Autism Speaks 5K - Race Day Report

July 4th was a fantastic morning for us! Things were quite frenetic as soon as we arrived at the Potomac Library - my wife and I had family members to get signed up, donations to turn in, race numbers to pickup, race shirts to pick up, about 20 team members to find, about 25 team t-shirts to hand out, race numbers to pin on, including helping kids (although I totally forgot to pin my own bib on!), and some team pictures to arrange. We also did a quick video interview with Diana Hosford, the woman in charge of media contacts for Autism Speaks. We had about 30 minutes to do all that!

As luck would have it, we parked real close to the Frederick Steeplechaser contingent and also Chris (CWCastelli from the Marine Corps Marathon forum), who promptly stepped up and introduced himself. Chris was running for his best friend's daughter. We made our way over to the registration tables and started greeting team members as they arrived. This included Holly (mybleweyedgurl), Jerry (X_39_and_holding_X), Kelly (Run4Cookies), and an MCM forum lurker that has come out of the woodwork, Steve (now JeromeBettis). It was great to see you again, Holly and Jerry, and a pleasure to meet you, Kelly, Steve and Chris!

We had a huge team there to support Raeann and help the cause (raising money to fund Autism research, increasing autism awareness, advocacy for families with autism, and other family services). It was so wonderful so have such a show of support! I'll have many pictures and video links to post soon, but I'm still gathering those.

The official race warm-ups started at 7:30, and we moved our group closer to the announcer's table so we'd have a good view. Just a few minutes later and Raeann was doing her thing! She stood up in front of roughly 2000 people and proceeded to sing our anthem beautifully! As a parent, it just doesn't get any better than this! It was hard for me to see clearly because of the tears in my eyes! Raeann has had the opportunity to do several events like this now, but this was easily the best I'd ever heard her sing! Later in the day I asked Raeann if she was nervous when she was up there. She said, "Not really." She simply loves to sing!

Well, after that I was emotionally and physically drained, and there was a race yet to run! I got in a quick hug with Rae and then we were all off toward the starting line. I lost track of almost everyone in the process, except my co-worker Tony, and Kelly. By the time I got the end of the starting line crowd, the race had apparantly already started; I could see folks way up ahead already running!

And soon we were off. The first mile was difficult because of all the navigation required. I had started way in the back which, of course, made it worse. After about 1/2 a mile I caught up to my wife Andrea, her friend Renee, and my niece Lexi, who at 13 was running her first 5K. I said a quick hello and kept going, along with Tony. I hit Mile 1 at 7:48, right about where I was hoping to. On a warm, humid day, on a hilly course, and after having taken the past 13 days off (well, except for running the 200 meters on Wednesday) due to a mild calf strain, all I really was hoping for was stay below an 8 minute per mile pace. So, so far so good!

By mile 2 the runners had thinned out enough so that we no longer had to hesitate and then surge to get through. Mile 2 has more downhills than ups, so I kept my pace up pretty well. My Mile 2 split was 7:43. Tony fell back off the pace in the 3rd mile as the course become hillier, with a few good climbs tossed in. I finished in 24:14 for a 7:48 pace and 251st place out of 1393 (top 20%). I FINALLY ran a 5K at a steady pace! Not a great 5K time for me, but it did beat my time from last year by about 20 seconds.


In checking the official race results, there were 1393 5k finishers, and here's what I've got for our MCM forum friends:


Jerry 219th place 23:47 (7:40 pace) (Jerry, I'm sure you started way ahead of me or else I might have found you and ran with you some!)


Ron 251st place 24:14 (7:48 pace)


Kelly 501st place 27:40 (8:55) Excellent job!! I think I heard this was a PR for you?


Andrea 548th place 28:14 (9:06) Not a PR, but respectable!


Steve 838th place 31:18 (10:05)


Chris 946th place 32:44 (10:33)


Holly 1309th place 43:12 (13:55) A respectable, on the road back 5K. And I must note that Holly's generocity is inversely proportional to her place!


Our family had a wonderful time and I'd like to thank everyone for their long-distance well wishes and support! And a special thanks to you MCM forum and Frederick Steeplechaser friends who were able to join us yesterday in Potomac, especially on a holiday when I know many of you have other family obligations to attend! I hope it was as enjoyable for you as it was for us and Raeann! It was also a real pleasure meeting Kelly, Chris and Steve.


Finally, thanks for all the donations to help those that are coping with autism! Raeann's Runners has now topped the $2000 amount for the 2nd year in a row! (For anyone interested, donations can still be placed via the web for the next couple of weeks - see my original autism race 5k thread for info, or send me a note.)


Thank you and I hope you all had a great Independence Day!