Flying In My Former Home Town

It was a nice, cool morning in Sturtevant for the Iron Horse 5K on Saturday. One of the things that made this race so special is that my brother, Andrew, and his two daughters, Ella and Lily, were in attendance to cheer me on, as well as my parents. I lived in Sturtevant for five years, so I've run around the village more times than I can count.

The race began at 8 a.m. near Fireman's Park, just east of the corner of Charles Street and Wisconsin Street. We headed east on Charles all the way to 90th Street. The wind was at our backs, and it was also slightly downhill, so it was a very fast start. I attempted to hold back a little and let the rabbits zoom ahead. We turned left and went north on 90th all the way to the Educator's Credit Union parking lot. I clocked the first mile in a pretty speedy 6:38.

Heading west through the parking lot and then south on 92nd Street, I tried to stay fast, but not too fast, reserving some energy for the last mile. A right turn onto Rayne Rd. led us west past the DMV and to the mile 2 mark. My split was 7:04, perhaps a bit slow. Considering that the wind was in our face and we were heading back uphill, it wasn't too bad. While I let people pass me in the first mile, nobody passed me in the second mile.

After a left turn on Wisconsin St., I was heading back south. My strategy seemed to be working -- I was now passing runners and feeling energized. I turned on the afterburners with about half a mile to go, passing a few more runners before turning left on Charles St. and sprinting toward the finish.

Mile 3 was a speedy 6:47. I could see the finish clock in the distance, and breaking 21 minutes seemed like a possibility. However, there was too much ground to cover despite my full-on sprint. As my running buddy Jerry says, the clock waits for no one. Still, it was a great race for me, as I crossed the line in 21:10.6, about six seconds off my personal best (21:05).

The wait didn't seem too long for the results. I was the twelfth runner across the line, and the tenth male. The best news -- I enjoyed the thrill of victory as I came in first in the male 30-34 age group! Woohoo!

I didn't take a closer look at the results until today, and I noticed that the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in my age group finished in 21:27.5 and 21:29.6, less than twenty seconds behind me. The odds are that I passed them both on Wisconsin St. just before making the turn toward the finish. Now, if I can improve my 5K racing skills a bit, and conditions are favorable, I'll crack 21 minutes next time out.

My brother took a lot of video of the event, so I'll be putting something together soon. Until then, enjoy a photo of me with Ella, who happens to be wearing my dad's hat and my 1st place medal.