Pretty cool awards for top three age group finishers.

Once again, I missed my goal of a sub 20 minute finish in a 5K road race. It wasn't for any external factors. The course was a flat greenway out & back near Hampton Cove Middle School in Owens Cross Roads, AL that was mostly shaded and the temps and humidity levels were much lower than in recent weeks. However, you can't be too disappointed when you come away with a top three age group finish.

The "Running Of The Bulls 5K" takes place every year as a fundraiser for Hampton Cove Middle School and
is organized and sponsored by Susan and Dink Taylor of Fleet Feet Sports in Huntsville, AL. This was the first time I participated in this event and I was eyeing an opportunity to finally get that elusive sub 20 minute finish. However, it wasn't meant to be. Not yet, anyway.

I met up with Jason Shattuck prior to the race and I figured I'd try to stay with him (for the whole race, if possible) as he has been able to break the 20 minute mark a few times before. As it turned out, he was still recovering from jet lag and little sleep the previous night, causing him to be slightly slower than his usual self. My 12 mile run up Drake Ave and Monte Sano mountain Friday morning might have had some affect on my performance as well, so we both ended up running slightly slower than usual, even though the course is made for PRs. I was actually on tracok to beat my PR, running the first 2 miles at the target pace. However, early on in the third mile, I had my usual slow down and even a very late surge could not make up the time I lost during this section. I'm still not sure if this is just mental or if I'm physically incapable of breaking the 20 minute mark at this time. Only time will tell;-)

Either way, we both ended up with decent results, Jason finishing third in his age group and thirteens overall and me finishing second in my age group and sixteenth overall. A smart individual once said that you can't complain about a race if you PR or place in your age group and I have learned to heed that advice. It's just another reason to keep training. I had a great time participating in this event, hanging out with other runners and collecting a neat award (see pic on top of blog).

That's what a couple of top three age group finishers look like.