Originally Posted: http://www.runningmania.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21057

I did my first ever 5k race today. It was the Abbotsford Police Challenge Run. I have done lots of races before, but never a 5k. I'm doing the ManiaSlam challenge, where you have to do a bunch of different races in 1 year, and one of the items on the list is a 5k. So now I can check it off my list.

There is a 10k and a 5k at the same time, but everyone starts together. At the start, a whole bunch of little kids were lined up right at the front. The gun goes off, and the kids sprint off the line. I look over to my right, and I'm getting passed by Ronald McDonald. Over the first km, the little kids and Ronald McDonald all slow down, and I start to settle into my target pace of 4:00/km.

I do the second kilometer at 4:00/km and the pack is getting a bit thinner. Just past the 2km mark the 10km people go straight ahead on the road, and the 5km people take a right onto a gravel path. $%&@!, I didn't know I had to run on gravel!! I manage to hold the pace for most of km #3, but its getting way harder with the gravel. I look down at my watch, and my virtual partner is starting to get away from me. Around 3.5 km we are back on pavement again. Then somebody passes me. I look at him, and he looks about 15-years-old. He's not in my age group, so I let him go.

My lungs are starting to burn, and I'm trying not to let the virtual partner get too much more ground. Its a slight uphill, and I am having a really hard time trying to run 4:00/km. Two more teenager boys sneak past me. My pace is up to about 4:15/km now. There's a slight downhill to the finish, but my lungs are burning and I can't go any faster. I finish in 20:32.

I found out after I was 13th overall in the 5km race, and first (out of 12) in the M30-34 age group. Brought home my first ever age group gold!!!