2013 Holiday Hustle
Today I ran the annual Holiday Hustle at Oklahoma Christian University (it was scheduled to be run back in December, but inclement weather forced a reschedule to today). This is the *first* actual running competition I’ve participated in since high school track and the longest (I was a sprinter). I arrived on campus at a little before 7:00 am this morning to get checked in. I got my bib, my race shirt, and timing chip to put on my shoe. After getting the bib pinned on and shoe chip fastened, I spent a little time stretching and running to warm up (along with about 290 others). At about 8:00 am, we all gathered at the start line, heard about some special (and really awesome) participants in the run, listened to the *awesome* Dr. Heath Jones play the national anthem on his saxophone, and then BANG! we were off.
After a bit of "ducking and weaving" as I jockeyed for position, I found a bit of open space and my stride. I felt good. I have to admit, I got a little amped up passing people; I had to try to maintain stride (which, I could tell, was faster than my normal practice run pace) rather than let adrenaline and emotions speed me up and burn me out early. I wanted something left for the end of the run. I managed to control myself and my breathing and kept plugging away. As neared the finish line, I just enough kick left to speed past a couple of people just in front of me that I has used to help me keep pace. Because of that, I didn’t see the time on the clock as I crossed the line.
As it turns out, my chip time was 24:24. I finished 49th overall. *Technically*, I was second place in my age group (40-44), but the winner of my group was second overall in the race (16:55!!), so, because the top three finishers get separate awards, I was awarded the prize for winning my age group! How about that?!? Funny thing was, I went home before the awards ceremony, so I found out when a couple of my friends texted me! LOL!
Anyway, the official results of the run are posted online here. You can see my official time here. It was good. I will probably do it again next year. Want to join me?
By the way, I *still* don’t consider myself a runner, MT. :)
