Today I ran the Help Fight Drug Abuse 5K Run/Walk sponsored by the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Queens. While I had the goal of running it under 20 minutes, it was quite warm and humid out and I didn’t quite make my goal. No matter, though: I felt pretty good and pretty strong for where I am in my training. Per my Garmin, I finished in 21:17, managing 6:49s. Official results are posted on the FIAO website, which say I finished in 21:10.
Elizabeth ran with her boyfriend Chris, too. Elizabeth actually came in 2nd overall for women! While I overtook her in the beginning and thought she wouldn’t catch up given an injury she’s been dealing with, she officially “spanked” me (literally and figuratively) just after the 1-mile mark before the turnaround in Astoria Park. I never caught her. I think she ran about 10-seconds per mile faster than me, whose cardiovascular system currently isn’t as developed as hers. Hopefully later this summer I’ll get my chance to “spank” her!
It was a small, fun, and even funny race. Beside the entertaining announcer, the race just suddenly started out of nowhere when we were lazily chatting. And we were off! I didn’t know the course so it was a bit like running in the dark, but it was a short race so that wasn’t too daunting. The opening hill seemed to have a longer downhill, which spelled a long uphill on the turnaround toward the end. The heat was about 87 degrees with 60% humidity maybe–thick but not impossible, especially for this distance.
Below are the unofficial Garmin stats.