Did I mention I did a 5km race?

That's me on the right

Last weekend (May 28th) I ran my second 5km race of the season. This one was in Ottawa, my old stomping grounds for about 3 years and home to many of my friends and some family. We went to my Aunt's for lunch, and for convenience since she lives walking distance from the start line (nothing like using your family - LOL!). The drive up had been cool and overcast, so I decided to wear my long-sleeve shirt to run. By the time I walked to the race area, the sun was out and it was hot!  I couldn't believe I was sweating from walking and BEFORE trying to jam my way into the 9,000+ crowd of runners filling the street! For once in my life I was early and had to stand there, in the blazing sun, no sunglasses, long-sleeve dark shirt, squeezed like I was in the middle of the dance floor at a popular club on a Saturday night. At least in the club you can assume most are at least drinking age and around my average height - but out here, there were children and teens and couples and super short people and tall people - pretty much every age, shape and height could be found in this crowd, all huddled together on Elgin St.

I'm happy to report that I completed the 5km, in this crowd, with long-sleeves, in the blazing sun, in 32:05 min! When there are so many people around, it's hard to find and keep your pace, so I'm happy to have improved on my previous 5km from May 1st of 32:45. I crossed the line 97th/513 in my category (age/sex) and my chip time put me in the top 26% (133/513)! :-) I had hoped to finish under 30min, but improvement is good.

I think my next race challenge will be in Toronto in the fall. I'm debating between the 1/2 marathon distance (21km) or going for a personal best in the 5km event. There isn't a 10km event, which is too bad because that would have been my first choice.