The first week

This blog entry references the first week of this year!

Saturday agenda-John Lloyd 5k

This was the first time I ever came to this state park in my entire racing career! Held by T-4, a new company, this event hosted both a 5k & a 10k. Since I knew I'd be repeating my dual racing the next day, I opted for the former. The course, although out & back, was challenging. Why? We went out as normal, on asphalt, with the wind. The back was the problem. We had to run on sand & sometimes narrow paths against the ocean side wind. I was being challenged by Jeffrey Tait, child prodigy of running. Can you believe the winning time did not break 20? I escaped with third place, although I should've had 2nd overall but allowed too much space when going out, making it extremely difficult to overcome on the back. All awards were exactly the same, with only the accompanying ribbon as the generic identifier. I'll give 4 1/2 stars for flash race, since pancakes were available. They lost 1/2 a star because they weren't hot.

Sunday agenda-scholarship run

This was my second appearance. Last year, I set a precedence by being the first one in the history of that event to enter both the 10k (started around 7 am) and the 5k (started around 7:45 am). The 10k started late because Ronnie Hollassie had to go to the bathroom. I ran with him as a warm up to help him find it. Although I completed the 10k in under 43 minutes, the 5k took off on time, plus the fact that the timing company refused to give me both chips in advance, contributed to making me late. Despite all that, by the grace of God, I placed 3rd in both events! Sadly, this year was different. Using my favorite Clint Eastwood format:

The good-I beat both of last year's times & once again made the top ten percent.
The bad-Despite a better performance, I did not place in the 10k.
The ugly-Because of the bad, I suffered my 1st loss of the year.

Honorable mention

* I placed 1st in my age group, despite being tight from 10k warm-up.
* Ronnie Hollassie won both events
* Jon Williams placed in both events