5K Corporate Run

I finished the race in 37:11. What in the world?!?! Ok, here's the scoop -- There were 22,000+ people, and most were treating this race as a social event more than a fitness event or competition. I wish I had known that. It was a social event for hundreds of mostly medium-sized companies. Anyway, it took me about 2 or 3 minutes after the starting gun to get up to the starting line, but even then, I was walking for a while longer because of the huge crowd. Many people weren't even trying to run -- there were people drinking beer and pushing strollers with babies -- not what I expected. A mile into the race, I was running some, but also having to slow down and walk regularly because the crowd would clump up when the street would narrow.

Other than that, I felt great! It was so much fun. I loved pinning on the numbers. There were people who were about my same level and speed -- I'd try to keep up with them, or pass them, or follow them. That was a lot of fun. I usually run alone. Very motivating, and I feel like I ran better than ever before. When I hit the 2nd mile, the timer said 26:55 which means I ran the last 1.1 miles at a 9:19 pace (and probably most of the second mile was at a similar pace). For me, that's pretty good and fast. The fastest 5k I've done since high school is 9:50 pace (30:28). I was hoping to break 30:00 (9:40 pace), and I think I would have done it -- so I feel good. I want to do it again.