A Hero's 5K

This past Saturday I participated in my first 5K in probably 6 years.  The race was called A Hero's 5K.  All the proceeds went to Upstate Warriors Solution (www.upstatewarriorsolution.com), an upstate non-profit organization that supports upstate families of fallen or wounded soldiers.  My husband is in the military and currently deployed so I felt compelled to support their cause.

Seeing as how I have not run 3 miles in 5-6 years, I was planning to more or less walk the whole race and finish in the last group of participants to cross the line.  When I got in the car to head to Furman University Timmons Arena (the location of the race), my car read 22*.  WOW!  So not only was I going to complete 3.2 miles, I was going to freeze my tail off while doing it.  By the time the race started it had warmed up to a "cozy" 26*. 

Here I am getting ready to start

I figured since it was so cold, running at least some of the race might be a good idea so I could stay warm!  Not only was I freezing, but I also forgot my iPod earphones at work!  So I was running without my motivation music.  I managed to run the first mile but then had to stop and walk because the air was so cold it was burning my throat and it was hard to breathe.  I walked the entire second mile, then was able to run the last 1.2 mile.  I completed the course in 39 min and 3 sec.  Not too shabby, I thought....



Until I saw the results and realized I finished 406 out of 560.  Lol.  And then I saw this:



This lady was over 60 years old and managed to run an 8:38 min/mile pace and finish in 26 minutes.  Humbling.  Looks like I have some work to do before next year. 

And I do plan on running again next year.  I really enjoyed this race and the effort they put into it to make sure it recognized and honored all military service members.

In honor of my husband currently deployed and all the soldiers in the 1-118th, my brother-in-law who has served 2 tours of duty, and in memory of my cousin who was taken much too young!