Kevin Gray 5k

Worst day for running in a long time. The temperature at 8 a.m. for the Kevin Gray race near 80, and it was humid. A warmup run before the race suggested the route was going to be somewhat challenging, given the weather conditions, because much of it was an uphill grade. They weren't step hills, but long. The type that saps the energy from everyone's legs, but especially from unconditioned and inexperience legs.

Justin, Rob, Angela

So, it was a particularly hard run for Justin and Angela. They both wanted to finish under 30 min., and we were on pace to do that for the first mile. But half or more of that first mile was an uphill grade, and it looked like it might not be our day for hitting targets.

Justin fought cramps and shin splints for much of the race, and had to stop after mile 2 for some stretching. Angela ran smoothly much of the time, and was really legging it out around the 2.5 mile mark, but then had to slow down considerably when the cramping in her foot worsened and she felt sick to her stomach.

The race went past the Kansas Speedway (we couldn't run into the stadium because the track has been torn up for replacement), into and around the track in T-Bones baseball park, and then finished inside Livestrong soccer stadium. By the time we entered the stadium everyone was revived enough to make a nice kick.

In the end, no one broke 30 min., but Angela improved from 36 min for her last 5k to 31:38, and Justin finished a little under 36 despite having to stop and stretch and take some walk breaks.
It's especially fun to run with family members - beginners - and watch their progress. I hope we all do another one soon.