My first 5K race.......

Today (04/19/2009), I ran my first 5K race and was able to complete it in about 29mins 10secs. I had been dreaming about running this race for the last 2-3 years and today is the day my this dream has come true.

The race was in Edina, MN near the Southdale mall. I registered for the race a few weeks and one of my colleagues was also supposed to join me. However, he injured his foot this week and decided to drop out of the race. Supposedly there were other people also in the race from my office but in the sea of people that it was, I could not find anyone.

The day started out by me getting up early and not wanting to get out of bed. After hitting snooze a few times, I finlly woke up, got ready and drove to the mall. The mall is about 15miles or so from my home so I reached there about an hour or so before the starting time. There were pleny of people at it took me quite sometime to get into the parking lot and find a spot. It was drizzling and the temp was around 48F (~9C). After parking the car, I went into the registration area (I had pre-registered) so I just had to pick up my number badge and the electronic tag to measure timing. After picking up the T-shirt, the badge and the electronic tag, I went out, put on the T-shirt, the badge and finally the tag. The tag is attached to the shoes as the electronic timing devices are placed in mats near the start and end of the race.

I searched for my office team but could not find it so about 10 mins before the race I went near the start area. There were hudreds, if not more than a thousand people waiting there. At 09:00am the race started but, since I was way back it took me a few seconds (I am estimating 5-10 secs) to come to the timing mat. I started running as the crowd started thinning out. Note that the crowd thinning was NOT due to people dropping out rather people running at different speeds and some of them just walking. The walkers and slow runners were left behind and we ran. I was cautious so as not to run too fast at the start and exhaust myself so I kept a steady pace. The road was fairly flat with just a little bit of up/down at a couple of places.

The organizers ad posted boards at each mile to help the runners get an idea of the disatnce they ran. I was able to cross the 1mile marker fairly easily. At the 2mile marker, there were water cups and I grabbed one, had a sip and disposed it off (in a trash can). After running another half a mile or so (approx 2.5 miles) I started feeling a little tired. I usually run 2.3-2.4 miles during my practise runs so once crossed that distance I was somewhat tired. I was thinking of completing the remaining distance walking but decided to carry on just a little further. There was a turn in the road after which I could see the finish line about 0.4miles or so away. That breathed new air into me and I decided to run some more distance. I was trying to talk myself up saying that I can do it. I slowed down a little as my aim was not to run very fast but complete the race. For the last tenth of a mile, I picked up a little more speed and crossed the finish line when the display clock indicated 29:15. Since I had started a little late, I am subtracting 5secs to put the actual run time at 29:10. I should get the official time in a couple of days. That works out to 09:24mins a mile which is good for the first race. My goal was just to complete the race (either running or thru a combination of run/walk) and I managed to beat that by completing te race running. That was better than I thought.

I was completely exhausted after the race bt had to return the electronic-tag and then had a cup of hot coffee. Caribou coffee and a few other vendors had arranged for the runners to have snacks and coffee free and that was really helpful (especially considering that it was raining). After a few minutes snacking, i took off and came back home proud. Immediately I jumped online looking for more 5K races next month. I would like to complete more races and build up stamina and if possible, speed.