This race was held at the Crossings so it was a course that I am very familiar with. Unfortunately the weather was similar to yesterday: cold (41 degrees at the start), cloudy, windy.  It’s always difficult in these situations to decide what to wear.  I opted for tights, long sleeve shirt, windbreaker, gloves & hat.  I was still cold so I put the race tee-shirt on the outside.

(I found me in a picture posted on a blog.)

The race was sponsored by Siena College and it was its first.  There were about 200 racers and most were college students.  I didn’t start as close to the start as I would have liked so I think time was better than published.  The pace was fast since the racers were YOUNG but I tried to ignore them and do my own thing.

You should never wear something new in a race.  I wore a Bondi Band and then my hat (in case it started to rain) over it.  The wind kept blowing my hat off and it was so annoying.  I had to stop and take off the band and put my hair in a ponytail through the back of my cap.

The sun came out about 1 km in and I took off my gloves and put them in my pocket.  They fell out once (ugh!) I also stopped halfway for water.

I was surprised to see the time as I approached the finish line.  I was 29 minutes…I crossed at 30:06.  I may have be able to PR if I hadn’t stopped.

After the race, the dance team and a multicultural dance group from the college entertained the runners.  The multicultural group was especially good!

The only prizes given out were for 1st place in 10-year age groups.  I came in 3rd.

Oh well… I said I didn’t care as long as I did my best and had fun.  And I did!!!

Then Heather Said also posted about this race.  You can read it here and see some of her race pics.

My next 5k race is May 2 (after my vacation).

 Happy Running and good luck to those Boston marathoners!