Joe and his church Renew Church hosted a 5km race (little longer than 5km) this April, and even though I have done zero speed work and only found out I was running it a week in advance, I still wanted to race and test the legs to see if I had any speed left after all these ultras. First I need to say that Joe did an AMAZING job as race director for his first event. The course was very well marked, the chip timing was nice to have, the free coffee always good in my books, as well as the multiple vendor tents made the environment very professional and exciting. I’ve been to MANY 5km runs, as my parents and I did the 5km circuit for years growing up and in my opinion the Renew Rush was a great event for the runners, spectators and the community, it had an awesome ‘family feel’.
First was the 1km kids fun run at 9am and it was a blast. Sophie, Sadie and our friends kids, Norah and James ran their hearts out for a full 1km. It was great to see about 20kids racing hard and having so much fun running. They all did a great job and they each received a swag bag, and by all the smiles I believe it was a great success. All four kids finished their run watched the 5km race and then headed off to swim practice with the Blue Fins MiniFins program – overall a super busy day for these little athletes.
The 5km race started at 9:30am and it was a bit cold and windy. We lined up, took our marks, and Joe started the group with a blow horn. I started off pretty fast, wanted to test the group and had a few people stay with me including a little 12 year old, who actually did an outstanding job and finished 4th overall!
The race had 2 hills that were a pretty good size and definitely slowed my pace however as I came down the first hill, which was an out and back, I saw second place starting the climb, and low and behold it was Jordan my training buddy, who I will be pacing at Sulphur Springs for his first 100miler in 4 weeks. As the race progressed I found it hard to hold my pace especially when the second long hill came. I think the little speed work I did, resulted in me unable to really push into the 6min mile pace. Anyways it was a fun event and I was able to hang on and cross the finish line first and grab the W! It was a great feeling coming down the road and into the finish with my family, (Mal, Sophie, Sadie, Sydnie and Mom) and others all cheering me on. This was actually suppose to be Mal’s race weekend as she is racing the 5 peaks trail running series and the first event was moved to next weekend which allowed me to enter this race. A big thanks to Mallory for all the support and the push to get me to run this race, I don’t know what we would do without you. #SuperMom
Overall the Renew Rush had a successful inaugural showing and was a solid 5km race and I’m very proud of Joe for his hard work as the race director, Jordan for his GREAT 5km showing and most of all super proud of those little ones showing up and running with heart and pure love for the sport. Fun start to the 2018 running season and a great time with friends, family and community.
#OutTrainThem #BeBetter #DoEpic
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Run Far Crew. 