Took part in the Great Bay 5K today. My time was 25:46. Not bad as this is a point-to-point course with some rolling hills. I finished 208th out of 477. Within my age group, I finished 48th ouut of 72 - I guess there are a lot of strong middle aged runners! The good news is that I shaved a minute off of my time from last year.

This was one of the first 5Ks I ever did. It definitely helped to have course knowledge, e.g. I knew when to start my "sprint" to the end, knew when to hold back as hills were up ahead, etc.

I had another "sprint to the finish" in this one. Again, a young woman sprinted by me within sight of the finish line. My heart rate was high throughout the race but I thought, "No way is she going to beat me!" I kicked it into high gear (a relative term!) and crossed before her. As I was gathering myself after the race, someone came up from behind me and slapped me in the back. It was her! She was a great sport. She thanked me for helping her to pace herself. She said, "I followed that bright red hat the whole way!" (I wore my Red Sox hat - backwards of course :-) Turns out it was only her 3rd race ever. I shook her hand and said good bye. Next year, she will be 2 minutes in front of me!