were running together, and the photographer was there again.
As we approached the finish line, Gabriel sprinted ahead, and then I pushed the hardest I've ever pushed in my whole life to pass him. I barely did and had to work HARD to keep going -- and Steph got the shot! (That's me crossing the finish, and Gabriel is the next runner behind me, the short one in the white T-shirt).
We were both really out of breath but psyched. What a race!!
Afterward we walked to where the goodie bags and snacks were. A radio station was blasting music so loud there was only one thing to do.
A lady with the radio station came out and gave Aidan a T-shirt for dancing! He was psyched.
Race results were chip-timed with devices we attached to our shoes. In the end, I beat Gabriel by 1 second, for an overall time of 26:33 (pace 8:33 minutes per mile) -- much slower than our goal of 25 minutes.
This race has the strangest age divisions: womens' age groups spanned only 5 years (I was in 45-49), but the younger years (where the most differences are) had only one age category: 19-and-under. What's that about? 19-year-olds in the same group as 7-year olds? I don't THINK so!! I thought they should at least have had a 10-and-under category, even before discovering that if they had, Gabriel would have come in 3rd. He did GREAT. He'll certainly beat me our next 5K, as he should.
Other than getting too discombobulated by the crowds to meet up with my friends who gave me the idea to do this, it was a terrific time. I'm so glad my sister and niece and nephew were there for us. And what FUN to do with my son!
6/26/11
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