We got there and got our bib numbers and waited around for the start. It was a little chilly, but I knew we would warm up as soon as we started running. Here we are at the start.
We ran a lot faster than I had anticipated. I thought we should slow down to conserve some energy, but Mina continued to run at a good clip. Since I let her set the pace, I just did my best to keep up. I had my Garmin on, so I knew how fast we were going, but she kept it up. There was a bummer moment as we came around the start, a "gazelle" passed us, looking like he was barely breaking a sweat and then turned to the finish line. We still had another lap to go!
Tyler, Mina's husband ran all over with their son to get some shots of Mina with the video camera. It was fun to see them on the course. Bill sprinted out ahead at the start and had a fantastic race. He PR'd in 23:56!
As we were nearing the finish, I finally told Mina that it was possible we would break 30 minutes. She couldn't believe it. Neither could I! So as soon as we made the turn for the last tenth of a mile, she saw the finish line and picked up the pace. I kept encouraging her to "keep it up!". Then I had to say, "Yo, please slow down so this old lady can keep up!" We came across the line in 30:37!
I think it took me six months to achieve that! It also took me three 5ks before I could run one without walk breaks. I admit, though, if I had had an encouraging running partner with me every day and at the race, I just may have been able to do it. It makes a difference running with someone.
Here we are at the end!
We weren't going to stick around for the awards, because we wanted to get going so we could be ready for an early dinner. I'm glad we did. I won second place in my age group! My prize? A pumpkin pie!
That was pretty cool!
All in all, it was a fantastic race for all three of us!
Splits: 10:14, 10:09, 9:23, 0:52 (=7:26 pace!).
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