I ran in the Oshkosh 5k this morning and it went really well! I PR’d by over 2 min! Going into this race I was a little nervous because I ran 9 miles yesterday, but I woke up ready this morning.
The 5k cost $28. That has been the most I have spent on a 5k so far. Everything seemed to run really smoothly. There was plenty of parking (which I was worried about). The expo yesterday had about 15 vendors and it didn’t take me long to get my bib and goody bag.
We got to the race at 6:30 and found a parking spot quickly (my only main concern). We walked to the Oshkosh Convention Center and waited for everything to get underway.
Ready to go!
People started to migrate over to the start, so I headed over there. The Half-Marathon and 5k started at the same time, so I was on the left side of the road and the Half’s were on the other.
Before the start
The race started right at 6:58 (2 min early!) and this was the first race were people were elbowing people out of the way. The only problem was that there were walkers near the front of the group and the runners had to weave around them. I started off feeling really good. My knees felt great. I had some of my energy beans before I started and some water.
And we're off!
Barnaby tried finding me, but there were a lot of people.
Route
It was clearly marked where the Half and 5k split. There weren’t many spectators, but a few scattered around the course. I used my Nike+ watch and kept track of my pace. My first mile was 8:19. Awesome. I tried keeping my pace between 8:00-8:30. Right after mile 1 we went over a bridge and my pace didn’t dip too badly going over.
At about mile 1.5 there was an aid station. I didn’t need anything, but I wanted to practice grabbing a cup. Disaster. I didn’t want to slow down because I my pace was going well. So I grabbed a cup, pinched the top and got about a teaspoon. I’m going to have to practice that more.
The last stretch of mile 2 was the most difficult. It was flat and I was just trying to keep my pace and save some of my energy for the finish. We went over another bridge and then rounded a bend into the finish. There were spectators there to cheer you on and they said your name when you finished. People always say my last name wrong, but I really didn’t care because when I saw my time, I was so excited!
Say what?!
My time was 26:32! At the Run for Home 5k, my time was 28:55. I felt so awesome and proud of myself. I placed 6th in my age division (20-24) and 113th overall. Yahoo!
A spectacular picture after the race 
I then grabbed a little food and then we went out for breakfast at IHOP.
It was a great race. Maybe next year I will do the Half! It was well organized, plenty of parking, a decent amount of runners. And it was nice to run in the city where I went to college 
Now I have a month until the Half-Marathon!
