Bret

Sacred Selections - Run for the Babies Turkey Trot 5k - this was a race organized by members of my church as a fundraiser for an adoption organization called Sacred Selections.  Small event with mostly congregation members on an out and back course in a park along the Chatahoochee River.   I was sick this week and also in a down week in recovery mode from the NYC marathon 2 weeks ago - so I did not want to really push in this event.  In fact I did not even know about the event until earlier in the week.    I expected to have a chance to win given the small turnout - but was a little uncertain what the day and my body would bring.  As it turned out it ran fairly conservatively keeping close to the competition before pulling away in the second half with about a 30 second cushion for the win.  

This was an out and back course, but in an unfamiliar area to me - and I was not sure I would know the course well enough to lead.  Also, I wanted to run this more "socially" than aggressively racing - and I think this was just the right approach.  I let a couple of the guys lead by about 5-7 yards early on until just past the 1 mile mark.  There was a group of 4 of us.  This was mostly uphill and I could hear from their breathing that they would not be able to push beyond that pace later.  As we approached the turnaround (which was not entirely obvious to me) I conversed with Brigham who was running by my side (as the others had already dropped back) to confirm we were at the right spot for the turn; and then I just gradually pulled away from him until I felt like I had a good enough lead that I could coast in.  Ended up running 7:15, 7:05 and then 6:45.  It was a fun event, and I got to cheer and encourage everyone making their way outbound on my way back - and then hung around afterwards for some good conversation.