Race Report Pepper Martin 5M

I made an incorrect assumption about Staten Island, really wrong:

I thought Staten Island was a flat place, with new cul-de-sac housing and everybody waived flags.

1. Mile 2 on this race contained a (UP) that had a "Truck use low gear" sign. We came back down, but I was not really ready.
2. The race passed some beautiful old neighborhoods. With sidewalks!
3. Everybody waived flags. It was Independence Day. I should stop jumping to conclusions.

Anyway this was a race that I was hearing about for a long time but never got to run.

5 miles is a great way to start the 4th of July. Bang out a quick race and still have time for afternoon/evening festivities!

The fact that my coach encouraged team participation made it even more fun. I am not the kinda guy that medals but it was satisfying to know that I was giving a ride to someone who did win an award.

The local City-Councilman helped give out the awards. I assumed when he was handed the microphone he was gonna make a long-winded speech. Wrong again. He gave the age group trophy to the 80-85 year old Male. The winner was his High School Track Coach. The man continued to coach the team after he was laid off in 1977. That's dedication.

Anyway, I wanted to break 45 minutes. I knew there would be hill, so I did not think I would have even spits:

Mile 1: 8:30
Mile 2: 9:32
Mile 3: 9:53
Mile 4: 8:25
Mile 5: 8:43

Guess where the hill was?

At 45:05 I had 5 more seconds of fun running this race, than I planed. Can't wait till next year!