UNCC Gold Rush 5k

 I ran the UNCC Gold Rush 5k this past weekend. Several years have passed since I last raced on their campus. Every time that I drive on to their campus, I am always taken back by all the changes. They have a beautiful campus. 

We started over on near Halton Arena, headed up to toward the main entrance. Then, we turned down hill all the way to the greenway. We ran along the greenway before doing a little over and back next to Richardson Stadium. From there, we started climbing. We climbed all the way back to the top campus. On the bright side, we did have a couple of hundred yards or so of downhill to the finish. 

Interestingly, a large number of students came out to run. Definitely, the bell curve was pulled down toward the lower 20s. 

I felt like I struggled a bit getting started. Maybe the extra time that we stood around at the start or the uphill start had something to do with it. Either way, I felt like I was struggling to get enough air to my lungs. Luckily, this feeling didn't last all that long. 

One other point that I wanted to mention, my Garmin reported that the course was about a 10th long. I thought that I did a pretty good job running the tangents, so I think the course did have a little extra distance. 

I'll take my 20:09 finish time, 11th overall, and 1st in my age group. The age group awards were a clip starting that you were an age group winner that slide onto the ribbon attached to your finisher medal.

There is just so many races these days. I sometimes have a hard time deciding where to race on any given weekend. 

The Cool Down Runner