So, I’ve been meaning to post this for a few weeks now. Then again I’ve been meaning to post ANYTHING for a few months now soooo…par for the course as usual.
Anywho, I ran a race on 5K a few weeks ago in Anna, Texas. The architecture firm I work for designed the new high school for the town and the course went right by it, so of course I had to go.
Ok, so I may have also decided to go to this race based on the fact that I knew it would be a small race. And for those fellow runners out there, you know that this equates to a much higher chance to place. And for those advanced runners–don’t get too excited–I’m just talking about placing in my age group, not overall.
The race was good. It had a couple of long straight sections that were a bit taxing, but there was a nice cloud cover that kept the temperature down. As I got about a hundred yards from the finish I saw a kid (probably 10 years old or so) hunched over getting ready to puke on the side of the course. Awesome.
As I passed him a patted his back and gave a hardy “Come on, man. You can do it.” He started up a slow trot, so I stayed next to him and kept encouraging him. He kept saying he couldn’t do it, but I told him I wasn’t going to finish until he did. AND that I very much planned on finishing. About 10 yards from the finish I backed off and let him “sprint” to the finish line.
He definitely worked harder than I did in this race, and has way more guts to run it as young as he is. My first 5K was, oh, last year.
After the finish I eagerly waited for the results to be posted. Once they were up, I quickly pushed people out of the way so I could see how I did. Just kidding, I waited patiently(ish).
And there it was. Shining brightly under the Males 25-29 Section.
Second Place.
I definitely played the “no big deal, happens all the time” routine as I scanned and rescanned the page. Although…I should mention that I wasn’t playing it cool because I didn’t want to gloat in my victory. No, no. It was because right underneath my name was–wait for it–
No one.
That’s right. The first time to place in my age group, and it was by default. Whaa-whaaa.
You know what though…I’m darn proud of that medal. I’m not going to go bragging about it (except for this blog of course), and I’m not going to downplay it by mentioning my finishing time–I’m just going to enjoy it for what it is and keep on running.














