This past Friday I ran in my current home town’s 5 k race.  It was the Carterville Twilight 5 k run/walk.  While this was the 100th year celebrating the fair it was only the second year for the race.  I’m all about supporting local communities and this was the perfect way to show that to my town.

The race took place on Friday night at 6:30 pm.  Here in Southern Illinois it is still very hot and humid this time of day and year.  My Nike Plus said the temperature was 82 degrees with at least 50% humidity.  So, lets just say it was a very hot race.

This was the first race I ran that was chipped timed.  That meant putting a small plastic chip on my shoelace which keep track of my time.  It was activated when I first crossed the start line and stopped when I finished.  I’m very curious to see what my chip time was.

I started the race off pretty strong, even though it was hot and I wasn’t feeling my best (having some stomach issues ladies).  The route was through residential homes in the small town.  I got to the water station around mile 1.25.  I never stop for water when running 5 k’s but to my surprise there was an elderly couple handing out water and even had a water hose to run through.  I greatly appreciated the  mist.  I got to mile two and had slowed down a bit.  THEN I hit mile 2.8 and took off.  Bad idea.  I got the worst side cramp EVER!!!  I had to walk one tenth of a mile.  I have never had to walk before in a race, but I did this time.  It’s ok.  I finished and didn’t die.  It was my slowest 5 k with a time of 36:00.  Not good, but I’m proud of myself for doing the race and finishing.  We can’t always have a good race.

There was some pretty sweet swag from the race.  I received a tshirt, water bottle, coozie, and a drawstring backpack.  That’s pretty awesome with the entry fee only being $12.00!

I got to run the race with a friend of mine from back home.  She did awesome!  She PR with  24:45 finish time.  WOW…that’s fast!  We will be running together in The Color Run next weekend, so check back with the results from that race.