The 6^th Annual edition of the Run from the Sun 5K Race was held in downtown Jackson, MS on Saturday, April 11. More than 800 people gathered to run or walk the 5K and 1-mile fun events in front of the Clarion-Ledger under a sunny sky and temperatures in the 60’s. The route winged through downtown streets and back to the Clarion-Ledger.

After some instructions we started the race at 5:30pm. Max Holman was the overall winner of the 5K run in 15:57 followed by Clavin Thigpen (16:25) and Dale Griffin (17:03) respectively. Mary Lampton won the women race in 21:44. Chastity Garcia placed second in 22:39, and Melanie Harrell was third, 18 seconds behind Chastity. David Smalley (26:18) and Elizabeth Joyner (33:37) were the overall winners in the 5K Walk while Kaleb Lovertich and Marissa Perez won the one-mile fun race in their respective categories.

Pine Belt Pacers Gary Thornton, Nestor Raul, and Andres Anzola were in the event. Gary ran the 5K, and Andres participated in the 1m fun run. After running the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans early morning, I changed my mind at the last moment and competed in the 5K Walk instead of the 5K run. Wow! I have forgotten how hard is to "walk" in a race. The last time I did was in last year's edition of the Run for the Roses in Prentiss (and got shin splints after it by the way!). I felt good on Saturday, finished second overall, and took home the Masters title. Well… not home properly (not much space in the apartment); it will go directly to a cabinet in my office.

We had a very scary moment during the event because my son Andres almost was hit by a car. He was sprinting to the end when suddenly the police officer in charge of controlling the traffic let a car cross the street. Some people screamed, and the driver hit the brakes and stopped very close to him. As you can imagine, I was not very happy with the cop. I just went away and cooled down a little bit to avoid telling him some nice words and getting in trouble with the law!

Anyway, everything was fine after it. I forgot... a very good thing about this event is that they have a free melanoma screening before the race. I got it and asked about a particular spot I have on my arm. It was OK; however, the doctor found a "funny looking mole" on my back that he recommended be removed and analyzed. I am glad I took the screening.