Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Much to My Surprise....

Ah, Florida.  The sun, the beach, the palm trees, the COLD?????

Yup.  I was in Florida over the weekend and it was a bit nippy.  Not just Florida nippy.  But, anywhere nippy.  Temps went down into the 40's, which wasn't too bad.  It was the wind that went with it that made it a bit chilly. 

While I was there, I thought it would be a good idea to run one more 5k race for the year.   I've only run two previously this year and found one in Daytona Beach, just a half hour from where I was staying.  Paint the Towne Palmer College 5k starting at the Jackie Robinson Ballpark on City Island at 8a. 

As you'll see from the pictures and video, people were bundled up. 

The course was through the historic district of Daytona Beach and was flat.  Very flat.  The biggest hill was the one you see on the video when we crossed the bridge to the finish line.  I kept on thinking, 'boy, I wished I was in shape.  This would be a perfect course for a PR.' 

I finished in 91st place with a time of 26:47.  Not bad considering.  I always liked to hang around for the awards just in case.  Good thing I did.  Much to my surprise, I finished third in the Male 50-54 age category.  Now, let's put this in perspective.  If I was any other category older than me, the only age group I would have finished in the top three was the Male 70-74 age group.  So, it was one of the those days I was in the right place at the right time. 

Pictures and video from the race below (and my award).  Enjoy!

Entrance to the field



Where you pick up the numbers

Bridge you cross at the finish

Jackie Robinson Ballpark (Home of the Class A Daytona Beach Cubs)

The finish

After the race

Not a great picture but my third place award
The finishing line
Kid's run