Ran in a 5K race last Sunday morning in Kure Beach. Called the Race for the Planet, Seahorse Sprint which began and ended at the North Carolina Aquarium near Fort Fisher. I didn't pre -register, and wasn't sure I was going to run the race until that morning. Was coming off of two or three good weeks of running, and had tapered down the few days preceeding the race in case I did run. That Wednesday I had run my state park loop as I call it between 51-52 minutes, taking the pace hard on the trails in the woods, then followed that up with a steady smooth 8.5-9 mile run Thursday evening. Enjoyed the solitude in the woods, listening to the sounds of nature, and reveling in the fact that I was healthy and free, doing something that I love to do.

Got up early Sunday morning a little before 6am and could feel the competitive juices starting to stir even at that early hour. The morning was mild; the breeze off of the ocean foreshadowed a pleasant morning and ideal conditions to race in. I packed up my gear in a gym bag (running shoes, change of clothes, towel, wallet/ check book to register) and drove out the straight shot down Lake Park Blvd thru Kure Beach, past the historic fort, and down the bucolic winding drive into the Aquarium.

Registered and also got bug sprayed as the noceums were out in full force likely coming out of the swampy vegetation and all of water near the narrow part of the island (hadn't noticed them anywhere else in the area or on the island until then... and there is no way not to "notice" them). Jogged to warm up for about 15 minutes passing several runners, said hey and talked to a friend Sean whom i had run with before a ways back in the state park (and who would win the race in 18:06), then stretched out under some trees by a picnic table, said a prayer, and headed over to the starting area.

Checked some race numbers to see how many people might be running, and saw there'd be a little under 200, not a bad crowd for a first time race. All the competitors gathered around, listened to some instructions and an overview of the course, and then a count down from 10 to 1 commenced.... and we were off.

Got out well but as always conscious not to go out too fast. As the field made its way on out of the aquarium grounds and up to the main road I had settled into what I percived to be a goood race pace @ 1/2 mile in, and was sitting in about eighth to tenth place. Eventually passed a few runners around the mile mark and settled down into fifth place in which I remained the rest of the race... actually got into a little of what I term "no man's land" as no-one was close in front of or behind me. Held a good soild steady pace throughout, my splits were likely pretty even, and brought her home in 19:13 which was the best 5K I had since I've gotten back into racing again last summer and fall.

Ended up winning my age groug 26-35 years old. 5th overall out of 172 runners, felt good about the effort, think i could have gone faster, and will shoot to do so next time I toe the line and race again. For now though it was just nice to be back out racing healthy and fairly strong again. See you all soon, and will be back for what I hope will be the 2nd annual Race for the Planet, SeaHorse Sprint next spring. Was a well organized, fun community minded event which prided itself on being entirely green.