Justin's Run 5k

Last Saturday I ran the Justin Jenning's Memorial Day 5k with my stepmother, my friend Jason, and his dad, Mr. K.  As with any event at the beach, we ran in to a ton of people we knew before the race started - this made it a lot of fun at the finish, as we ended up with a pack of 10-12 runners to cheer for who all race at different paces.  What makes this different from events at home is that none of us (except Jason and I) were under 40.  I wish I had a photo of everyone, but corralling a large group of 50-somethings in to a photo is harder than doing the same with 5 year-olds.  Who knew?  Instead, here's a photo of Jason and me (and Mr. K on the right, who didn't realize he was in our photo).

Don't mind my sweaty... well... everything.  I decided to build up some mileage by running to the start line from my house, which was around 3.3 miles.  That gave me a chance to warm up and try to acclimate to the heat and humidity.  And by "acclimate to the heat and humidity" I actually mean "sweat, a LOT."

Let's get something clear - Jason is FAST.  The original plan was for him to run the first mile at an 8:30 pace with me to keep things "nice and slow" for him and to challenge me.  We didn't stick to that plan.  About a half mile in, it became painfully obvious to both Jason and I that we were not meant to run together.  I was barely holding an 8:45 pace, while he was chomping at the bit to take off.  And off he went.  Apparently he did not let a single runner pass him after he left me - every time someone came close to passing him, he'd speed up until he lost them.  Insane.  He finished in 23:29, which is an average pace of about 7:31.  I will never be that fast, and I'm totally ok with it.

After Jason took off, I plodded along for the next two miles, making friends with random runners.  With a bit over a half mile left to go, I finally caught up with Mr. K, who I'd been chasing for 15 minutes.  We ran together to the 3 mile marker, where I sprinted to the finish.  I finished in 27:10, which is an average pace of about 8:42 - I'll take it.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the race is a fundraiser for Justin's Beach House, a home in the Bethany Beach area where families with cancer can have a place of respite and enjoy the beach and family time.  It's a great organization, which you can find out more about here.