Monday, August 29, 2011

Greek Fest 5k

 

This past weekend was the Yiasou Greek Festival 5k that I decided to do at the last minute because it was just up the street from work and started early enough that I could still work after the race.

Uptown was gorgeous before the sun came out.  This is my favorite building.  Since I’m a parent with no night life, I don’t get to see it lit up very often.  This was the best pic I could get while driving.

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I parked at the store (Run For Your Life) and walk/jogged a mile up the road to the race start to pick up my timing chip.  It was a really small 5k so there wasn’t a ton going on.  I got there a little earlier than expected and did a lot of this…

I’m not pissed, just chill’n.

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The Yiasou Greek Festival, which happens in another week, is hosted by the Greek Orthodox Church, so the race starts and ends in front of the church.

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There was priest out running as well.  He was number 1 so I assume he does it every year.

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The actual race was an incredible one for me.  I ran it in 28:05:40 which is a new PR for me!!!!  It’s an average of 9 min miles, but since I have a new toy to play with I can tell you my actual splits.  You may be able to tell from this info that I went out a little too fast and lost a lot of steam at the end.

Mile 1- 8:05

Mile 2- 8:58

Mile 3- 9:22

I didn’t have a plan prior to the race except to run hard and see what happens.  Knowing my splits actually makes me really excited.  If I could hold a 9 min pace for the first two miles and then kick it up for the last mile, I might be able to get an even better time!  Oh, the possibilities!  Also, knowing that I can run even 1 mile in 8 minutes and keep an average 9 min pace is very exciting.  It gives me a lot of hope that I can keep an 11 min pace over the course of 26 miles.

After the race, I walk/jogged the mile back to work.  During the race there was a blind guy that I was neck-n-neck with until I lost steam at the end and he blew by me.  He was the first blind runner that I’ve ever seen without a guide runner.  He just used one of those long sticks.  There was a lady with a camera fallowing him the entire way.  After the race he came into the store with more people with cameras.  Apparently they were filming a documentary about him and he shops at our store frequently.  He had come in a few days earlier to by a hydrations belt, but since he didn’t have a camera crew with him then, they cam back to recreate the scene.  I was the clerk who was to help him and pretend that the cameras weren’t there.  I had to sign a waiver and everything. 

It was a very interesting day to say the least.

(This post will not be proof read for missing words, grammatical errors, ect.  It was kind of a long post, and I just don’t feel like reading over all of it again.  What does it say when you don’t want to re-read your own post?)

Tread it up

11 comments:

  1. Nice job on the PR! I have never heard of a blind runner running with just a running stick. How the heck to they stay in the right area? Amazing!

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  2. Oh noes, I just submitted a comment but now it's gone. :-(
    Ok, it basically said congrats on the PR and that blind runner is amazing! Very cool. Now let's see if THIS one posts.

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  3. Thanks for the double comment Paula!

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  4. Not to belittle the excitement of a new PR...

    Did you get information as to where/when the documentary would be broadcast? There's a good chance you'll end up on TV and I'm sure we'd all like to see it!

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  5. Woohoo on the PR! I should really run a 5k one day to see how I would do. I just don't like running fast...

    It's funny you post about the blind runner. Our running group had a seminar about charity work and a group called CDifferent was there and this one gentleman that is sight impaired completed an Ironman with guides... it was truly amazing to hear about!!

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  6. I'm pretty sure my boss knows all the details and I plan on asking him about it. The store got busy and they left before I could ask on Saturday.

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  7. Am I the only one who wondered how the priest ran in his outfit?

    Nice job on the race! I always go out too fast for a 5k and personally find them to be the most difficult distance.

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  8. Lol, I wondered the same thing when I passed by him! I've always felt like 5k's were sissy races because I haven't done one in so long. This was seriously challenging for me. I thought I was going to puke at the end, and now I want to sign up for more.

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  9. Congrats on the PR! Kudos to the running priest--he must have been pretty hot running in that getup.

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  10. Nice job on the race! I think everyone goes out too fast in a 5K LOL.

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  11. That is wonderful! The carolinas really know how to put on a greek festival. The ones in Greenville were always amazing.

    and I'll take a PR any way I can get one. The gps watches do give you plenty of amazing data, and you can use that to try and track a more consistent pace over time.

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