Run for Hospice 5k Road Race

Run: 3.1 in :19:22 min. @ 9:10 a.m. + 4 miles prior to the race
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 40°F, 79% Humidity, Wind: From NNE @ 8 mph; feels like 35°F.
Pace: 6:15 min./mi.
Course: The Run for Hospice 5k Road Race course in sunny Greece, NY!
Official Results: Avaialble here care of PCR Timing.

Pre-Run Ruminations: Though my heart isn't really in doing so this morning, I am going out to the country and participating in this year's Run for Hospice 5k. There is also a 10 mile option (one which I would prefer), but in order to maintain my eligibility for the ten race Rochester Runner of the Year series, I need finish only one of the final two races, and as I'm unsure as to just how "things" will be at Thanksgiving, this morning is "it."

I have not run a race at this distance in a while, and given all the "pains" (like parking, leaving home) this is not really how I would like to spend this morning... but enough complaining; I'll drink my coffee, kiss my wife goodbye and head out soon. Judging from the short article in our local fish-wrap, there are going to be some excellent athletes in attendance, so as I am going through the motions I'll be able to see some good runners performing, thanks to the turn around style course.

Post-Race Reflections: The event went rather smoothly and the weather, because it was so cool, was perfect for a run. I arrived early to run the course prior to lining up for the official start. Fortunately for me, the course itself was well laid out and very easy to follow, with two slight inclines that I wouldn't really classify as hills. I had an opportunity to PR at the distance (and finally break 19:00, but it wasn't meant to be... today).

I'm glad I went, took a deep breathe, and ran as well as I could. I had not been looking forward to the morning, but thanks to the weather and camaraderie of some folks I hadn't seen in a while, things went swimmingly.