A Birthday Race

Today is my birthday. And it was a good one because I got to race. This morning was the 38th annual Oak Apple Run in Royal Oak, MI. I’ve probably run this 10k at least thirty of the thirty-eight years. It’s a well organized race plus it’s only a mile from my house.
It was a warm morning with sun and temps in the high 70s when we started. The start was crowded with 5k and 10k runners going out together so I started near the back. As we crossed the chip timing mat I worked my way through the crowd and found an open lane near the curb. My Soleus watch read 7:56 at the 1 mile mark. That was about :05 faster than I had planned so I let up just a little for the next mile and clocked it at 8:11. Just right. If I could keep that pace I’d hit my goal of sub-52:00.
My kick at the end gave me a time of 51:19 which was good enough for 4th place in my age group. Plus, our team of runners from St. Paul Lutheran Church earned a 3rd place finish n the Open Team competition.
All-in-all, a great start to my birthday.