There were five Buckeye Striders entered in today’s UACA Memorial Day 5 Miler. For several years, this race has been a tradition with the Striders.

I walked the nearly 2 miles from my house to the start of the race. My thought was that it would be a good warm up, but in reality it was too far to walk to the start of a 5-mile race.

This is a small, nice, community race. There are several hundred people who enter. It starts and finishes at the fire station and the American flag hangs from a fire truck when the National Anthem is sung. Winding through the streets of Upper Arlington, there are families out in their yards cheering on the participants! It is very fun!

Pat, Nancy and I started out together, but it didn’t take long for Nancy to take off. Pat and I walked most of the course together. It’s all on neighborhood streets with a few small hills throughout.

Nancy finished a little ahead of me in 1:02:49 for a 12:34 pace. (So nice to see Nancy fast again!) My finish time was 1:05:59 for a 13:12 per mile pace! Pat was right behind me with 1:06:28 for a 13:18 pace. Deb was very happy with her 1:08:58 finish with a 13:46 average. Jack won the 80+ age category with his 1:22:01 finish for a 16:25 min/mile finish. Jack also raced at the Jack Mortland Race Walk in Yellow Springs on Sunday. He entered the 5K.

So we were all pleased with our finish times and were happy to participate in the great community event again.

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