Run for the Roses 2008
Today I ran my first race ever, the Run for the Roses in Raleigh, NC. It was great! I am very happy with the result: 26:46, a lot faster than I expected. The adrenaline and the people around made me run faster than usual.
The race started at 2.00 pm so I left home around 12.15 pm. It's a 40 minutes drive to downtown Raleigh, and I was well on time to pick up my Championchip, which is tied to your shoe and enables electronic measuring of the results. The next 20 minutes I sat down, drank some water and enjoyed watching the preparations. I did a 10 minute warm-up, and at 1.50 pm we all lined up in a big group. I'm not sure how many participants there were, but I'd guess at least a 150.
It was very windy but sunny. I'm very glad that I ran the route earlier this week because it made it a lot easier to time my effort. The big difference was of course that now the roads were blocked off. I knew that in the last mile of the race there are two roads after each other uphill, and I was ready for them. On the 1-mile and 2-mile markers there were volunteers yelling out the split times.
A part of the proceeds of the Race for the Roses goes to Urban Ministries. The race was very well organized: lots of volunteers, a good course, lots of parking spots nearby the start and there was a even a water break half-way. For a 5k run I don't need water but it was a nice touch. Every female participant received a rose at the finish. After the race there was free food and drinks. Throughout the event there was nice and friendly atmosphere.
Now, up to the next race!
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Comments
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Good Job!!!
And now you are getting ready for the next challenge??
Grtz Gerben
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Thank you!
Yes, now I'm continuing with my preparations for the Raleigh Rocks half marathon in April. 8 more weeks.
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Hé, Goed gedaan!!
Sinds Amerika ben ik ook begonnen met hardlopen, afgelopen zaterdag gingen we toevallig ook 5 km lopen en de tijd opnemen. Ik deed er 25.38 over (maar dan zonder heuvels ;) )
Groetjes Ankie
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Wow, hardstikke goed!
Je moet eens kijken of je aan een wedstrijd mee kunt doen. Je zult zien dat het dan nog sneller gaat!
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Wow!!! You ran really fast, good job!!!! The next challenge is the half marathon right???
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Thanks Jelly!
Yes, if all goes well I hope to run on April 5th.
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
I would say, try 28 kilometres (or even miles) after this run ;-)
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Hmmm... that's a bit too ambitious for now :)
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Hi Guus,
Nice to see that you ran this race; and I do have the same pair of shoes :)
-Kaushik
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Wow, that’s a great time!!! Congratulations!!!
Maybe the Susan Komen race in June in Raleigh is something for you too.
There are about 22.000 people who do this race and they got a special start time for runners.
I really enjoyed participating last year and will do so next June.
Like you said the people around you make it feel different.
Re: Run for the Roses 2008
Thanks Petra! I remembered that you ran that race and I read the articles on your website again on Saturday.
I don’t know if I can make it, but it does look like a great event. On their website it says it’s on Saturday June 14 (http://www.komennctriangle.org/).