Long Run / Race - 7-4-09

I ran the Kernersville, NC, July 4th - 5k today. I did a mile warm up (10:45) and three miles after the race (10:30+) to work in a total of seven miles for my long run.

The race was great! There were four hundred and seventy runners and it was very well organized. They had timing chips, but I hate the ones that only time your finish. This really does nothing for you if you are not at the front when the race starts.

I have never run a race with so many hills. Even the bridge runs that I have done haven't had this many inclines.

The race started at 8:30am. It was about eighty degrees. The first mile started out flat for about one hundred yards and then shot up a hill. The rest of the course was about the same. The fun part was that hundreds of people from the town were lining up on Main Street to see the parade after the race was over. It was so awesome to have all those people cheering us on as we ran up and down hills through their beautiful downtown main street.

The route was almost an out and back. The turn around was a really steep incline. The finish was a big up hill and then a down hill sprint to the finish line. That was fun!

I finished the race in 23:55. That was close to a personal best and when you figure in the hills it probably was one of my best races.