I love the 4th of July! And I love the Murray 5K. I've been running this race since I was in high school. So needless to say, I look forward to running it every year.
The morning started off on a sad note though...on the way to Murray Park, we were driving down our street when we found our elderly neighbor laying down in his drive way. He fell while trying to impress the neighbor boys by shooting a basketball into a hoop. He is 85. His head was bleeding all over and he was very disoriented and complained of chest pain. So Bryant and I called 911, put a towel under is head and stayed with him until the paramedics arrived. Once they came, we took off to the park. I was a little frazzled when I picked up my bag but I soon found Emily and we did our warm up together (2.5 miles). She said she was still feeling pretty sick but she wanted to run anyway. Emily is such a tough runner! Who has a fever of 102 the night before a race and still shows up to run? She is awesome. Tough girl! :)
I had a couple goals for this race: 1) PR, 2) Sub 19:00, 3) Place top 3. This race can be stacked with really fast runners one year and then be slow the next. You never know. The siren went off and I wanted to get out in front. I followed behind a pack of stinky boys for the first mile (seriously boys, PLEASE wear deodorant! Thanks!). 5:56 at the mile mark. At the turn around, I picked up the pace a little because I knew there was a little downhill after the high school. 5:48. The last mile has a gradual climb, flat and then down into Murray Park. 5:53. I finished in 17:50, 1st place. The course was a little short but I was so super happy with my effort and my time. I've struggled with 5K's for a long time and have never been able to get under 19:00 so this is a HUGE PR for me. Emily came in second and I was really happy for her. She is one tough cookie. (2.5 mile cool down with "T" who is 8 and a half months pregnant! She also ran the race. What an awesome woman!)
It was great to see a lot of friends from the running blog at the race. I seriously love the running community we have here in the valley.
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