A rather successful morning of running. In the first 5k there were around 450 runners and I placed 3rd in the 18-49 adult community category (a UVA senior focused race). My time was 20:28. Pretty good considering the fact that in the 3rd mile I decided to take a 30 second walking break. I didn’t get a chance to stick around and see if I had won anything, since it was time to head off to the next race.

The next one was much smaller. Around 100 people. This race was rather entertaining. Just before the start they announced that we were just about to start and to come over near the starting line. I went to my bike to pull off my sweats, and then heard those lovely word, “Go.” I look up and the pack of people have started moving along. I was a bit behind. Rather than take off at a sprint I just took off at a casual jog and started moving gradually upward through the crowd.

In the final mile I felt much more relaxed than I had in the first 5k and didn’t need to take a walking break, but my left hammy was definitely feeling a bit tight and bothersome heading up a long hill. With maybe half a mile (or maybe a bit more) to go I was just in the process of passing two people, and a road that I thought might lead to the finish line. There were no other people in front so I asked the two next to me if I should turn or go straight. They said go straight so I kept going. At this point I wasn’t sure how much further the race was, but had a distant memory of this race last year.

I passed the two and continued on at a rather comfortable pace. The annoying part is that there was no one in front of me that I could see. I really hate that during a race, since I’m such a lazy runner when I have nothing to chase. I just kept running. I then got to the small road where I was heading up a steep hill to the finish line. I was looking up the hill (and still hadn’t seen anyone in front of me) and the yellow finish line plastic ribbon was still being held up.

Being rather dense near the end of my 2nd 5k of the morning I just figured they were holding that up for everyone that was running that morning so we would all feel like Rocky. I didn’t want them to waste time holding it up for the next people so I just slowed down and walked below it. I didn’t think about it again until they started giving away awards.

“To the top male finisher…,” and something that sounded like my name. Holy crap DocMan. I guess I actually won the race. Now that I think about it, when I went to get snacks there was no one else in line, and no one had opened any of the juice yet. From what I overheard, one person may have finished before me, but he took the “shortcut road” that I was thinking about taking at that fork in the road. They pointed him back and he reran part of the course. My time was somewhere around 22 minutes, and I won a $40 coupon at the NewBalance shoe store. Good deal. Now time to shower and get some work done. Tomorrow the Dolphins vs. Patriots.

In retrospect, I really should have run through the yellow ribbon. I wonder if I’ll ever get another chance at that.

(PS One of my blog readers had a decade on me, but finished just a bit behind me - he was the one that told me which road to take, so thanks)