Two months ago, on a Saturday afternoon, I ran the 10K Run for Haven race held annually in Tioga, a few miles west of Gainesville off Newberry Road. Yesterday, a different race took place at the same location: the May Day Glow Run 5K, organized by Newberry Christian Community School. It is called "Glow Run" because it starts in the evening at 8:30, and the participants are offered plastic sticks containing luminescent coloring that they can twist into necklaces and bracelets for themselves while running. The course is identical to the 5K version of the Run for Haven course, which includes the portion of their 10K run that is residential and excludes the 10K's three-mile diversion through the woods...that's good since there's no way any of us could have seen anything out there, "glowsticks" or not...
For the most part, I was impressed with the way this race was organized and presented. For example, they didn't fool around with the asinine meal/beer tickets that the Haven organizers offered...and which I didn't use because of the ridiculously long lines of people waiting to redeem them. Instead, it was a race, pure and simple...well, maybe not all that simple: at its start, they set off fireworks that were close to the near-stampeding runners and sounded like bombs going off: not one of their better ideas! And it was a near-stampede at the beginning, as is just about any 5K event with a lot of runners. So, as usual, I found myself slowing down just to avoid running into others...or trying to get out of others' ways. Also, although we were running down residential streets with streetlights, they still seemed too dark...and the occasional slow-bumps in the road were hard to make out, with the sudden changes in slope being rather disconcerting. Still, I was happy to not have to contend with a glaring sun and the heat of the afternoon: just a short time earlier it was in the upper eighties...by race time it had gone down ten degrees while the humidity was still low and pleasant...
I ran the race as a training run, sticking to a comfortable pace much slower than what I would have run had I been competing to beat others. I finished the 3.1 mile distance at 28:51...that is a 9:21/mile pace, about the level I now prefer during my training runs. The folks at the finish line were very positive, encouraging, and complimentary...I appreciate little gestures of kindness like that. Upon finishing, there were liberal quantities of cold water and bananas available...nothing extravagant, but then again sometimes I think they go a little overboard with the amenities for these races. I was also impressed by the portable restrooms provided: lit up, flushable, and with a sink and hand soap. Now that I did not expect...
Here are the race results, posted on the Internet. Turns out they gave me a better finishing time, at 28:36...apparently, it took me 15 seconds to reach the starting line in this mass of around 700 entrants. I finished 112th overall, and 8th in my gender/age group (out of 18). All things considered, I enjoyed the May Day Glow Run and would like to try it out again next year...
