5K of fun in Hutto

Since most everyone in PP and Team were doing the IBM 10K and I had forbidden myself from doing it to avoid getting sucked into the Distance Challenge, I ran a "fun run" in Hutto instead.  My plan was to run 8-10 miles before the 5K, do the race and then a short cool down.   Here is a summery of how it went:

The Good - perfect weather, flat course, very friendly race crew, helpful police officer, friendly racers, did not run a PR, the cutest orange paw prints on the road to mark the way.  Got first in my age group after passing most of the Hutto cross country team in mile 2.

The Bad - got my butt whipped by a 10yr old in the open female division.   Poorly manned water stations that had styrofoam cups.  I took out almost a whole line of cups grabbing water on the fly - otherwise the volunteers were great.

The Ugly - obviously I can't run "slow" in a 5K.  My plan had been to run 1 mile MGP, 1 mile HMGP and 1 mile 10K+.  At mile 1 my time was 6:50 some.  So since I was relaxed, I just maintained pace and averaged about 10K pace the whole way.  I thought I had lost my valet key that was in my skirt pocket, the friendly police officer attempted to open my car door and after not succeeding, went over to the driver's side and found my key in the door (duh!!!).

It was an easy and fun way to get 12 miles in.  I would highly recommend the race for beginners and PR seekers.  However...it is not chip timed and I suspect it is not certified.  Per my garmen though it was accurately measured.