Ran the "Is It Fall" Four-Mile Race at Squirrel Ridge Park Today

This morning I got up early and made my way across Gainesville, driving from my home in the city's far northern end to the far south at Squirrel Ridge Park, where the Florida Track Club was hosting a four-mile race.  Since all I've been doing since the half-marathon in January was running Depot Parkrun 5K's, this gave me a chance to change the scenery (and distance).  Starting at eight, the race began at this park, located on the south side of Williston Road near US441, in a grassy field and then going along Williston Road until we all hooked a left turn onto unpaved (and uneven) SW 17th Terrace, aka "Tobacco Road".  Then, after about a mile, we turned right unto SW 56th Avenue (also unpaved and uneven), going west until the turnaround after which we retraced our path back to the finish line.  The course was advertised as flat: maybe it was to some people's standards but there were some hills, nonetheless.  The temperature at race time was in the low seventies, not bad, but the humidity was oppressive at over 90%.  I ran the race establishing a comfortable-but-honest, steady pace.  Out of 100 finishers, I finished #78 (chip time of 41:59, you can view the race results by clicking HERE), but since I placed third in my gender/age group (M 61-70) I was given a prize coffee mug with the Florida Track Club logo on it...cool!  All in all, it was a good experience, there was a good, positive vibe among the participants and volunteers, and it was nice to see a familiar face or two among the runners while getting to talk a bit with another.  I'm looking forward to seeing what's up ahead on the local racing calendar...