Today’s UA Memorial Day Race was great! I’ve never entered this 5-mile event before, but it is well supported by members of the Buckeye Striders and other local walking clubs.

Though slightly hilly, I had a great race! We started out slowly, as planned, with our first mile 14:36. We picked up our pace to do the second mile in 14:08. We wondered if the mile markers might have been a little bit off because we aren’t usually that fast. Mile 3 was 14:23, but it was a little hillier and I could feel us slowing. With 2 miles left, we decided to try to pass people. Mile 4 was 13:54! We felt like we were pushing a little harder, but I knew I could push more. Our final mile was in 13:42! Woo Hoo!

I have my unofficial finish time as 1:10 – Deb was about 3 seconds behind me.

I have forgotten how much fun it is to do local races. Yes, the Big Surs and Indy Minis are a lot of fun, but so are local races with your walking friends. We hung around afterward and talked, and it was just fun. Plus it was close to home and very affordable.

So, thanks to Doug Grout for being a great race director and keeping the course open for us walkers. And thanks to the walkers in Central Ohio who make walking fun!
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Note about subject line: Since this is the first 5-mile race I’ve entered, any finish time would have been a PR. And technically, I have walked one mile as fast as 13:26, so I haven’t broken an records there. But it was been so long since I have improved my speed, every accomplishment seems like a brand new PR. And walking one mile in 13:42 is so much better than I expected to do today, it feels like the fastest mile I have ever walked.

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