Caldwell Classic 5K

This past Saturday, my family and I ran the Caldwell Classic 5K.  This is our second year running this race, which takes place at my son's high school.  The race is small and attracts mostly school families.  There is no chip timing and the course is two loops around the school campus, through a variety of hilly terrain including blacktop, sidewalks, gravel, grass, soccer field, football field, track, mulch, and sand.

Last year we noticed that the race came up a bit shy of 3.0 miles, so I never counted it as a PR, though it was my fastest time to that point 35:05.  This year they changed the course a bit, so it was the correct distance.

The race began with a prayer and we were off.  Lots of high school kids were walking the race, and I quickly figured out I should have started out closer to the front of the pack.  I zigzagged through and things cleared up after mile one.  (Some of those walkers would take off sprinting and pass me only to stop and walk a little further on.  By the end of the first mile, I left all of those people safely behind me.

I felt good the entire race.  It was hard and I knew I was pushing myself, but I probably could have pushed a little more.  I had to be careful though in a couple of spots because it was wet from having rained the night before, and some areas were slippery, not to mention the long portion of the race run on grass, which had a lot of holes, and I did not want to get hurt.

After the second loop, we entered the football field for the finish.  My time was 34:20 according to my Garmin.  Not a PR, but not off by much.  I've got another 5K on Thanksgiving, and I would love to go sub-34.

Here's a family pic that a friend snapped for us after the race: