Composer Classic 5K: May 29th, 2010

This race takes us to the city of Kokomo, IN for the 16th annual Kokomo Symphony Composer Classic 5K. We were in Noblesville, IN for a graduation party and decided to run this race since it was not to far away from where we were staying. We got in town late Friday night and did not get much sleep since we had to get up early and drive to Kokomo, but we both felt awake and fresh on the way there. We got there with plenty of time to spare and it was nice to have some extra time to get ready for the race. There was a 5K speed walking competition which had 29 participants and the 5k run which had 123 participants. This is by far the smallest crowd of the three races we have done this year. It was kind of nice to not have to battle a huge crowd for a change. Also, I was surprised and excited to see someone there, besides myself, wearing Vibrams Five Fingers. The weather conditions were hot and humid and we were sweating before the race even started. Here is a pic of us before the race:


So we lined up at the starting line and the race was off. The course was 1.5 miles long so we had to repeat it. Normally I don't like covering ground that I have already covered, but it was kind of cool to see the leaders as we passed by them on the second loop. I also got to see Jess as I passed her and gave her the thumbs up. The race was on a road that ran through the park. There was geese everywhere and we had to dodge them and all their shit that was on the road. I felt great during the first mile and thought I really had a chance to finish in under 26 minutes which would have been a great time for myself. About 1.5 miles in I started getting some calf pain. I might of pushed it too hard during the first mile. The pain was not bad until about 2.25 miles in and then it really slowed me down. At that time a little kid passed me up and all I could do was laugh. I could not finish strong and got passed up by 4 people on the home stretch, that was kind of disappointing. Here is a pic of the race course:


When I finally got into the finish shoot I realized that my time was actually pretty good. I finished at 26:15 which is a personal best for me since I started minimalist running. I walked back through the course to give Jess a little motivation for finishing the race. She actually did very well too finishing with a time of 31:16. After the race we stuck around for the awards ceremony. To my surprise I finished second in my age group, I was shocked when they called my name to come up and get a ribbon. I really hope there was more then 2 guys in my age group...LOL. Most of the people there knew each other and clapped for the winners. When my name was called a silence filled the crowd. Jess was the only one cheering for me, but we both had a good laugh about that. Here is a pic of us after the race:


There was a few members of the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra there. They played music before, during, and after the race. Not the usual type of music you hear at a race, but "when in Rome." All in all it was a good run. Different then the other two we have done since there was not many people there and it was in a park. It was a nice change and we both set our best times of the year. We also had a great time seeing a lot of Jess's extended family over the weekend. We do not get to see them to often but we always have a great time when we do. Our next race might be the Camelback 4 mile run in Fremont, OH on June 20th. One funny thing that I forgot to mention about the race we did in Chicago, right before the run some guy was weaving through the crowd of runners with a cigarette in his mouth asking if anyone has a light. The irony makes it worth mentioning even though it might be one of those 'you had to be there' moments. I will leave you with a pic of me after getting my second place ribbon: