Ran Gainesville's Season of Hope 15K This Morning

I like traditions in running races and get a little sad when I see one end.  One tradition that is still continuing is the Season of Hope 15K/5K race in early December...I've run the 15K (9.3 miles) race now four times.  Organized to benefit Tyler's Hope, a non-profit organization for research into the movement disorder called dystonia and help for those so afflicted, it takes place on the Hawthorne Trail in southeastern Gainesville, starting and finishing where the trail passes by Boulware Springs Park (off SE 15th Street).  I ran speed-walked an extended version of the same course last month with the Florida Track Club's Tom Walker Half-marathon, so I'm familiar with all the slopes and hilliness it provides.  The temperature here at sunrise had spiked downward to freezing but had risen by 9:00 race time to the low forties...by the race's end it had gotten into the low fifties...all with low humidity.  On the way to the race my car horn got stuck under the frozen conditions and I had to pull off the road to try to turn it off.  Eventually it shut itself up and I made it to Boulware Springs Park, only to discover that it was already packed because of another race using its facilities at the same time: Girls on the Run 5K.  The organization Girls on the Run is very positive and uplifting for school-age girls, and one thing they do regularly is hold a 5K run...only today it competed head-on with the Seasons of Hope event I had signed up for.  Once I parked, though, I eased my way through the unexpected crowd of humanity there and did my race without any problem.  Although my left Achilles tendon...which had seemed a little sore a few days ago...seemed to ache early on, I kept with my plan to alternate nine-minutes of running with one minute of speed-walking while also speed-walking up the steepest up-slopes.  This worked to perfection, and being able to listen to my favorite songs on my Amazon Music service helped as well.  I kept to my racing strategy until after about six miles when I decided to just run out the remainder of the race, hills and all.  I finished at 1 hour 29 minutes 19 seconds...some four minutes faster than last year's time and my fastest 15K finish since 2015.  Click HERE to see the race results. As with the marathon I did a couple of weeks ago, I had no problem with running low on energy...the low temperature again helped as well.  As for that Girls on the Run organization, I thought it was sweet how they staged volunteers up and down the course to cheer on their runners...they cheered for us "Season of Hope" runners as well!  I hope the Tyler's Hope organization continues this fine racing tradition and I wish Girls on the Run great success in the future...I just wish they can align their event scheduling better next time around...