As I woke up this morning, to prepare for my race, I knew that it was going to go well. Today, I ran at the Freedom Half Marathon and 5K and earned THIRD PLACE overall! Among my age division i WON! I ended up being the youngest to place at the race this year at 17 years of age and also I got a ton of other things from the race. I managed to earn: a glass trophy with my name on it (for placing third overall), a glass plaque with my name on it (for winning the race in my age division) and a medal! Before the start of the race, i met up with my two friends Patrick and Emma. To warm up we did some strides to get our heart rates up and ready to race. Once the man with the starting line showed up, i lined up at the start, right in the front. As soon as the gun went off, I ran and stayed ahead of the pack. Before the first turn i was second and right behind a very fast man. I stayed up with him and began to pace him. In the end, he out kicked me after a mile and was about a 100 feet in front of me and i couldn't catch up to him. As i continued on, another few men caught up to me and passed me. I tried to pass them- I got close to them, but then they sped up and increased the gap's size once again. After that, no one else passed me. I continued on for my last 2.1 miles pacing one last woman and ended up passing her. By the time i had increased the gap's size, I could already see the finish line. It felt so exciting and thrilling that i had been one of the first few people to cross the finish line and place! For the last 300m-400m I began to open up my strides and just finish strong with a lot of power and speed. The overall experience was just great and exhilarating. I can't wait to race again! =] |