5K Results

Before I begin, I want to thank all the well wishers who wrote in with some encouragement. I recognized many of the names, but there were many more who I didn't know and its' quite amazing to get a thumbs up from a total stranger.

A thousand "Thank Yous" to all of you.

Interestingly enough, that is something I am going to cover later on in this note.

So anyhow, Saturday was a perfect day for a race. We arrived around 9 am to pick up our info packs and get situated. Starting time was 10:00 AM and the weather was cool, but not cold.

Not much fanfare to it, after some meeting and greeting, we went to the starting area, the mayor of Royal Oak said a few words and off we went -- around 400 runners in all (and a few hundred other assorted walkers and participants)

I started strong and held a good pace for the first half but at the midpoint I knew it would be a struggle to finish. Yes, there's being in shape and then there's being in racing shape. I wasn't really conditioned for long distance, but that was the last thing on my mind.

My goal was just that, to finish. – and I did. It was the longest distance
I had ever consciously run. I'm sure we ran longer distances during football workouts but it was never measured or timed.

Anyhow, one of the great things was this – throughout the winding course of the race, there were folks stationed every few hundred yards to make sure everything was on the up and up.

You know, to make sure nobody passed out, or got hit by a car or anything.

These were complete strangers but as everyone passed by, they gave a hearty, "Lets go, you can do it."

Amazing how much a few words of encouragement from a total stranger can mean.

So there I am plodding right along and there's this little voice in my head
that kept saying things like:

"Go ahead and quit, no one will mind. Its ok..."

But there was another voice, that kept saying "Keep going, you're almost there."

And that's the one I chose to listen too. My time was 32:39, not a world
beater by any means but it's a place to begin.

There was no fear, no doubt, no hesitation, just 100% will power keeping me
going.

Now on to the next...

Train hard.
John Wood

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