Two Seconds on the Fourth

(Originally posted on Runners World Loop 7/5/11)

OK, I've been planning to start this blog for months now.  So I'll finally get it going with a race report.

Yesterday was the 4th of July, and Independence Day in the United States.  What a great reason to host a running race!  Tagg Running Events held their third annual Fourth of July Freedom Run 5k race at Golf Links Park.  The course was cross country style and included some dirt paths as well as paved paths.  We had a nice monsoon storm the night before so the weather was cool for Tucson (about 80-85 degrees at start), and the dirt was a little more packed than usual.  The rain did cause some humidity, which us Tucson runners aren't really accustomed to, so there were a lot of sweaty people!  Around 200 runners ran in the races.

I've been focused on marathon training lately, and during a long run 2 days earlier, I experienced heat exhaustion during an 18-miler when the temperatures soared over 100 degrees.  Also, I've been doing the Wednesday evening Aquathlons, and the Thursday evening Parks & Rec races, so my legs were tired and I didn't go into this race expecting a very fast time.  With the next marathon less than 4 weeks away, I'm more concerned with staying injury-free than with fast times.  However, once the starting gun goes off at any race I always find it hard to hold back too much.  So when Steve Taggert set us off with a loud "GO" in the megaphone, my legs fired away.  My first mile split was about 6:10, and by then the runners had spread out.  I finished in 19:20, about a minute faster than I had planned, 6th overall out of 170 runners.  I won a nice medal for 2nd place in my age group.

My 12-year old son, Jason, also ran the 5k.  He isn't a serious runner, preferring to swim (he's on a club team and has daily practices, and competitive meets twice a week).  Jason's last run was actually the ING Kid's Rock mile in San Diego 4 weeks ago.  He likes to race occasionally, and of course I love it when he joins me.  He did quite well, and he also won a 2nd place medal for the 12-and-under group!

Here's a photo of Jason and I, proud father and son displaying our race medals after enjoying some post-race watermelon and other refreshments.