Rumbling Rocket 5K

This morning I ran in the Rumbling Rocket 5K in Anna, Ohio (about 20 minutes southeast). I showed up right on time (it's easy to find where you're supposed to be; the people carrying their bags or t-shirts or bibs should be going in the opposite direction from the registration, and the runner-types without bibs will be heading toward the registration).

As usual, I found my friend Mike there - he's generally the only person I know at these races. We were talking as he waited for registration, and up comes a blast from the past, Todd R, a seminary classmate with whom I frequently played volleyball while at Asbury. So I talked with him for a while and then went to warm up...

...at which point I ran into Bruce, a friend from basketball at the Y. So we ran a warm up together. It was the first time I'd run into anyone that I knew at a race (other than Mike), and there were several.

On to the race.

The start was rather abrupt, but not bad, and the first 3/4 mile was a straightaway on a slight downhill. It was nice. You didn't have to jostle for position for turns because by the time we got to the first turn, the crowd had thinned out.

The race was a 3 mile loop with a .1 mile overlap with some small rises mostly in the second mile. Nothing major at all, though. As usual, I ran mostly a little way behind Mike, but during the second mile I caught him. He passed me slightly before the 3 mile mark, but I picked it up and beat him down the stretch.

My mile times were as follows:

1. 6:34.13
2. 6:59.50
3. 6:42.35

I didn't quite catch my final time, but it was slightly over 21 minutes. I missed out on the medals, but barely. I think I was 4th in age group.