Race Report: Schoolcraft Firecracker 5-Miler
Is there a more traditionally American way to celebrate Independence Day than to go out early in the morning and run 5 miles? Oh, wait … I guess there probably is. Well, I am not always the most traditional person, so I ran, as did a lot of my friends. My goal was to break 40 minutes for the 5-mile race; unfortunately, I didn’t make it. I’m finally coming around to the general consensus that my time was, in fact, good. I averaged 8:05 miles, which is a personal-best pace for me in a race of any length.
Time: 40 minutes, 25 seconds
Age group: Men 30-34
Rank in age group: 9th out of 11 men
Overall rank: 142nd out of 318 runners
Since the Summer Safari program called for 10 miles today, I took a second lap around the course after the race and awards ceremony. Fortunately, I didn’t have to go alone – Angela, Emily, Jen, and Pam went along with me.
Dear Angela, Emily, Jen, and Pam,
Do you like how I listed you in alphabetical order so as to not play favourites? Anyway, thanks very much for going out and doing another five with me. I hope that you felt like you got something out of it. I know I needed the extra mileage.
Sincerely,
Darrell
We had three groups: Jen ran her pace, Angela and Pam ran her pace, and Emily and I ran our pace. Emily and I were right in the middle, and were quite happy to be there in the middle. Overall, it was a good run.
5 miles, 49:56, 9;59.2/mile
After the run, all of us but Jen headed over to Marjo’s for our post-race meal. Mine was a French dip with a side of mashed potatoes (because mashed potatoes at Marjo’s are great). After that, and after a long conversation with Angela that covered most of the spectrum of conversation (save, of course, politics and religion!), I headed home to be tired and sore.
