Spur of the moment entry in a 5k. A woman I work with who is also a runner told me last night she was headed there, and since she has base access she'd let me in to run the race. I figured the base access requirement would mean I could place highly, and I wasn't doing anything else this morning (and, I heard you could win a turkey, which is always worth $10). Turns out a lot of people have connections with access (Bangor is a nuclear submarine base outside of my town) and it was a decent field. Two high school X-C teams showed up, good timing for them since they all peaked last weekend. High school kids took a number of top-10 spots. There were a few sprinkles on the drive in, I was hoping the rain would hold. Then a mist started during my 1-mile warm-up, then as we waited (and waited, and waited) for the start it turned into a downpour that only got worse during the next hour. (Of course, the sun's coming out now, great timing.) Not too cold, but it was unpleasant.
I went out conservatively because the group of teenagers bolted from the start. I went through 1-mile at 5:34 and felt great. I picked off a few runners after that point, chasing the women's leader (yes, I got chicked, and I have no problem with that). I tried to hold the pace but I think I let me mind wander and slowed a bit. I talked to some guys afterwards, a lot of people slowed on mile 2. I felt fine and kept everyone but the leader (went under 17) in sight, but was so cold and soaked that I didn't have much pick up for the last mile. I was right on the heels of two kids going into the final quarter or so and I tried to surge up a hill on them, but they have younger legs than I and just held me off. It was a good sprint down the stretch for 7th place though. Then I cooled down for about 2 miles with a guy I know, we were sopping by that point and the rain just kept coming. Then, the biggest part of the morning -- I won a turkey. The awards ceremony may have lasted 45 minutes (ugh, I wish James would have been there to write an angry blog post about their glacial pace), but it was worth it because I went home with a free bird and a medal for my place in the age group. Also, I met a bunch of people that could be potential running partners. The woman who invited me is loosely affliated with this running club, and they invited me to train with them some. That's probably the real best part of the run, but the free turkey dinner will taste good tonight as well.
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