Local 5k today for a great cause. Childserve is an organization in Des Moines that assists kids with disabilities. This race was especially important to me because my wife's step-brother, mason, has cerebral palsy and gets assistance from Childserve. I've been wanting to run this for the last few years and finally got my chance today. A little cold for mid-may as it was high 40s with strong north winds and light rain making it feel colder. Met up with my good friend from high school, andrew minear, at the start line. We were really close freinds in hs and he inspired me to get into cross country and running. Today was his day as he ended up beating me. The Race: Woke up at 5:55 am, did the normal pre-race routine. Met up with andrew at the start and got caught up as i havent seen him in a few months. He informed me that he and his wife are expecting, which is awesome. Got to the start and took off. andrew pulled away in the first mile, i laid back in a chase pack of about 3 guys to try to conserve some energy going nto the wind. My strategy was to outlast andrew and catch him on the return trip where the wind was at our back. First mile flew by in 5:37.6. At this point i threw in a surge and broke up the chase pack. It was now a 2 person race between andrew and I. I closed within 5-7 seconds of him at one point during the 2nd mile but could just never get close enough to get him. 2nd mile was a negative split at 5:30.8 (11:08). I tried to rein him in during the last mile, but had no such luck. Final mile split was 5:40.1, with the final .1 being 32.8 seconds. Crossed the line in 17:21, andrew had finished in 16:51, a very good race for him. Official results said 17:22 and the online results are all messed up cuz they moved everyone back a place so those results arent correct. Overall, very happy to have run such even splits on a great course for a great cause. Very well organized as well. Also, if im going to lose i couldnt be happier that the winner was a good friend. After the race, i stopped by my father-in-law's house and gave mason my 2nd place medal. He thought that was the coolest thing ever, which made my day and helped put into perspective how awesome of cause this race was for.
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