My First 5K!

So a couple of weeks ago, I ran my first 5K.

It was part of the Baylor Bearathon, which includes a half marathon (reputed to be the toughest in Texas because of the hills) and a 5K. I didn't expect to run the whole thing, because I hadn't worked up to 3.1 miles yet--my goal was to be able to run that distance at my next 5K, which is coming up soon. But I decided to run this one, even though I knew I'd have to walk part of it, because Nathan's brother, Matthew, was planning on running the half marathon, and since he and his wife were in town from England, I thought it'd be a fun thing to participate, too. Nathan's brother, Andrew, and sister, Deborah, ended up signing up, too, as well as Nathan's Uncle Steve and Aunt Jennifer. It was practically a Benesh reunion!

Here are most of us after we had all finished the 5K:
Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Steve, Deb, Andrew, and me.

This picture was taken while Matthew was still running, which explains why he's not in it.

And here he is crossing the finish line. He looks pretty good for having just run 13.1 hilly miles!

I was pretty pleased with how I did--after checking on Google Earth, I figured out that I only walked .15 miles of the 3.1, which is better than I'd ever done before. My time wasn't impressive by anyone's standard, really (about 11 min./mile), but my goal was just to run as much of the distance as I could, and I did that. For my next race, I'll want to run the entire thing and better my time, but for the Bearathon, I was pleased.

I think that the fun atmosphere motivated me, too. Never having participated in a race before, I didn't know how just plain fun it was! I mentioned that to Deb, who reminded me that Uncle Steve says that, in his opinion, "the race is the reward" for the training. Steve and Jennifer run a 5K or a 10K every weekend, so I guess he should know. :) (When they became empty nesters, they made a pact. They'd each do something the other wanted: he joined the church choir for her, and she started running races with him.)

It was a really fun time, and my favorite thing to come out of it might be that first picture. Ha!