Walnut Square Scorcher

This morning the boys and I ran the "Walnut Square Scorcher". This is a one mile race around the parking lot of the mall. They broke it down to 3 divisions. Females 11 and up, Males 11 and up, Kids 10 and under. Caleb had a great run. He finished in 8:36 which earned him 3rd place! Taylor finished in 9:18 for a 5th place finish! Way to go boys!! I am so proud of you :)

This was my first time to compete in a 1 mile race. It has been years since I even ran a timed mile so I had no idea how I would do. I did know that I had to beat Caleb's time. Jake had been working on this rivalry for the last few days... mom vs. Caleb! I have to admit, I was nervous. He ran an 8:25 a few weeks ago. As soon as the horn blew I was not thinking about Caleb and his super speedy times. All I could think about was "please don't stop and walk, please don't stop and walk!! It's just 1 mile... I can do it." I feel so silly but for me it has become a mental thing. I think my legs are fine and I think my breathing works ok but my brain says mean things to me while I run... hahaha. Anyway, I started out with the top 5 ladies trying to keep up. They eventually pulled away. Some were just seconds ahead of me but it was a good enough split that I could not catch up in the end. But I didn't care I just wanted to finish without walking! I crossed the line at 8:21... and it felt good. As I filled out my finish card and placed it in the 21-29 basket I got excited! I was the first one in my age group to finish!! I did not expect anything from that. It was just neat to know I finished in what seemed to me to be a good time (for me anyway). So we stood around to hear the results and clap for the winners. Imagine my surprise when they announced my name and I got a medal!! 1st in my age group! Then imagine my laughter when I realized I was the only one in the whole race in my age group :) hahaha. It's still a 1st place finish, I still got a medal and I will be there again next year to try to do it again.

If you are a runner in the area it is worth the fun. They said the past few years there have been about 50 participants. They would really like to see it grow and become a certified event. I don't care about the certified thing and the part of me that won because I was the only one my age makes me like the smallness of it but... it was a lot of fun and I would love to see a large crowd there next year, especially some of my friends who are new or returning to running! I will remind you next year when it's coming up... so be ready... you all know who you are :)

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