RCU Charity Classic

I learned something today. Tying a key for your car to your shoe is a terrible way to secure a key prior to running a race. This race started off great. Wonderfully cool weather. A slight mist in the air. A perfect day for a PR. I started the race off at a great pace. I felt wonderful. All until mile two in the race. The key that was attached to my shoelaces loosened and flew off into the grass. As if that wasn't enough, I then had to find my key which proved no short task. I lost at least 45 seconds to a minute searching for the key and quickly tying my shoe. That time lost allowed several runners to pass me. My time for the remainder of the race was great. I finished in 39:45, which was just 26 seconds from my PR (that's the importance of the lost 45-60 seconds). I gave up an opportunity for a personal record. Still, my time beat last years time of 40:55 and my overall placing improved as well. I finished 15th overall out of 277. My wife cruised to a personal record time of 53:14 (Congrats, Angela!). I then did the same crazy thing I did last year and ran the two mile race afterwards. I started front of the pack to start and held the lead for about 1/3 mile before finally being caught. I ran a strong 2 mile race, but also not a PR. My time was 11:57, which was good enough for 10th overall out of 245 (2nd in my age group). My wife was there to cheer me on. Afterwards, I talked with Albert Omhasa who finished 2nd in the 2 mile and 3rd in the 10K. He was fun to chat with. He told me I "have good speed, but no endurance." He told me I need to add more miles to my training. I told him I would try to see what I could do. Maybe next year will be a better year for the event. Today would have been an ideal time for a PR in the 10K. We had a blast at the race. Monte Stewart (who won this year's Aquafest run) finished strong with a 10th place finish in the 10K run with a time of 38:23.