Athletes for Alex 5k Recap 11/5/2011

A few years ago, a little boy named Alex was riding with his parents when another driver hit their car. Alex died as a result of the accident, but his memory is now living on through the people in that community. Today's 5k race was to raise money to create a soccer field which when built will be named for Alex.

Often I believe I am the same person that I was 20 years ago or even 10 years ago, but I am not. Time has changed who I am and how I see the world. It has made me all too aware of how short life really is and that we need to live each day to the fullest. Every child should have the opportunity to grow in to adulthood and losing even one child hurts us all.

This morning I was racing in the Athletes for Alex 5k in Lincolnton, NC which is just about 40 minutes from my house.

Riding by the bank, the temperature read 31 degrees. With the wind blowing, the temperature felt even colder. I don't know how many layers that I had on but it didn't feel like enough.

We all headed for the starting line at 9am. But due to timing issues, we got delayed for about 20 minutes. The temperature didn't warm up much in those 20 minutes, but I sure did cool down. The wind was blowing right across the starting line and chilled my previously warm limbs to the bone.

Finally, word came and we were ready to start.

We ran across this field in front of the school and then over to the track before heading out on the road. Standing around let my hamstring cool off enough that it was very unhappy when I tried to shift it into high gear.

My first mile was 5:46, and then 5:43. The last mile turned up hill and into the wind. My hamstring didn't like the hill at all and felt like it had a huge knot in it. I slowed over the last mile and finished with a time of 17:50 which was first overall.

The guys from Racing Toes and Big Kahuna Timing put on a pretty good event. Plenty of food and water were available after the race including sausage biscuits, Powerade, cold tea, and coffee. Along the course, they were giving out bottles of water, bananas, and apples within sight of the finish line. They opened the doors to the gym so we had a warm place to stretch and a clear need – warm bathrooms.

They even had a 2 bike rides and a kids biathlon for a full day of events.

I give them a lot of credit for providing multiple forms of exercise so they have something for everyone.

 

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The Cool Down Runner