28th Annual St. James Fire Department 5 Mile Run for Burn Victims

Today I ran the St. James Fire Department 5-Mile Run for Burn Victims for the second year in a row. I had two goals for this race: (1) do better on the hills than last year, and (2) improve my time. Last year I was unprepared for the hills which really come into play after the 3rd mile, so this year I took time to train for them. I felt much better this time around, and I improved my time by 2:44, completing the race in 45:47. With about 150 yards left I felt the presence of another runner right next to me. At 100 yards we both simultaneously decided - without looking at each other or saying a word - that we were going to race for the finish and we sprinted our guts out. I am happy to say that I ended up beating him by 1.1 seconds. lol! I thanked him for the great finish, and it was cool how - even as strangers - we both pushed each other to the max.