|
 After participating but not running in the St Thomas 5k run on Friday evening, I was planning to run somewhere on Saturday morning. There were several options, but wherever I decided to go, I should be back in Hattiesburg by 1pm. First, I though about going to the race in Biloxi, but since the start time was 10am, I would be back in town too late. Then I planned to go to Jackson and complete my first 5K race-walk in a year. I woke up at 4:30am on Saturday, and I could hear the rain. Not good! Then I changed my mind, thought about running an 8-10m long run at the Trace later, and just closed my eyes and slept again for a while. I woke up at 6:00am and the same... Rain, rain, rain. Well... not long run today either I thought! Around 7:00am, I got up, took a shower, made some coffee, and checked the weather conditions in the Weather Channel. If I could see an opening in the clouds, I would go to the local Shamrock 5K run. 7:15 nothing, 7:30 rain! Around 7:40 it looked like the rain stopped for a while, so I took my running gear and went to the Southern Miss gateway. The 14th Annual Kappa Delta Shamrock 5K Fun Run took off around 8:15am. Around 70 people of the local running community ran the course. They were joined by at least the same number of Kappa Delta girls cheering everyone up all through the 5K-route. A couple of young guys finished the race under 21 minutes. The Pine Belt Pacers were represented by Kim Ryder, Laura Anderson, Ginny Dufrene, Kelly Marzoni, Janis Cook, Nestor Raul Anzola, and I think some other PBP rookies whose names I don't recall. It was a strong show by the Pacers. Kim dominated the women's race and finished first with a finish time under 22. She received a sweet $100 check for the win. Ginny finished in 23:47 and was the third girl overall ($50 for her). Laura and Janis won their corresponding age groups. Kelly placed second in hers. I was first in my group until the turn around point, then I was easily passed by Chris Boyd who finished first among the older guys; I finished second almost one minute behind him in 22 minutes. The event was organized by the Kappa Delta Sorority and raised money to help support the National Prevent Child Abuse of America and Stop Child Abuse and Neglect Organization. Of the money raised, a full 80 percent of the proceeds stays in the Hattiesburg's Child Abuse Center and the remaining 20 percent goes to PCA America's national office for its national prevention efforts. From Ginny --> Today, I ran the Shamrock run. I thought we would be running in a down pour, but we managed to get the race in without much rain. Today I ran 23:47 (3:07 miles on the Garmin - after talking with Audrey, we started a few feet off.) Even with adding a few seconds for the other few feet, this time is a few seconds faster than my time for the Run For Love. As long as I am under 24:00, I am ok, but I would like to continue knocking off a few seconds each race for a while. To be continued.... |
