This morning, in Flower Mound, Texas, I did my fifth footrace of the fall: Dorothy's Dash 5K. It's my third consecutive year of doing this race. Weather conditions were good, though the wind was stiff. The course was the same. Katherine and I accompanied three-year-old Luki (Katherine's grandson) in the kids' one-kilometer race (.6214 mile). Luki has played soccer, but never raced. Shortly after the race began, with kids all around him, he had a big smile on his face. I think he grasped the point all of a sudden when he heard the gun sound and saw everyone take off. I can't remember what I was doing at three years of age, but it wasn't racing! Luki, like the other kids, got a medal for finishing.
My own race started 30 minutes after Luki's. I felt better than I did a week ago in Colleyville and ran faster as a result. I did the first mile in 6:50 and the second in 6:53. The final half mile was against the wind, but I managed to keep my speed up. My pace for the final 1.107 miles was 6:55.52. Overall, my pace was 6:52.97. (Elapsed time = 21:45.) At least that's what I recorded on my Garmin GPS device for 3.16 miles. Officially, I covered 3.107 miles in 21:50.5, which is a mile pace of 7:01.78. The course was long a week ago, according to the race director. I think it was long again today. Either way, I ran faster, and that's good.
Overall, I was the 21st finisher of 491. I finished first in my age group of 15. Instead of a medal, I got a wooden plaque. Afterward, the three of us stopped at Starbucks for refreshments. When we got home, we flew a kite on the school grounds under a gloriously sunny sky, with Shelbie romping nearby. Now it's on to college football. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend, as we are. (By the way, the shoes depicted in this post are my new ASICS. They felt good.)
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 