After a nice warm-up, 2 Miles at 7:00/mile with a couple of 5K Race Pace striders, over 300 runners (including a ton of high schoolers) hit the course on a cool, breezy morning. As expected, the hilly course was challenging, and when I looked down at my Garmin at Mile 1 and saw a 5:18, I knew I was going to pay for it later in the race. As the course turned predominantly uphill at the half-way point, and then flat during the latter half of Mile 3, I held up pretty well and ran strong. Unfortunately, a quarter-mile steep, uphill finish prevented any possibility of a kick (which I think I had in me). In the end, I hit my target of sub-19:00, set a PR, and gained some confidence. Under good conditions, I'll have a puncher's chance at 18:00 next week in my hometown 5K race, the Fordyce on the Cotton Belt 5K, in Fordyce, Arkansas (pop. 4,500). Wesley
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