Race Report - 2011 No Limits 5K

Nice bright T-Shirt and a $15 gift card for 2nd place age group finish

I decided to sign up for this one last minute, with the goal to finally break the 20 minute barrier. I picked up my race packet with my bib and timing chip at FleetFeet on Friday and I got up nice and early Saturday to have enough time to drive to Decatur.

The No Limits 5K is a new event hosted by the Dream Center of Decatur, AL a faith based organization supporting underprivileged families and women struggling to get on their feet. They provide meals, housing and even free hir cuts and are a true blessing to their local community.

It was a rather small field of runners and you could kind of tell right away who would be leading the field. There were a little under 100 runners at the start and I lined up in the second row, firmly having a finish time of 19:59 in my sight. I started running at just under 6 minute pace and settled in at 6:15. I held that pace for the first mile and while I slowed down some during the second mile, I was finally able to maintain my second mile pace during the third mile. I even managed a flat 5 minute pace for he final .1 mile. However, once again, it just wasn't  enough. finished in 20 minutes and 15 seconds, missing m goal by a mere 15 seconds.

It was good enough for 7th overall and 2nd in my age group and as 10 seconds faster than during my last attempt, so can't really be too upset. Overall, the race was great, the race director and the volunteers were fantastic and the actual course was perfect. It was nice and flat with plenty of turns to keep it exciting ad plenty of shade as well, a true PR course. as an interesting side note, Antoine Batiste, 2011 800m World Champion, won the race followed closely by Eric Charette. Antoine is currently living in Huntsville, AL and training for the 2012 800m Olympic Trials and I obviously hope he'll make it. I definitely know who I'll be rooting for. While I have been lucky enough to un e same events and some elite ultra marathoners, this was the first event where I toed the starting line alongside a World Champion track star;-)

By the way, I will be breaking that 20 minute mark shortly, I have not given up that quest. Hopefully, there's another one just around he corner. I eed to break soon, otherwise I'll have to start sneaking out of the house on Saturday mornings to pursue this goal.