Happy 4th of July!

What better way to celebrate freedom than by running down the road with a bunch of strangers.  It was a great race in Idaho Falls this morning.  With over 1000 people, it was the biggest race I'd run in a long time. Turns out the competition was also quite a bit faster than last year, too.  I ran 20:35 to finish 7th among the women, a solid 20 seconds faster than last week, but still a ways from the elusive 20 minute barrier. I will attribute that to the focus in my training on marathon distance instead of 5k speed, and not just old age.  I still managed to walk away with a cash prize, as they award cash to the top 25 males and females. So that, along with a season best time combines to make a good race experience. My brother finished second at 16:05, so that was not too shabby either.

A far as the race itself goes, it was designed for runners.  The course, while not particularly interesting, was fast and followed the parade route so had a small number of spectators.  It was well organized, with a nice technical tee for all runners and prizes which encouraged serious runners. Very efficient, plenty of bathrooms, okay post race food, and finished early enough to get off to morning celebrations and parades.   Pencil it in to your race calendar of next year.

A big Welcome and Kudos to the newest members of team Off Balance, Breezy and Jesse.  The race had a team component which added the times of four team members, so they joined Steve and me to make a team.  Despite the heroic efforts of all four runners, we ended up in the fourth place position, finishing just out of cash prizes.  It was fun to have a team all the same and has given us something to shoot for next year.  Go team!