Memory Lane - my first 5K

[I wrote this post in April of 2008, following my first ever race...I've slightly edited it and updated it.]

this past weekend (April 19th, 2008) i ran my first race!! yay me!! it was the philly clean air 5K (in honor of earth day). i picked a race that would be on a weekend that my parents would be in town (for my daughter's 2nd birthday), that way i'd have a cheering squad to celebrate this big milestone with me.

i got up early (my parents, nieces, and daughter were to follow) and drove into philly to the art museum...it was a beautiful day!

me stretching it out:

i hung around for a long while, kept checking in w/ my folks wondering "when are they gonna get here??" turns out, they were lost and VERY frustrated...2 minutes before the start, my parents said they were just going to go home...i was disappointed, but then the announcement was made; move to the starting line! my stomach did a little flip-flop as i took a position toward the back of the pack (i didn't want to be in the way of the faster runners).

i didn't really push myself, just enjoyed the run and the energy from everyone there. the course was down MLK Drive, along the Schuylkill River. there were a ton of runners and walkers (about 1500) so there were always people around. the day was a perfect, spring morning. i am such a new runner, i wasn't really sure how far i'd run, when i finally hit the turn around point (by this point, LOTS of other runners were heading back). i remember thinking, "how far is THIS three miles?" because if felt longer than every other 3 mile run i've done on a marked path.

i didn't run my best time - but i was running for ME not for a clock (my time was 31:57).

the best part - i thought my parents, nieces, and daughter weren't going to make it to the race, and as i approached the finish line, there they were! i was soooo excited! maddy and gigi (my nieces) were yelling "yay auntie!!" jumping up and down! i (thought i ) crossed the finish line and gave them a BIG hug!

only, it wasnt the finish line - oops! i still had abt 50 feet to run! oh, well. it was still wicked awesome!

we all headed back...claire wanted to climb up the famous philly art museum steps (a la rocky!)

and i got a shot of the three girls...

the next day, my nieces madison and georgia (ages 9 1/2 and almost 4) wanted to run in a race w/ auntie - so we went to a local park and ran the half mile loop. i told them that one day we'll form a team and run in a real race together - they were so excited! this is really cool, because i don't come from a family of runners at all!